Taika Waititi Comments on His STAR WARS Movie, Hinting That He's Not Finished with the Script
At one point, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said that Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie was going to be the next Star Wars movie to be released. I think it’s safe to say that’s not the case anymore. There are several other projects moving forward and now the next film is expected to be released in the Rey Skywalker one.
Waititi previously explained that he is looking to create something new with the franchise and expand the universe beyond all of the characters and locations that we’re familiar with. The filmmaker has offered updates on the project over the past couple of years.
The filmmaker previously said that he’s still trying to figure out an idea for the movie and that he’s “still throwing everything at the wall.” He later explained that he still hasn’t quite figured out his idea and he’s not even 100% confident that his movie is going to happen. Now it seems like he still has finished his script.
Waititi recently showed up at the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Awards to honor Free Guy director Shawn Levy with the inaugural Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award. While giving his speech, Waititi mentioned Levy’s planned Star Wars movie and in the process commented on his own Star Wars project saying:
“Unlike me, let’s hope he manages to finish a script for that.”
So, if we are to take Waititi seriously, it seems like the project may have stalled out. This may actually be the case. When previously asked about all the Star Wars film projects that have been started and then been abandoned, Waititi responded saying:
“Might happen to me. And I think Taika [of] 10 years ago would be so panicked and nervous at the prospect of that. But if it’s not right, it’s not right. If it’s not ready, it’s not ready. [With] Star Wars, I don’t want to rush. It’s something I wouldn’t want to just leap into and not feel that it’s unique, it’s my film, and it makes sense. Because that would be a disaster. I’m writing at the moment. So I’m gonna do my best to come up with an idea that everyone loves.”
The filmmaker also talked about what he is looking to do with Star Wars, saying:
“Look, I think for the Star Wars universe to expand, it has to expand. I don’t think that I’m any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone’s like, ‘Oh great, well that’s the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that’s Chewbacca’s grandmother.’ That all stands alone, that’s great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise, it feels like it’s a very small story.”
I’m sure that Waiti’s Star Wars movie will eventually happen, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen anytime soon. It’s looking like the director is going to join Rain Johnson in the forever-stalled Star Wars project club.