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Yesterday Lucasfilm give fans an exciting look at their upcoming slate of television shows and announced three new movies during the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase at Star Wars Celebration, and even though we have a lot to look forward to, there’s still some questions regarding previously announced projects that weren’t present at the event, which Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, was happy to address.
Following the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase, Kathleen Kennedy spoke with IGN briefly about the slate of projects shown and announced at the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase, but IGN also poked and prodded about past projects that didn’t make it onto the slate and asked if those projects had been shelved, which many have reportedly been, but Kennedy was quick to shut down those claims, telling IGN:
“Well, they haven’t been shelved. Most things haven’t been shelved. Development is a complicated and long term process, and with some people, we’re dealing with scheduling – because obviously, really talented people are working. It’s often not a shelving, it’s more…is it ready?”
Though she didn’t say it explicitly, it felt as if Kennedy’s comments were targeted at the untitled movie being directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder, along with the limited Lando series starring Donald Glover, which Kennedy said was definitely still happening and that Glover is very excited to play Lando Calrissian once again. As the interview progressed, IGN, asked if scheduling was the issue with not getting the Kevin Feige produced Star Wars movie off the ground yet, despite the project supposedly coming to fruition back in 2019, to which Kennedy said:
“Kevin Feige’s project was something that was announced by the press, or fandom. But, there was nothing – nothing ever got developed and we never discussed an idea. As everybody knows, Kevin is a huge Star Wars fans, and if he did come up with something, I would be all ears…but that’s never really happened. It’s not abandoned, it just didn’t happen.”
Though Kennedy is correct is stating that it was first reported by the trades that the Marvel Studios president was working on a Star Wars movie, Alan Horn, chief creative officer of Disney, confirmed in September 2019 that Feige was in fact working on a project with Kennedy in the Star Wars universe. Kennedy states that Feige never even approached her with an idea for a movie, which goes against reports from THR from 2019 that claims Feige pitched an idea to Kathleen Kennedy in the Summer of that year, and it was reported last year that Michael Waldron (Loki) had been brought on to write Feige’s movie, something he later confirmed.
Eventually we reached the point of Rogue Squadron, a film which was set to be directed by Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins, which was originally supposed to release this December, but was indefinitely delayed. When asked if Rogue Squadron is still being developed, and if Lucasfilm had plans for that film to continue, Kennedy responded:
“Rogue Squadron that is definitely something we still talk about. Whether it’s a movie or whether it ends up in the series space, that’s something [we discuss].”
Personally, I never wanted a Rogue Squadron movie, especially not as the film to reintroduce Star Wars on the big screen following 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but I’ve often said I believe it would work well as a television series, and that it would be an exciting draw for Star Wars fans and Disney+, so I’m glad that Lucasfilm are seemingly exploring that possibility.
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