Contrary to recent rumors, writer-director Taika Waititi‘s long-gestating Star Wars movie is reportedly still in the works at Lucasfilm.
Scooper Daniel Richtman (aka DanielRPK) recently claimed that Waititi’s Star Wars film was “officially dead” after being in development for several years. However, noted industry insider Jeff Sneider of The Hot Mic podcast brings word that reports of the project’s death may have been greatly exaggerated. “A draft is expected,” Sneider said. “It’s not dead.” Things will likely be moving along soon now that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has come to an end.
Waititi is perhaps best known for directing the 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Ragnarok and its 2022 sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder. However, he is also certainly no stranger to the Star Wars franchise. Waititi directed the Season 1 finale of Lucasfilm’s Disney+ original series The Mandalorian in 2019. He also voiced the character of IG-11 in the live-action Star Wars show.
On May 4, 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Waititi would be writing and directing a Star Wars feature of his very own. He was originally co-writing the film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, though is now penning the script alone. A mere day before the WGA strike began, Deadline reported that Waititi’s Star Wars film could finally enter production in 2024 following a number of delays. It’s unclear if projection will hold, especially with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) still on strike.
All the Star Wars films currently in development
The Waititi-helmed project is one of several new Star Wars features currently in the works at Disney and Lucasfilm. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms, Marvel) is attached to direct a film set 15 years after the events of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with Daisy Ridley attached to reprise her role as Rey. Meanwhile, James Mangold (Logan) is attached to helm a film set approximately 25,000 years before the events of 1977’s Star Wars, which will chronicle the dawn of the Jedi.
Elsewhere, longtime Star Wars creative Dave Filoni is set to direct a movie that will serve as the grand finale of the interconnected Disney+ series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka. Additionally, the long-gestating Lando series for Disney+ is itself being reworked into a feature film. Donald Glover — who portrayed Lando Calrissian in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story — is writing the project with brother Stephen Glover.
Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, Deadpool 3) is also attached to write a Star Wars movie, though development was halted due to the WGA strike. Finally, there are still tentative plans for Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson to helm a new trilogy of films set in the galaxy far, far away.
