Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins is Directing a Rogue Squadron Movie

[Reverend]

It wasn't a bad novel but it didn't really engage me as much as the Stackpole novels.

Yeah, anyone going into that expecting the relatively light adventure themed around hot-shot fighter pilots is in for a disappointment. It's very introspective, character centric, and deals with things like war crime guilt, defection, lies, obsession, ya know; fun stuff!

While it's not one of my personal favourites, the trilogy as a whole does stand out as one of the more interesting canon novel series thus far.

 

[Gaith]

Yeah, because doing the effects work before live action is totally how filmmaking works.

LOL, are you kidding? That's increasingly exactly how effects-heavy filmmaking works. You have to build a set before you can shoot on it, and if your set is digital, for Volume filming, you have to digitally build it before the actors show up. What's more, Marvel Studios routinely starts doing animated pre-viz on action sequences before scripts are completed, let alone before the actors start filming, and digital doubles are increasingly being used in finished shots. And there's no hard boundary between pre-viz shots and finished shots, as the digital process can keep upgrading elements until said shots are cinema-ready.

So, for a potential movie like Rogue Squadron, if Lucasfilm had a story outline and several particular action sequences in mind, would it make sense for them to begin at least preliminary animation during a strike that could last for months? Dang right, it would. (Having a completed script would of course be even better, but it wouldn't be strictly necessary.)

With who?

Whoever they like. That's the beauty of a movie where much of the filming would takes place in spaceship sets, and most live-action elements of action sequences would consist of insert shots that can be filmed on an LA soundstage - who's directing and acting in the shots isn't that important. They don't need a visionary director, and the director doesn't have the be the child of a real fighter pilot, thus giving them some mystical connection to the material. The director doesn't need to also be the movie's writer, either. They also don't need a ridiculously overcommitted star like Tom Cruise to insist that the actors do ride-alongs in actual jets, because this is fantasy spaceships we're talking about. They can rig up basic harnesses under the actors' costumes and have an intern tug at them in order to simulate G-forces to enhance their performances if theylike.

What's important is having a solid, quality script, and Lucasfilm should have finished one years ago, because writing a good script is the cheapest and easiest part of the moviemaking process. Even if they didn't actively plan to prioritize production on said project, they should have had that script ready for a rainy day or surprising circumstance. And when Top Gun: Maverick blew away all expectations, they should have greenlit the script right away, thrown together a cast, started building the physical sets, and started preliminary animation on the battles. Even if they hadn't finished filming by now, they could be continuing to work on said animation.

Let's face it, Maverick wasn't a huge hit because Joseph Kosinski was a visionary director with an intensely personal vision and style. It was a huge hit because it had a solid script, charismatic stars, and engaging action sequences.

I bet Disney really wish they had a Rogue Squadron movie in the can by now.

Looks like someone does.

I for one would take a good Rogue Squadron movie over Mando S3, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew...

 

[fireproof78]

Whoever they like. That's the beauty of a movie where much of the filming would takes place in spaceship sets, and most live-action elements of action sequences would consist of insert shots that can be filmed on an LA soundstage - who's directing and acting in the shots isn't that important.

'Cause, you know, with the strike going on they'll just grab whomever?

 

[Gaith]

'Cause, you know, with the strike going on they'll just grab whomever?

I'm not clear on which part of my suggestion that VFX artists (who aren't currently on strike) could be working on the digital aspects of the action sequences for this project was opaque.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm not clear on which part of my suggestion that VFX artists (who aren't currently on strike) could be working on the digital aspects of the action sequences for this project was opaque.

Well, as others noted you have to have a script and then you can have VFX, and some artists are striking so of course that limits them as well.

Yes, I know there is this strong belief that Lucasfilm is completely mismanaged and should just throw something at the wall and hope it sticks, and write scripts and assume it fits with all their current plans. So, should they take a script, even with them under strike, and do up VFX with limited resources and complete this tasks that seems so easy to you?

 

[Jedman67]

If you don't have a completed script, it's kinda hard to just "throw together animation sequences" or "basic previz"
Anything besides generic sets or reusable assets would be pointless.
Work on the projects that are actually approved and do post production after filming is done.

