Patty Jenkins talks making history as first female 'Star Wars' director on 'Rogue Squadron'

After being the first female director to helm a major studio comic book film (Wonder Woman), Patty Jenkins is embarking on another first: She'll be the first woman to direct a Star Wars film, this one being the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

"I feel a huge amount of pressure to make a great Star Wars film," Jenkins recently told Yahoo Entertainment. "Of course the fan base is amazing and massive and that's no small task, you know."

For Jenkins, the daughter of a fighter pilot, the story of the beloved starfighter squadron was a perfect fit.

"It really is a movie I have been dying to make," she said. "I spent years trying to make a movie about Chuck Yeager. So this is just a huge, huge honor to get to take this on."

Video Transcript

PATTY JENKINS: Now I've found a movie about two things I love. So I'm going to see you very soon.

KEVIN POLOWY: I have to congratulate you on the next gig you have lined up. It's such awesome news. I mean, the world is very excited, as, hopefully, you can tell. You know, you were the first woman to helm a major-studio comic-book film. You'll soon be the first to direct a Star Wars film. I mean, do you feel any added pressure that you're in this sort of groundbreaking position, that it could set the tone for a generation of female filmmakers to come.

KEVIN POLOWY: Yes, I feel a huge amount of pressure to make a great Star Wars film, of course. The fan base is amazing and massive. And that's no small task. That's really what I think about. If I can be, being in a groundbreaking position, to to pave the way for other people, that's amazing. I hope that I get to do that.

But, yeah, I mean, luckily the Wonder Womans were not no pressure, either. So I've gotten pretty used to the fact that there's really nothing you could do about it. You just have to try to make a great film and really be diligent about keeping your eye on the ball and always making sure you're thinking about everything. And so I will carry forward and try to make a great movie.

KEVIN POLOWY: How did Star Wars come about? Did Kathleen Kennedy approach you, or vise versa? What can you say about that?

PATTY JENKINS: We were friendly with each other. I share a lot of the same crew. So we were friends. And I had gone over there, been on set when they were doing the last Star Wars while we were doing "Wonder Woman 1984." Our sets were friendly. What happened was they just approached me and said, would I ever be interested? And I said, it would really depend what the story was.

I just always want to make sure that I feel I could make an amazing movie. And when they said "Rogue Squadron," I almost gasped. Because I couldn't believe that they were so wise to know and somehow intuit that that's exactly what I have been dying to do for so long. Because of my past in growing up around fighter pilots, it really is a movie I have been dying to make. I spent years trying to make a movie about Chuck Yeager. So this is just a huge honor to get to take this on.