Filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi has already been a part of the two biggest film franchises: the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise. Regarding the latter, while he already directed an episode of the Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian and scored an Emmy nomination nominated for voicing IG-11, there’s still a Star Wars idea brewing in this New Zealand filmmaker’s head. Taika Waititi gets honest about what it would take to get his Star Wars movie actually made at Lucasfilm.
Most recently, Taika Waititi has returned to the Thor film series as a director and reprised the voice of Korg for Love and Thunder. Even though filming has wrapped up and Thor: Love and Thunder will be released on July 8, that doesn’t mean Waititi is cutting short his workload anytime soon. According to The New York Times, he still has a Star Wars idea under his belt that remains a work in progress.
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.
A couple of years ago, Taika Waititi was approached to develop a Star Wars movie. After finishing off one of the MCU's bigger movies, it seems only logical to develop a story for the Star Wars franchise. While the property set in a galaxy far, far away has a number of live-action shows on Disney+ to keep fans in this epic saga, the last Star Wars film we got was Star Wars Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker three years ago. As of right now, the challenge of developing a Star Wars story is making sure it feels like a Star Wars story and not a movie that happens to take place in space strapped with a Star Wars logo. Given the mixed reception much of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy received, I would have to agree with that.
A fresh eye never hurts when it comes to continuing an already popular franchise, as long as its new filmmaker delves into the new cinematic universe carefully. It's also worth noting that Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie isn't the franchise's only upcoming big screen tale in the works. Another is Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, which was intended to be the first Star Wars movie after The Rise of Skywalker, but creative differences put the Wonder Woman director’s project on hold.
While we have no idea if Jenkins' project will ever come to fruition, I have a good feeling Taika Waititi will put his creative brainpower to good use with this sci-fi film series. Remember that there’s a payoff for waiting if it means we’ll be delivered an epic movie, like the projects bankable filmmaker James Cameron comes up with, including Avatar.
While you wait for the development of Taika Waititi’s Star Wars story, you can still head to space as you hear him voice of Buzz Lightyear’s new recruit, Mo Morrison, in Lightyear. Be sure to watch this Pixar 2022 movie release in theaters now.
