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The director of the popular 2008 film Wanted says that a sequel is still possible if his latest film manages to perform well.
Posted in: Lucasfilm, Movies | Tagged: lucasfilm, star wars, taika waititi
Taika Waititi Says He Wants His Upcoming Star Wars Film to Feel Fun
Taika Waititi discusses the tone of his upcoming Star Wars film and how he wants to embrace the classic franchise energy.
Article Summary
- Taika Waititi wants his upcoming Star Wars film to recapture the fun spirit of the original trilogy.
- Lucasfilm confirms Waititi has submitted a "hilarious and great" script, with the project still in development.
- Star Wars returns to theaters in 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu, marking a new movie era for the saga.
- Upcoming Star Wars films include Shawn Levy's Starfighter, a new Rey project, Kinberg trilogy, and Mangold's film.
Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie has been hovering in that strange in-between space for a while now. First announced in 2020 as an original feature he would write and direct for Lucasfilm, the project has survived multiple shakeups to the Star Wars film slate and is still officially in development. Lucasfilm's outgoing president Kathleen Kennedy even recently confirmed that Waititi has turned in a script, describing it as "hilarious and great" and saying his film remains one of the projects that are "still somewhat alive" as new leadership steps in.
Now Waititi is offering a fresh tease about the tone he is chasing. Speaking with Variety, he explained that his goal is not to reinvent Star Wars from the ground up so much as to recapture a feeling. The filmmaker explains, "I think you've seen it before, but I'm just trying to sort of go back and harness a little more of the fun from the original films. Which is what I remember. The stakes are very high, and there are serious things going on, but also there's a lot of fun to be had in those films, and that's what I was trying to bring back."
Star Wars Upcoming Theatrical Releases
On the theatrical side, Star Wars is still rebuilding momentum. The last film to hit cinemas was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which wrapped up the nine-film Skywalker saga and earned more than $1 billion worldwide. Since then, the franchise has lived mainly on Disney+ with shows like The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka, while the film slate was shuffled and in some cases shelved.
The next confirmed step back into theaters is The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature continuation of Din Djarin and Grogu's story that arrives on May 22, 2026. After that comes Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter in May 2027, set after The Rise of Skywalker, while a Rey-centered film about rebuilding the Jedi Order, a Simon Kinberg trilogy, and a James Mangold film about the earliest Jedi are also in the pipeline. Waititi's movie does not have a title or release date yet, and its exact place in that lineup remains to be seen. For now, the clearest thing is his focus on tone.
Are you looking forward to Waititi's take on the Star Wars universe?
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