Taika Waititi’s Star Wars Movie Has Been Saved?
The plans for a Taika Waititi Star Wars movie are still on with an announcement likely to come soon.
Despite spending cutbacks at Disney, Taika Waititi is still developing his Star Wars movie. The studio is expected to reveal more information at Star Wars Celebration which takes place in London this April. Along with The Mandalorian, other shows expected to hit the streaming service include Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew.
“Lucasfilm may ramp up. But it will have to abide by the same fiscal discipline as the rest of the company,” a source with knowledge of the Taika Waititi Star Wars movie told The Hollywood Reporter. Disney CEO Bob Iger reiterated this point during a first-quarter earnings call, telling investors that the brand needs to reform its current spending habits.
He also alluded to the oversaturation of mid-grade projects on the Disney+ streaming platform. “We have to be better at curating the [content],” Iger explained. The CEO also emphasized the importance of reducing costs. “It’s gotten to a point where it’s extraordinarily expensive and we want quality,” he continued. At the time there was no mention of the Taika Waititi Star Wars project.
Observers describe the downscaling as a massive correction from a few years ago. At the time, the entertainment industry created endless amounts of viewing content. And studios spent a lot of money doing so. “You can have 10 mediocre shows or you can have five great shows,” an agency partner told The Hollywood Reporter.
For now, Taika Waititi’s unique cinematic vision for the Star Wars franchise is still in the works. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2022, the New Zealand filmmaker said he’s working on the movie with Krystyn Wilson-Cairns. At the time, the Marvel alum said he wasn’t interested in exploring the origin stories of existing characters.
Instead, Taika Waititi wants to take his time to research Star Wars lore and write something fans will love. But the 47-year-old feels uncertain about how fans would react. “I’m never going to please the fans,” he told the publication. “I don’t want to mess with something that’s so treasured. So I can’t say confidently, I’d be able to do something very close to what everyone knows.”
According to Taika Waititi, it would be easier not to do that with his Star Wars movie. While the anticipation for the film has been rising, there are a large number of fans who don’t care about the project. “Thor Love and Thunder was hot garbage at best,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Hopefully that costs him his Star Wars movie.”
“I am not hoping for a Taika Waititi Star Wars movie,” said another in late January. While someone else wanted to know what kind of magic can they needed to perform to ensure that the 2025 untitled Star Wars film isn’t directed by the New Zealand native.
Meanwhile, Krysty Wilson-Cairns said there isn’t much to reveal about Taika Waititi Waititi’s Star Wars plans. Even if there was, everyone involved has been sworn to secrecy by the studio. I cannot tell you anything, the screenwriter told IndieWire. “I believe if I tell anyone, they’ll come to my house and kill me and maybe my dog as well,” she joked.
