Since Lucasfilm's Star Wars wrapped up its Skywalker Saga in 2019, it’s been nearly quiet on the film front aside from some exciting filmmakers taking on secret movies, including Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige and Rian Johnson. The next movie set in a galaxy far, far away will be Rogue Squadron from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, and we’ve finally learned who the writer is penning the script.
Rogue Squadron was announced back in December, and early this year, Patty Jenkins shared that there was a writer already attached to her fighter pilot movie, but she decided to keep it close to the vest. Now we’ve learned that Matthew Robinson, who previously wrote Love and Monsters and 2009’s The Invention of Lying with Ricky Gervais, is working away on the script, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Back in January, Patty Jenkins shared that she did have a writer she was working on the project with, but she wanted to wait for him to get a “proper announcement.” Well, I’m not sure this is it (it was reported by a trade rather than the studio itself), but hey, now we know the writer behind Rogue Squadron. In early 2021, the pair had almost finished the treatment for the movie, and now Robinson is reportedly in the middle of writing up the script ahead of a 2022 shoot.
Rogue Squadron already has a December 22, 2023 release date, and it looks like the movie’s development is moving right along as it eyes starting pre-production this fall. Matthew Robinson might seem like an unexpected choice for a Star Wars movie, but he does have quite a diverse resume under his belt. The writer also adapted Dora the Explorer in 2019’s live-action adventure and is attached to the screenplay for the up-in-the-air Edge of Tomorrow sequel and the upcoming Little Shop of Horrors remake starring Chris Evans and Taron Egerton.
Aside from the good news that Rogue Squadron has a scribe and is moving along through development, we really don’t know much about the movie itself. We’ve made our guesses about where it could fit in the Star Wars timeline, but because the universe is moving forward into a world that is no longer all about the Skywalkers and Darth Vader, there are plenty of new paths to go down.
As revealed during last year’s Disney Investor Day (above), Patty Jenkins is the daughter of a fighter pilot herself, who died while serving his country. The Wonder Woman 1984 director was inspired by his passing to make “the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time.” It’ll be exciting to see what her and Matthew Robinson envision for Rogue Squadron as the production begins to transform into something more concrete.
