It’s Official: Taika Waititi Will Co-Write & Direct a Star Wars Movie
Perhaps the biggest surprise to come from yesterday’s official Star Wars May the 4th holiday was the news that Thor: Ragnarok writer/director Taika Waititi, fresh off winning an Oscar for his Jojo Rabbit script, is officially co-writing and directing a new Star Wars film. Waititi will be co-writing the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who herself is coming off an Oscar nomination for co-writing 1917 with director Sam Mendes. This incredible news came alongside the welcome confirmation of a new, female-centered Star Wars series on Disney+ to be led by Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland. It was truly a magical May the 4th.
This galaxy-shaping news was all been confirmed by Lucasfilm in the midst of their May the 4th celebration, although much of the details are sparse. Waititi was already a part of the Star Wars universe, directing the finale episode in the first season of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm’s first-ever live-action Star Wars series on Disney. He also voiced a major character in the series, offering his vocal chops for the bounty hunter droid IG-11. Good old IG-11 had a big role to play in protecting everyone’s favorite character, Baby Yoda.
Meanwhile, Headland’s show is already in development, with the talented writer/director/producer set to write, produce and showrun the new series for Disney+. Her Star Wars world will join The Mandalorian and the streaming service’s upcoming two shows, focused on Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor and Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, respectively. So far, the little we’ve heard about Headland’s story is that it’s going be focused on female characters, will be based in an alternate timeline to the other Disney+ series, and will feature martial arts. That sounds like blue milk from heaven if you ask us.
It’s all good news for Star Wars fans, with the culmination of the 9-film, 40+ year Skywalker Saga officially over. You couldn’t ask for a more talented crop of creators to explore vastly different worlds within the galaxy far, far away than Waititi, Wilson-Cairns, and Headland.
Featured image: Writer/Director Taika Waititi on the set of JOJO RABIT. Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved
