Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie is not happening any time soon. In an exclusive interview with Inverse during the press tour for his new film Klara and the Sun, the director confirmed that the long-gestating project has been put on ice, and that he and writer Tony McNamara are now working on something else together.
"I hate to break this to you, but we're going to actually put it on ice and we're working on a different thing together," Waititi said.
He did not share any details about the new project. When asked for more, he turned to his publicist, who told him, "If you have to ask, the answer is no." Waititi laughed it off. "Well, there's your answer. I don't even know how to dress it up or make it even vague."
Years In The Making
Waititi's Star Wars film was first announced by Lucasfilm back in 2020, and fans have been waiting on updates ever since. The project has been one of the most talked about Star Wars films in development, mostly because nobody has known when, or if, it would actually happen. Waititi himself has treated the slow progress as a running joke for years.
When Lucasfilm first announced it, Waititi was set to direct and co-write the film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the writer behind 1917 and Last Night in Soho. Details about the story were never revealed. Waititi has only ever hinted that his take would feel different from the Star Wars movies that came before it, which is a big part of why the project kept people curious through every delay.
The last real movement came when McNamara, the writer behind The Favourite and Poor Things, took over scripting duties so Waititi could focus on directing. That pairing had a lot of people excited. McNamara's sharp, strange comedy and Waititi's style felt like a combination that could make a Star Wars movie unlike any other. Now that same duo is putting their energy elsewhere.
"It's very iced. I've got about four other movies I'm trying to do," Waititi said.
What Waititi Is Working On Instead
He is not exaggerating about having a full plate. Waititi's other projects in development include a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film, the What We Do in the Shadows follow-up We're Wolves, an adaptation of the graphic novel The Incal, and an adaptation of the satirical novel Barn 8.
His newest film, Klara and the Sun, is adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro's novel and stars Jenna Ortega as Klara, an Artificial Friend, alongside Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Aran Murphy, Steve Buscemi, and Natasha Lyonne. It had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival last week (October 15th), and Sony Pictures releases it in theaters in the US and UK on Friday (October 23rd).
Not Gone From Star Wars Entirely
Waititi already has a place in the galaxy far, far away. He directed the Season 1 finale of The Mandalorian and voiced the droid IG-11, so he is hardly a stranger to Lucasfilm. That history is part of why so many fans wanted to see what he would do with a full movie.
He also left the door open. "Ice ages do come to an end," he said. "Who knows?"
For now, Lucasfilm's movie slate will have to move forward without him. Star Wars has had a long list of films announced and then quietly shelved over the past decade, so this one joins a familiar pattern. The difference is that Waititi has been open about it, and from the way he describes it, the idea is frozen for now and could still thaw out later.
Are you disappointed the Taika Waititi Star Wars movie is on ice, or more interested in whatever he and Tony McNamara make next?
Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.