Lucasfilm is reportedly courting director Taika Waititi to develop a new Star Wars movie. With the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker last month, Lucasfilm's initial slate since being acquired by Disney has concluded. Although Lucasfilm has Star Wars movie release dates in 2022, 2024 and 2026, it's unclear which film could take that first slot. As of now, there are only a handful of projects in the works, since the film series from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss was officially cancelled. Currently, Rian Johnson's Star Wars movie series is still in the works, while Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is also developing a film.
As for Waititi, he's been on the rise as a director in recent years, helming 2016 indie darling Hunt for the Wilderpeople, then breaking onto the blockbuster scene with 2017's Thor: Ragnarok for Marvel Studios. More recently, in addition to releasing his critically acclaimed 2019 film Jojo Rabbit, Waititi directed The Mandalorian season 1 finale, for which he received a great deal of praise. Waititi is next slated to direct another independent film in Next Goal Wins before following that up with his second Marvel movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. Considering his history with Marvel, Lucasfilm and their parent company Disney, Waititi has long been a fan-favorite to direct a Star Wars movie. Now, coming off his directing stint on The Mandalorian, it seems Lucasfilm is in agreement with the fans.
As reported by THR, Lucasfilm has approached Waititi to develop a Star Wars movie, though the publication does not specify whether he'd write and/or direct the project. THR also states it's unclear whether Waititi is being approached to work on Feige's Star Wars movie or another film entirely. It's also unclear how far along in discussions Waititi is with Lucasfilm and Disney and where those talks stand.
Since Waititi successfully directed a key episode of The Mandalorian, it's not surprising that Lucasfilm has approached the filmmaker for a potential movie project, especially considering his success in the blockbuster realm with Marvel. However, it may be surprising if Waititi were to actually take on a Star Wars movie, since he's said in the past that he couldn't imagine himself fitting within the storied franchise - at least not in the same way he's carved out a unique tone for Thor within the MCU. There's certainly been plenty of conflicts with directors on Disney Star Wars projects in recent years, with filmmakers fired from both Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars 9 at different points in development/production.
It's unclear whether anything has changed on that front, if Disney and Lucasfilm are aiming to be a little less strict on their definition of a Star Wars movie or if Waititi is now interested in helming a project in the next era of the galaxy far, far away. It remains to be seen if Waititi does officially sign on to develop a Star Wars movie, and what the film might be about. Certainly, considering the positive reception of his Thor film and his episode of The Mandalorian, there are plenty of fans already on board with a potential Waititi-directed Star Wars movie. But we'll have to wait and see if this particular Star Wars project ever becomes a reality.
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Source: THR