Taika Waititi Confirms His STAR WARS Movie Is Officially “On Ice” After Years of Development
Well, it looks like Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie has officially been frozen in carbonite. After six years of development, occasional updates, and plenty of uncertainty, the filmmaker has confirmed that his planned adventure in a galaxy far, far away has been put on hold indefinitely.
While promoting his latest film, Klara and the Sun, Waititi gave Inverse a pretty straightforward update on the project, which was first announced back in 2020.
“I hate to break this to you, but we’re going to actually put it on ice and we’re working on a different thing together,” Waititi explained.
Apparently, his publicist tried to stop him from revealing anything further, but the director had already made the situation pretty clear. “Well, there’s your answer,” Waititi said. “I don’t even know how to dress it up or make it even vague.”
He continued, “It’s very iced. I’ve got about four other movies I’m trying to do,” before leaving a little room for hope. “Ice ages do come to an end… Who knows?”
The news isn't particularly surprising. Since Lucasfilm announced Waititi's Star Wars movie in 2020, we've heard plenty about its development but very little about any actual progress.
Over the years, there have been rumors about the film being canceled, assurances that it was still happening, and occasional comments from Waititi about what he wanted to do with it.
At one point, the filmmaker even teased that his take on Star Wars would “piss people off,” which certainly made me curious about what he had planned. But, it looks like we may never find out.
As recently as January, Waititi was still discussing his creative approach to the project and how he wanted to recapture the spirit of George Lucas' original films.
He explained that he was “trying to go back and harness a little bit more of the fun from the original films, which is what I remember [from] them.”
“The stakes are very high, and there’s serious things going on, but there’s also a lot of fun to be had in those films. That’s what I was trying to bring back,” Waititi continued.
“I was trying to work in a world that was a little bit separate to that because they’ve got so many things going on within that space. For me to do something there, it would need to be a little different and a little bit more its own thing.”
With so much of the franchise focused on familiar characters, established timelines, and interconnected stories, the idea of Waititi doing something completely different in the Star Wars universe had potential.
Former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy previously described the project as “still somewhat alive,” which wasn't exactly an encouraging update. Now Waititi has clarified where things stand, and it sounds like neither he nor Lucasfilm is in any hurry to get this movie made.
Meanwhile, Waititi has been busy with Klara and the Sun, which has received a mixed response from critics and audiences. Regardless of that reception, Waititi clearly has plenty of other projects competing for his attention, and his Star Wars movie isn't a priority right now.
I’m fine with Waititi’s Star Wars project not moving forward. The filmmaker has always done his best work with original projects. His particular brand of humor might not have worked for every Star Wars fan, but something fresh and unexpected could've been interesting.
For now, though, the movie is frozen, and there's no telling when or if it'll ever get moving again.