Earlier today Kathleen Kennedy spoke with Deadline about a variety of topics, including her possibly stepping down and somebody succeeding her as Lucasfilm president, I already covered her comments on the topic here if you want to read about that. However, Kennedy also spoke about some Star Wars projects that are in the works at Lucasfilm with one of them being a film from Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi, which was first announced in 2020.
Yes, it’s been almost five years since it was revealed that Taika Waititi, the director behind films such as Jojo Rabbit, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Thor: Love and Thunder, was set to direct an untitled Star Wars movie. Development on the project has not been smooth it seems and at first appeared to be a priority at Lucasfilm. Initially Waititi’s film was looking to release in 2025 before being pushed up to 2023 when Rogue Squadron from Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) got indefinitely delayed and then ultimately got indefinitely delayed itself as Waititi struggled to crack the script.
Waititi was initially writing the project with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the writer of 1917 and Last Night in Soho, before she later moved on and Waititi worked with others that weren’t publicly revealed in an effort to crack the story. In 2023, Kathleen Kennedy revealed that Waititi needed to write the third draft of his Star Wars movie, Waititi himself confirmed shortly after that he was struggling to crack the middle part of the story. It was also reported at the time that Waititi was expected to submit new drafts of his script before and after the WGA strikes of that year. However, in November of the same year, Taika revealed that he was planning to complete work on four other films before turning his attention back to his Star Wars project. Since those comments, Waititi has only completed work on one film, Klara and the Sun starring Jenna Ortega, which is due to release later this year. Since that disappointing update from Waititi, word in his project has expectedly been silent since. That was until today when Kathleen Kennedy gave an h update on the long delayed effort.
When speaking with Deadline, Kennedy revealed that she was still waiting for Taika Waititi’s latest Star Wars script after being asked if there were any other Star Wars movies being developed outside of those from Shawn Levy, Simon Kinberg and James Mangold. Kennedy revealed that Waititi is now working with a new writer, which she did not name, and that she believes that his script, if she ever gets one, will be “fantastic” and that she “loved” his first act, but it appears that Waititi’s busy schedule is the biggest issue.
“I keep waiting for Taika [Waititi], and he is working with another writer now. He’s so busy. I love him. I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic. I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down, it’s tricky.” – Kathleen Kennedy
