Posted in: Movies, Star Wars | Tagged: lucasfilm, movies, patty jenkins, rian johnson, Rogue Squadron, star wars

RUMOR: Patty Jenkins, Rian Johnson's Star Wars Films Have Been Shelved

Yesterday, it was announced that Lucasfilm has renewed their contract with Kathleen Kennedy through 2024, and the reactions from fandom have been mixed, to say the least. Kennedy is a controversial figure within the Star Wars fandom; some of those reasons are valid, and others are just misogyny reigning high. This information came out not long after reports of Rogue Squadron being removed from the shooting schedule due to scheduling conflicts with director Patty Jenkins. However, the cited reasons for the delay are not the ones currently being rumored. Former The Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni is usually one of the better insides, and he is reporting some very dicey things over at Lucasfilm. Belloni is saying that not only was Rogue Squadron shelved due to "creative differences," but those creative differences also impacted the David Benioff and Dan Weiss Star Wars trilogy that was canceled after Game of Thrones ended and that Rian Johnson's Star Wars movies are also not moving forward for very similar reasons.

I talked to a few insiders this week that said the real culprit was the dreaded "creative differences"; specifically, Jenkins couldn't agree on the script with Lucasfilm executives, including senior V.P. Michelle Rejwan. That's not unusual, of course, but it's a laughably recurring problem at Lucasfilm under president Kathleen Kennedy, say agents: Top filmmakers are dying to make a Star Wars movie—until they sign on and experience the micromanagement and plot-point-by-committee process. It happened to the Game of Thrones guys, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who were hired to create a new trilogy but bailed. It also happened to Rian Johnson, writer and director of 2017's The Last Jedi, whose own planned trilogy was shelved.

Now, it should be reiterated that this is in no way confirmed, and even if these movies are shelved, we might not ever find a reason why. It wouldn't be in the best interest of anyone involved to talk about any behind-the-scenes drama. The conflicts just seem to go completely against everything that we've seen on television from Kennedy and Star Wars. If there are so many problems with the movies, then why don't we see these issues reflected in the television shows as well? It's just strange that people seem to think that bad management would only affect one aspect of the brand and not the rest of it. Thus far, there have been no behind-the-scenes issues mentioned about any of the Star Wars shows. It's just something to keep in mind when rumors like this turn up.

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