Wonder Woman 3 Director Exits Gal Gadot's Cleopatra for DC & Star Wars Movies
After the critical and financial success of 2017's Wonder Woman, director Patty Jenkins quickly became highly sought after in the movie industry. Since then, the filmmaker returned to helm the controversial sequel Wonder Woman 1984, which received a mixed reaction. But that hasn't slowed things down for Jenkins as she will be returning to complete the trilogy in the coming years while also joining Disney's world of Star Wars with Rogue Squadron.
As a whole, the presence of female directors and talent on both sides of the camera has increased astronomically in recent years. Marvel Studios made particular strides in this area lately with Black Widow's Cate Shortland, Eternals' Chloe Zhao, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Kari Skogland, and The Marvel's Nia DaCosta.
Recently, Jenkins' busy schedule seemingly pushed back Star Wars' next highly-anticipated theatrical release, 2023's Rogue Squadron. However, the Wonder Woman director's schedule may have just freed up as she departs a significant upcoming project.
Jenkins Focuses on DC & Star Wars
According to a recent report from Deadline, Patty Jenkins has exited the directing role in the Gal Gadot-led Cleopatra biopic in order to focus on her upcoming DC and Star Wars projects, Wonder Woman 3 and Rogue Squadron.
As Jenkins steps back to a producing role, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Kari Skogland will take over directing duties.
Additionally, a tweet from Deadline's Justin Kroll claims Jenkins will now turn her focus to Wonder Woman 3. However, production on the DC threequel will not begin until 2023 at the earliest with titular actress Gal Gadot preoccupied with Cleopatra and Snow White through 2022.
Wonder Woman & Rogue Squadron Moving Up?
Since the Skywalker Saga concluded with the widely panned Rise of the Skywalker in 2019, Star Wars shifted its focus to Disney+ with numerous popular series hitting the streaming service as the franchise takes a hiatus from the big screen.
Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron was originally set to mark the franchise's big return to theaters in December 2023. However, the release has since been delayed indefinitely. It remains unclear if Jenkins' departure from Cleopatra puts the fighter pilot flick back on track or if another Star Wars project will still take the slot.
Unfortunately, Jenkins' departure from Cleopatra won't do much to benefit Wonder Woman 3 as Gal Gadot remains signed on to star in the biopic and Snow White in 2022. Although the shift could allow the director to get much of the pre-production work done for the DC threequel for the Israeli actress as she becomes available.
Sadly, it seems Rogue Squadron won't be entering hyperspace anytime soon, and another Star Wars outing remains likely to take its December 2023 slot. With projects in the works from Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige, J.D. Dillard, and Rian Johnston, it's hard to predict which release may take the slot.
Wonder Woman 3, Rogue Squadron, and Cleopatra have yet to set release dates or begin production, so fans may have some time to wait before Patty Jenkins' work returns to the big screen.
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