Hot off nabbing six Academy Award nominations for his World War Two satire Jojo Rabbit at the beginning of the week comes word that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has met with Lucasfilm about developing a Star Wars film.
The news comes from the Hollywood Reporter, which states –
It is unclear where things stand in those talks. It is also unclear whether the project is separate from the one being developed by Kevin Feige, with whom he closely worked on Ragnarok, or a separate Star Wars project.
It is not too surprising that Waititi is being courted for his spin on Star Wars. His work on Thor: Ragnarok revitalizd what many saw as the most creatively moribund of Marvel’s solo superhero series. More recently, he directed two episodes of Lucasfilm’s Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian, in addition to supplying the voice for assassin droid-turned-nanny droid IG-11.
The Reporter speculates that The Mandalorian could be a proving ground for Lucasfilm for directors before moving them onto other Star Wars projects. Deborah Chow, who also directed an episode, is now set to direct the studio’s upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+ which will star Ewan McGregor.
With the release of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Lucasfilm has brought the main Star Wars story of the Skywalker family to a close. And as such, the franchise is now looking to split its storytelling focus along two paths. The first is to continue with new material for the Disney+ streaming service. In addition to a second season of The Mandalorian and the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, they are planning a series featuring Rebel Alliance spy Cassian Andor, featuring Diego Luna’s character from Star Wars: Rogue One.
Meanwhile, on the cinematic side, Lucasfilm has given no indication as to how they will proceed. Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had been developing a new trilogy of films, but dropped out when their duties with their Netflix development contract took precedence. The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has also been developing a new trilogy of Star Wars films, but there has been no official word if his films will be going forward. Additionally, Kevin Feige, head of Lucasfilm’s corporate sibling Marvel Studios, has also reportedly held meetings about possibly developing a Star Wars film.
But even if all sides decide that they would want to go forward with a Waititi-developed Star Wars film, we won’t be seeing it right away. The director is currently in post-production on his next film, the dramedy Next Goal Wins, which will be released later this year. After he wraps that he should be heading right into prep for his Ragnarok follow-up, Thor: Love And Thunder, which is expected to get in front of cameras late this summer. He also has a War Of The Roses remake on the books with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman attached to star and has been developing a live-action version of the classic anime Akira for Warner Brothers.
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm and Disney will have to make some sort of a decision on how to proceed soon, as they have a December 2022 staked out for their next cinematic release,
