Back in January, acclaimed director Taika Waititi was approached by Lucasfilm to be involved in big screen Star Wars feature film. Now the time has come and Waititi is set to take over the story in the galaxy far, far away.
Disney confirmed that the Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit filmmaker will direct and co-write a new Star Wars feature movie with a theatrical release. Oscar-nominated 1917 writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns will pen the script with Waititi. The project happened to be announced on Monday, May 4th, the unofficial holiday for all Star Wars afficionados to celebrate the quote “May The Force (Fourth) Be With You.”
The release date is currently unknown, but Disney still has a Dec. 16, 2022 date carved out for an untitled Star Wars feature. However, this date was set before Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss exited the project. In addition, the 2022 date was also set before the coronavirus pandemic, which caused huge changes in the Hollywood release calendar that delayed major studios, including Disney.
Waititi, notable for winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar this year for Jojo Rabbit, already has a good amount of notable credits in the Star Wars game. He directed the season finale of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, which has since become a pop culture hit, and voiced the bounty-hunter droid IG-11. He is also behind a Flash Gordon animated film for Fox.
Waititi’s current directing project is Next Goal Wins for Searchlight Pictures, telling the story about the underdog American Samoa soccer team. Next is Thor: Love and Thunder, which he wrote and is also set to direct and currently has a November 5, 2021 release date. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wrapped the nine-film Skywalker saga storyline last year, with the only concretely planned movies being Rian Johnson’s announced trilogy, aDiego Luna-led Rogue One prequel, and a series centering on Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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