Oscar-winner Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) has reportedly been working on a Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) for a few years, and Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy recently stated that the project might be released by the end of 2023. In an interview with Screen Rant, the director explained where he is in the process of making his Star Wars film:
“That’s yet to be seen. I don’t know. I’m still writing. I’m still coming up with the ideas and storylining it and just wanted to make sure that it feels like a Star Wars film, because, I could say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just write any old thing and set in space and then put Star Wars on the front.’ But it wouldn’t be a Star Wars film without certain elements and a certain treatment, so I’ve just got to make sure that it stays within that wheelhouse.”
Taika Waititi
Waititi’s remarks follow Kathleen Kennedy’s announcement at Star Wars Celebration that Taika’s film would be released in “late 2023,” but that nothing was “locked in.” Production Weekly reported shortly after that Waititi’s film is planned to shoot in Los Angeles, but gave no start date. It appears highly improbable that it will be released in late 2023, owing to the filmmaker’s busy schedule.
Waititi is presently promoting Pixar’s Lightyear, which will be released later this month, before moving on to Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder, which will be released next month. In August, Waititi will return to New Zealand to film the pilot for Apple TV+’s Time Bandits revival series, before beginning filming on the second season of HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death in October, and wrapping out the year with a promotional tour for his long-awaited film, Next Goal Wins.
So, as you can see, with the director’s incredibly busy schedule and Waititi still in the storyboarding phase, sadly, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see any Star Wars film in theaters next year.
