Late last year, Taika Waititi took his first steps into a larger world when he not only voiced assassin droid IG-11 in The Mandalorian, but also directed an episode of the Disney+ series. Now word’s come in that Lucasfilm is courting the filmmaker to contribute to the big screen side of the Star Wars franchise.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Taika Waititi has been approached to develop a Star Wars movie. Not only is it unclear where those talks currently stand, but it also wasn’t clarified if this is the same Star Wars movie that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is tackling or something separate. And, of course, the word ‘develop’ can be quite flexible. One could easily imagine Waititi directing a Star Wars feature film, but it’s also possible he would act as a producer.
Not too long after this Star Wars news broke, Taika Waititi tweeted the following:
In any case, we’ll just have to wait and see if Taika Waititi will work on a Star Wars movie, but looking at his resume, he’d be more than qualified for the job. Along with the work he’s already done on The Mandalorian, he made big waves in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, and he’ll continue to guide the God of Thunder’s corner of this franchise with Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi’s other directorial credits include What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Jojo Rabbit.
The film side of the Star Wars franchise is in a peculiar spot following the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The next movie is set for release in 2022, but there’s still no word on what it will be about. Originally the plan was for Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to work on a Star Wars trilogy that would begin in 2022 and end in 2026, but they eventually stepped away due to their Netflix deal.
But that’s just one set of movies that was being tossed around. In addition to what Kevin Feige is developing, The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson also has his own trilogy in the works, and there have been unconfirmed rumors of a Knight of the Old Republic trilogy being worked on. And who knows what else has been talked about that hasn’t reached the public’s ears yet?
Given that Taika Waititi likes to switch off between these blockbusters and smaller movies, something tells me that he wouldn’t stick around for an entire Star Wars trilogy. But hey, I could be proven wrong, and even if he works out a deal with Disney and Lucasfilm for just one Star Wars movie, his involvement is sure to get a lot of people excited.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for continuing coverage on what’s coming up for the Star Wars film branch. In the meantime, plan out out your trips to the theater this year with our 2020 release schedule. As for Taika Waititi, his next directorial effort, Next Goal Wins, is in the middle of post-production, but hasn’t been given a release date yet.
