In May of 2020, Lucasfilm officially announced that acclaimed director, Taika Waititi, had officially stepped on board to write and direct an untitled Star Wars movie. Three and a half years have past since then with little movement on the project and new comments from the writer-director indicate that the film is still a ways off from release.
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During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the director, who’s currently promoting his next release, Next Goal Wins, shared an update on his long awaited Star Wars flick. Waititi confirmed that the project is still in-development, ending unsubstantiated online rumours from individuals or outlets with poor track records that the claimed the project is scrapped. The Jojo Rabbit director went on to reveal that Lucasfilm are willing to delay his project until he completes work on not one, not two, but four scripts for other non-Star Wars related projects. You can read the full Waititi quote below.
“At the moment, I’m still developing something with them [Lucasfilm]. Like me, they have a lot of projects going on. I think they’re going to push it [Waititi’s film] until I finish these other projects. I’ve got about four other scripts that I’m trying to finish. My thing is I want to take my time with that and get it right. I don’t want to rush this movie.” – Taika Waititi via Entertainment Tonight
I’m sure many fans, myself included, will find this news somewhat frustrating if you were looking forward to seeing Waititi’s Star Wars effort, considering the writer-director has been working on the script for over three years and that it seems to be no end in sight, with Waititi prioritising various other projects.
Initially it was believed that Waititi’s untitled Star Wars film, which he was co-writing with 1917’s Krysty Wilson-Cairns, was aiming to release in December of 2025, following the release of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron in December 2023. Rogue Squadron was indefinitely delayed in 2021, and now seemingly scrapped, which prompted the Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, to share that Waititi’s flick would take that spot. This did not come to fruition, and shortly after Kennedy’s claim, the release date held for a Star Wars movie in December 2023 was swiftly removed. The December 2025 release date held strong, and was believed to be the date being eyed for Waititi’s movie. Even if Kennedy’s comments or hope of Waititi releasing in 2023 seemed unrealistic and did not come to fruition, it was evident that Lucasfilm believed that his film was next in line.
Eventually momentum and confidence grew around another Star Wars film that started development after Waititi’s project, an untitled effort being written by Damon Lindelof and Justin Brit-Gibson, a Star Wars film that would see the return of Rey Skywalker. Lucasfilm allowed Lindelof to create a writers room for the project and swiftly hired Ms. Marvel director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The Rey Skywalker film quickly became the new favourite to take the December 2025 date according to reliable outlets, thus kicking Waititi’s Star Wars flick down the road. Lindelof and Brit-Gibson ultimately left the Skywalker project earlier this year and were replaced by Steven Knight. Lucasfilm officially announced the film in April of this year and confirmed the return of Rey Skywalker actress, Daisy Ridley, but the film suffered a delay to May of 2026 due to the Writers Guild of America strike.
Since that time we’ve only had minor updates on the Waititi project. Kennedy revealed that Taika was a slow writer and was struggling to crack the third act – Waititi himself shared that he was trying to figure out the middle section of the film. It was revealed that Waititi would have a significant role in his Star Wars film. It was also revealed that Waititi was now writing his film alone, but that other writers had collaborated with Waititi on various drafts. The last update we received was that Waititi was expected to hand in a new draft of his Star Wars script before the years end. It’s unknown if that draft has already been submitted or not, but either way, if it has or hasn’t, it appears as if Lucasfilm are allowing the What We Do in the Shadows filmmaker to complete his work on other projects, before having him re-focus his efforts on Star Wars.
Waititi mentioned that he is to complete work on scripts for four projects before moving on to Star Wars. Currently Waititi has five films in-development that he’s a writer on, We’re Wolves (a What We Do in the Shadows spin-off), The Last Family, The Incal, a Flash Gordon remake, and a live-action adaptation of Akira. Waititi is also listed to be working on scripts for three TV series. It is unknown what projects Taika was referring to which would be ahead of his Star Wars movie. Waititi is also set to direct a Tower of Terror film for Disney and the film, Klara and the Sun, the latter of which he will direct next year, but he is not credited as a writer on either project.
In a separate interview with Business Insider, Taika spoke about a fifth Thor movie. Yes, it’s not Star Wars related, but I think it could give us some insight as to when perhaps Taika thinks we’ll see his untitled Star Wars movie. Waititi told Insider that he won’t be involved in a fifth Thor movie (Waititi wrote and directed two), and that the reason was that he was looking to focus his efforts on projects he’s been signed on to for a while, and that if he did another Thor movie, it wouldn’t be for at least another six or seven years, when he’s free. If his untitled Star Wars film is at the bottom of his writing pile, which is appears to be at this moment, it would sit towards the end of that window Waititi mentioned, six or seven years, which could mean we wouldn’t see his Star Wars flick until around 2030, which does make sense when you look at the current Star Wars slate.
As mentioned by Taika Waititi, Lucasfilm have a lot of Star Wars film projects currently in-development, so there’s no real urgency to focus efforts on the Waititi project. At this time we know of the Rey Skywalker movie, which is aiming for a May 2026 release, The Mandalorian crossover event film being written and directed by Dave Filoni which is eyeing a December 2026 release, the origins of the first Jedi flick being written by James Mangold, and a film we know absolutely nothing about which is being directed by Shawn Levy.
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