It was reported back in January as a possibility, but now it’s confirmed. Taika Waititi will be directing a new Star Wars film. He will co-write the script alongside 1917 co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns. That’s pretty much all anybody knows right now.
It was assumed that Waititi would start work on the movie after completing Thor: Love And Thunder, but the announcement came with no release date or anything of the sort, so there’s no clue when the film will come out, nor what it’s about. So what is there to add?
Well, it says something that just having Waititi involved in a Star Wars film, with no plot details, can generate this sort of hype. That’s because he’s got a track record for crowd-pleasing movies, going from quirky New Zealand indies, to successfully rebranding Thor into one of the most entertaining heroes in the MCU, before winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit.
Considering his previous films, expect this Star Wars movie to be lighter in tone. Waititi doesn’t seem like the sort of director to tackle the darker elements of the franchise, and he’ll probably be aiming for something similar to Phil Lord and Chris Miller‘s original vision for Solo, before they were kicked off the project in favour of Ron Howard.
Have Disney and Lucasfilm learnt from their mistakes? Will they allow Waititi and his improvisational style to work instead of panicking and hiring a steady hand? You’d hope Waititi’s hiring signals a change of approach, but we’ll wait and see.
This isn’t Waititi’s first dabble with Star Wars. He directed the season finale of The Mandalorian, and also lent his voice to the show. This also isn’t the only recent Star Wars announcement. Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland is helming a Star Wars series of her own, which also has plot details kept tightly under wraps.
Star Wars, post-Skywalker saga, has an interesting path to figure out. By hiring Headland and Waititi, they seem to have signalled their intent to take the franchise in a new direction, one driven by creators and less by the studio, as long as they let them lead instead of getting in their way, that is.
#Peace.Love.StarWars
