Taika Waititi Star Wars Film In Development
Kennedy: Taika Waititi’s Star Wars film is in development at Lucasfilm….
Lucasfilm actually confirmed it back on May 4. Then, today at The Walt Disney Company Investor Day 2020, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy doubled down on the prospect.
However, that “seemed” to be news to award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, who tweeted:
What?? https://t.co/V5PXar4J8c
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) December 11, 2020
But there it is in black and white on StarWars.com:
Untitled Taika Waititi Film
A brand-new Star Wars feature with acclaimed filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Taika Waititi is in development. “Taika’s approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected, and…unique,” said Kennedy. “His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride.”
Long Rumored, Happily Confirmed
In May, Waititi, whose work was so admired on The Mandalorian, was announced to the project. He had been rumored to join the Star Wars feature side as early as January, when he tweeted:
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) January 17, 2020
However, at the time, Deadline reported:
Taika Waititi is sticking around in the Star Wars universe, with Disney confirming… that he will direct and co-write a new Star Wars feature film for theatrical release. He will co-write the movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who co-wrote Oscar Best Picture nominee 1917 with Sam Mendes.
Waititi (at left) joined fellow creatives for Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. Image: Disney+.
Waititi, who won an Oscar this year for adapting the screenplay for Jojo Rabbit, which he also directed and which was nominated for Best Picture, already has his hand in the Star Wars game, having directed the season finale of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. He also voiced the bounty-hunter droid IG-11 in the series, which marked the first live-action Star Wars series and has been a big hit, with two more seasons at least on the way.
Korg and IG-11 FTW
Also at the time, I wrote on MickeyBlog.com:
Hey, Thor: Ragnarok is one of my darkhorse favorite movies in the MCU (that’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars nerds). Like Ragnarok, Waititi directed some of the best of The Mandalorian episodes in Season One on Disney+.
Oh, and he was Korg and IG-11 in those woks, respectively. So, heck yeah I am excited that Taika is rumored to have been asked to develop a Star Wars feature film.
My opinion on the matter has not changed.