Using the Volume does require more pre-production in order to develop the assets, which is why a script is important, so you know who is going to require what scene and when.

 

[Reverend]

Well, as others noted you have to have a script and then you can have VFX, and some artists are striking so of course that limits them as well.

Yes, I know there is this strong belief that Lucasfilm is completely mismanaged and should just throw something at the wall and hope it sticks, and write scripts and assume it fits with all their current plans. So, should they take a script, even with them under strike, and do up VFX with limited resources and complete this tasks that seems so easy to you?

I mean what's the worst that could happen? It's not as if the VFX artists are going to unionise too! *glances at the news* Nevermind!

 

[Gaith]

They publicly announced a Rogue Squadron movie nearly three years ago, so they probably started internally developing one three years ago. Like I said, they should have written a solid script years ago, and they should have reviewed that script with a quickness when Maverick became a smash hit last year. Commissioning good scripts really isn't that hard, as there's a lot of skilled writers out there.

That's my opinion, and no one's going to move me off of it.

I mean what's the worst that could happen? It's not as if the VFX artists are going to unionise too! *glances at the news* Nevermind!

The worst that could happen is that the studio that's just this summer brought us the smash hits Willow (TV) and Indiana Jones and the Look, People, We Made Another Indiana Jones Movie Because We Promised Harrison We Would So He'd Appear in the Sequel Trilogy, So Please Watch It, We Spent a LOT of Money On It will, because of the strikes, have to delay their next Star Wars movie by yet another year or more because they didn't have the basic competence to have a Rogue Squadron script ready to get cracking on.

 

[David cgc]

Well, as others noted you have to have a script and then you can have VFX, and some artists are striking so of course that limits them as well.

If you don't have a completed script, it's kinda hard to just "throw together animation sequences" or "basic previz"

Am I the only one who read the post they're replying to?

I bet Disney really wish they had a Rogue Squadron movie in the can by now. Or at the very least a completed script, for which they could be filming and animating the dogfights during the strike, with cockpit actor shots to be quickly and easily shot later.

Gaith was presupposing a world where the movie had been partially or completely shot, or even just had been nearing the end of pre-production.

 

[fireproof78]

I don't buy in to the presupposition.

I get it. WE all know how to run Lucasfilm better than those currently doing so.

Commissioning good scripts really isn't that hard, as there's a lot of skilled writers out there.

I move that Gaith be appointed president of Lucasfilm and commission this script.

 

[Jedman67]

Am I the only one who read the post they're replying to?

I was replying to

So, for a potential movie like Rogue Squadron, if Lucasfilm had a story outline and several particular action sequences in mind, would it make sense for them to begin at least preliminary animation during a strike that could last for months? Dang right, it would. (Having a completed script would of course be even better, but it wouldn't be strictly necessary.)
----
Whoever they like. That's the beauty of a movie where much of the filming would takes place in spaceship sets, and most live-action elements of action sequences would consist of insert shots that can be filmed on an LA soundstage - who's directing and acting in the shots isn't that important. They don't need a visionary director, and the director doesn't have the be the child of a real fighter pilot, thus giving them some mystical connection to the material. The director doesn't need to also be the movie's writer, either. They also don't need a ridiculously overcommitted star like Tom Cruise to insist that the actors do ride-alongs in actual jets, because this is fantasy spaceships we're talking about. They can rig up basic harnesses under the actors' costumes and have an intern tug at them in order to simulate G-forces to enhance their performances if theylike.

 

[fireproof78]

I mean what's the worst that could happen? It's not as if the VFX artists are going to unionise too! *glances at the news* Nevermind!

I am shocked! Shocked, I say, at this outcome.

And hoping my friends get some better opportunities as VFX artists rather than constantly scaping by.

 

[David cgc]

I don't buy in to the presupposition.

I get it. WE all know how to run Lucasfilm better than those currently doing so.

If you ask me, "No, even if LF hadn't cancelled Rogue Squadron, it's so completely inconceivable they would've made any appreciable progress on it by summer 2023 that my mind will not even process words suggesting the idea when I read them" is a far more aggressive piece of armchair-quarterbacking.

