Taika Waititi to Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Film

Adam B. Vary and Justin Kroll
·2 min read

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Taika Waititi will direct a new “Star Wars” movie for theatrical release, which he’s co-writing with “1917” scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Disney and Lucasfilm announced on Monday.

The studio also confirmed that a new untitled “Star Wars” TV series is in the works at Disney Plus from “Russian Doll” creator Leslye Headland, which Variety reported exclusively last month.

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The film news affirms reports that first broke in January that Waititi was developing a “Star Wars” movie, on the heels of his well-received work directing the season finale of the hit Disney Plus “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian.”

It’s unclear if Waititi’s film is one of Disney’s three untitled “Star Wars” movies dated for Dec. 2022, 2024 and 2026 — or if it’s a separate project.

Previously, the New Zealand filmmaker was coy about those reports when Variety asked about them in February after he won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for “Jojo Rabbit.”

“Are there discussions about the ‘Star Wars’ film? Like, yeah, I discussed with my friends in 1996 how cool ‘Star Wars’ was,” Waititi mused in February. “I think people see me hanging out with people, especially with ‘Star Wars,’ and think I’m having some big discussions about it. I would f—ing love to.…If it was right. I would want to do any kind of movie if it made sense, and if it felt not like career suicide.”

This project is the first official “Star Wars” feature film to be confirmed after “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss walked away from their deal last October to make a series of “Star Wars” movies.

Waititi is next set to direct “Thor: Love and Thunder” for Disney’s Marvel Studios, which is currently scheduled to open in theaters on Feb. 18, 2022. Variety recently reported that Waititi will co-write that project with “Someone Great” screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

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