Taika Waititi Explains He's Looking to Expand the STAR WARS Universe with His Upcoming Film

The next Star Wars film that Lucasfilm will release in theaters is the one that is being written and directed by Taika Waititi. There aren’t really details that have been shared on what Waititi is planning, but one thing we know he’s looking to do is to create something new with the franchise and expand the universe beyond all of the characters and locations that we’re familiar with.

Waititi isn’t interested in making a Star Wars movie with pre-existing characters and story threads that connect to something familiar. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy previously said that they will need “to create a whole new saga” and that’s what Waititi is going to attempt to do.

In a recent interview with Total Film, the filmmaker said, “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 do like that Lucasfilm is going to finally break away from the saga and expand beyond that. The Star Wars universe is huge and epic. There are countless stories to tell within that universe and I’m excited to see what exactly Waititi is planning, what kind of story he’ll tell, and what new characters he’s going to introduce us to. Waititi is developing his film with co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917. Obi-Wan Kenobi).

Kennedy also stressed that the big screen remains a priority for the Star Wars franchise saying, “They’ve been in movement all along. As we leave the saga, we have all this great, exciting work happening on the television side that informs so much about where we’re going. We want to be very intentional about that. And we have great talent that we’re working with – people who care so deeply about what the next iteration of Star Wars is and about getting people back into movie theaters, so we can really come out with a bang. That’s important to us.”

I’m excited to see what this next Star Wars movie will entail, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying the Star Wars shows that are being made, especially The Mandalorian.