Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) has reportedly been approached about directing a new Star Wars movie. Waititi is already a part of the Lucasfilm family having directed the Season 1 finale of The Mandalorian as well as voicing the role of IG-11 on the Disney+ series.
According to THR, the current state of talks between Waititi and Disney/Lucasfilm is “unclear.” Both companies declined to comment for THR.
“It is also unclear whether the project is separate from the one being developed by Kevin Feige, with whom he closely worked on Ragnarok, or a separate Star Wars project,” the trade adds.
Deadline claims “it’s not clear yet if it’s a feature for Disney+ or the big screen. Early talks isn’t even the word yet here.”
While Star Wars seems to have a promising future ahead on the small screen — with Disney+ moving forward with the second season of The Mandalorian as well as a solo Obi-Wan Kenobi series and a Cassian Andor series— the feature film franchise has been dogged by drops in ticket sales for both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker (yes, despite both films crossing the $1 billion mark worldwide) and lots of behind-the-scenes creative friction that has seen several directors and filmmakers fired.
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Lucasfilm most recently opted to shelve the Star Wars film trilogy that was in the works with Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and there’s been nary a peep on Rian Johnson’s planned trilogy. Johnson is now working on a sequel to his hit film Knives Out.
If Waititi is being eyed for the Feige-produced Star Wars film, the Marvel Studios boss has said his film will take viewers to new corners of the galaxy far, far away.
Waititi is Oscar-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. His next film, Next Goal Wins, is in production and he then segues to direct Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel. Waititi recently told IGN that he still hopes to direct a live-action Akira movie but it’s been postponed until after Thor: Love and Thunder.
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Disney has carved out release dates for three new Star Wars movies after The Rise of Skywalker. The first of these was to have been the first Weiss and Benioff film, coming on December 16, 2022. The other two dates are December 20, 2024, and December 18, 2026, though it’s not clear if those dates belonged to the other Beinoff and Weiss movies or Rian Johnson’s films or possibly some of each. Rumors suggest Lucasfilm will announce a new director for the December 2022 movie as early as January 2020.
Source: IGN.com Star Wars: Taika Waititi Reportedly Approached for New Movie