Let's remember, Rogue Squadron was slated to be released three months from now. Suggesting that it would've had a usable script and principle photography would've been underway (if not complete) by May and July, respectively, shouldn't be a concept that requires that much of a leap of faith unless you really think Lucasfilm can't find their own butts with both hands.

 

[fireproof78]

If you ask me, "No, even if LF hadn't cancelled Rogue Squadron, it's so completely inconceivable they would've made any appreciable progress on it by summer 2023 that my mind will not even process words suggesting the idea when I read them" is a far more aggressive piece of armchair-quarterbacking.

If only I had said that.

 

[Gaith]

If only I had said that.

Well, here's what you did say:

I know there is this strong belief that Lucasfilm is completely mismanaged and should just throw something at the wall and hope it sticks, and write scripts and assume it fits with all their current plans.

So, if I'm hearing you correctly, you think that, assuming Lucasfilm indeed doesn't have a Rogue Squadron script they're happy with, and are only not currently working on producing it because they decided to prioritize other projects, it's not reasonable to suggest that that might have a mistake, and they maybe should have produced such a script over the past three years.

A script. Something one person can make in a room anywhere in the world, with only a $100 laptop, or even pencil and paper, provided they're paid a bit of money for their time and effort. I think the studio that spent a reported $300 million dollars on Indiana Jones 5 could have bothered to hire someone to do that. But, who knows, maybe I'm a raving lunatic, or something.

 

[fireproof78]

A script. Something one person can make in a room anywhere in the world, with only a $100 laptop, or even pencil and paper, provided they're paid a bit of money for their time and effor

I await your copy.

So, if I'm hearing you correctly, you think that, assuming Lucasfilm indeed doesn't have a Rogue Squadron script they're happy with, and are only not currently working on producing it because they decided to prioritize other projects, it's not reasonable to suggest that that might have a mistake, and they maybe should have produced such a script over the past three years.

I mean, I don't know. And at this point I don't if we'll ever know why things get delayed.

Whether scheduling, conflicts between creatives, or a shifting of priorities I will not claim that somehow I know better than those at Lucasfilm or that I, or any other person, could throw together a script and expect it to be filmable.

Even if they had a script, they still need resources from studios and the strike would have an impact on that.

So, again, no I don't subscribe to the notion that somehow we know better than Lucasfilm, hypothetical or not.

 

[Set Harth]

Let's remember, Rogue Squadron was slated to be released three months from now.

It could still happen! We just have to believe really hard! Just like Yoder said

 

[Gaith]

Well, I've made my case, Your Honors, so I'll happily rest it now. I'll be here all week! Don't forget to tip the wait staff!

 

[Jedman67]

So, if I'm hearing you correctly, you think that, assuming Lucasfilm indeed doesn't have a Rogue Squadron script they're happy with, and are only not currently working on producing it because they decided to prioritize other projects, it's not reasonable to suggest that that might have a mistake, and they maybe should have produced such a script over the past three years.

A script. Something one person can make in a room anywhere in the world, with only a $100 laptop, or even pencil and paper, provided they're paid a bit of money for their time and effort. I think the studio that spent a reported $300 million dollars on Indiana Jones 5 could have bothered to hire someone to do that. But, who knows, maybe I'm a raving lunatic, or something.

Based on the most recent publicly available information that I can recall, Jenkins was still intending to direct the project but scheduling conflicts with other films and probably some creative differences with Lucasfilm has led to it being "indefinitely delayed."

One can make a few assumptions based on that.
I am assuming that there is no completed script or that the most recent iteration thereoff has not been greenlit.
I am also assuming that Lucasfilm has approached other directors/producers but has not yet made a decision whether to wait for Jenkins or end up using someone else.

I can be wrong - it's possible the script is done and Jenkins treatment has been approved, but they don't want to release any news until it starts shooting. And with the writers and actors strikes looming, and Andor, Mandolorian, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew (am I missing anything?) and a possible Obi Wan S2 in current development, it's entirely plausible that LF just wanted to hit the brakes for another year before starting work on RS.

 

[Set Harth]

The third Ewok movie should be coming along nicely about now.