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Earlier today, Deadline reported that Thor: Love and Thunder director, Taika Waititi, had found his next film project – Klara and the Sun, a story that follows the titular character, Klara, a robot girl who specialises in preventing teenagers from feeling lonely and attempts to save a family she lives with from heartbreak. The outlet reports that Waititi has spent some time weighing up what his next project after Love and Thunder should be, including his untitled Star Wars movie, but ultimately landed on Klara.
Waititi currently has commitments to a handful of movies and television series which include The Incal, Tower of Terror, Oompa Loompas, The Auter and possibly a live-action adaptation of Akira. The writer-director clearly has a lot on his schedule, but according to Deadline, once he’s done with Klara and the Sun, Waititi will move on to direct his long awaited Star Wars movie, as the article notes that Waititi is still excited about the project and intends on directing it next year.
The news that Waititi is aiming or hoping to shoot his Star Wars flick next year is quite surprising given that all signs point towards the the Daisy Ridley led New Jedi Order film being directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) will be the next Star Wars film to release, with reports that the production intends to start shooting in February and release in December 2025. It’s also been reported that Lucasfilm are also hoping to release the Dave Filoni directed ‘MandoVerse’ crossover event film in December of 2026, but its dependant on the Disney+ live-action series, namely a fourth season of The Mandalorian and a possible second season of Ahsoka. With this news, if true, it muddies the waters somewhat.
Disney and Lucasfilm seem to be getting their Star Wars films in order after years of waiting, so the possibility that Waititi’s film could shoot next year is a surprise, especially when you consider the splash Lucasfilm made at Star Wars Celebration, with Kathleen Kennedy announcing the two Star Wars films previously mentioned, along with a Dawn of the Jedi movie from Logan director, James Mangold, who recently liked (the unliked) a tweet celebrating that the Waititi movie was no longer happening. It’s really quite odd that if the report it true, and Waititi intends to shoot his Star Wars movie next year, that Lucasfilm would not have him present at Star Wars Celebration where he could’ve shared a little regarding the project.
As mentioned previously, Lucasfilm are reportedly looking to release the Rey led film in December 2025 and the MandoVerse flick in December 2026, so where does Waititi’s movie fit into all of this? It seemingly wouldn’t, but we know he’s been working on the project since 2020, and was writing it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917), but Kathleen Kennedy recently revealed that Waititi is now writing the project alone – indicating that the story is likely going through revisions and re-writes.
Personally, I’ve lost all hope of seeing the Taika Waititi movie. I truly appreciate the man as a filmmaker, and I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of his work, but given Lucasfilm’s slate, how long the film has been in development with no significant update, and how momentum and confidence quickly grew around the New Jedi Order project after being in development for a much shorter amount of time, I don’t see the movie releasing anytime soon – if ever, disappointingly.
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