Taika Waititi Isn't Sure His Star Wars Movie Will Get Made
Back in May, we heard that the next "Star Wars" movie in the pipeline would be one from writer-director Taika Waititi and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns ("1917," "Last Night in Soho"). This news came from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy herself, who said their film would be followed by Patty Jenkins' "Rogue Squadron." But hold your horses — or tauntauns, as the case may be. It seems that Waititi's "Star Wars" project isn't a sure thing just yet. It's all contingent on whether or not Lucasfilm actually approves the script.
Waititi, of course, has another major movie headed to theaters next week: namely, "Thor: Love and Thunder," which sees him returning to the director's chair of the solo Marvel franchise he helped course-correct in 2017 with "Thor: Ragnarok." While promoting "Love and Thunder" in an interview with The New York Times (via The Playlist), the subject of his pending "Star Wars" movie naturally came up. Waititi said, "I'm trying to write the 'Star Wars' idea at the moment. I've got to see how that goes, because once I submit it, that might determine when it gets made or if it gets made, even."
In Hoai-Tran Bui's /Film interview with Waititi this week, he also mentioned that his "Star Wars" project is still in the early stages: that he hasn't "even finished the script" and is "still trying to come up with ideas." Right now, Waititi said he's "still throwing everything at the wall," and it remains to be seen how much, if any of that, will stick.
Bringing Star Wars back to the big screen
One thing Waititi has going for him is that he has already played in the "Star Wars" sandbox. He voiced the bounty hunter droid IG-11 in the series premiere of "The Mandalorian" and also directed the acclaimed season 1 finale, which remains memorable for its scene of Biker Scouts bantering—and manhandling Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda.
The promise of that episode and Waititi's other delightful work in genre fare like "What We Do in the Shadows" made it seem like he would be a good fit for "Star Wars." Of course, we have seen a number of other high-profile directors exit "Star Wars" projects in recent years, before those projects got off the ground. The departure of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from "Solo: A Star Wars Story" is one notable example that comes to mind. Like them, Waititi comes from a comedy background.
Since "The Rise of Skywalker" divided moviegoers in 2019, new live-action "Star Wars" adventures have been confined to Disney+, with shows like "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Whoever does helm the next movie faces the daunting task of bringing "Star Wars" back to the big screen, along with all the baggage and fan expectations that entails. Whether Waititi is the right person for this job will ultimately come down to his script, so here's hoping he and Cairns are able to come up with one that does the franchise justice.