Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie has been in development since 2020, when Disney and Lucasfilm announced that the Jojo Rabbit Oscar winner would direct the next installment in the series, which was penned by 1917 screenwriter Christy Wilson-Cairns. There have been no major updates in the six years since, but interest in the project has recently reignited after outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said Waititi’s Star Wars was “still somewhat alive.”
So what does Waititi have in store for Star Wars fans? “We’re going back to the original movie and trying to tap into the fun of the original movie a little bit more. That’s what I remember about the movie,” he told Variety at Sundance at the premiere of Fing!
“The stakes are very high and there are serious things going on, but there’s also a lot of fun in these movies, and that’s what I was trying to get back to,” Waititi continued. “I was trying to work in a world a little bit outside of that world, because there’s so much going on in that space. To do something there, it has to be a little different and a little more unique.”
After Kennedy announced his departure from Lucasfilm, he confirmed to Deadline that Waititi “submitted a script that I thought was interesting and great. Especially when I stepped out, it wasn’t just my decision.”
Waititi is at Sundance with “Fing!,” a family adventure based on the children’s book of the same name. Directed by Geoffrey Walker and co-starring Iona Bell, Mia Wasikowska, and Blake Harrison, the film centers on a young girl and her parents as they battle a Viscount who tries to get his hands on a mysterious pet creature. Waititi will play the villain in the film.
“Everything was on paper, so it was very easy to take advantage of that,” Waititi said when asked about playing the villain on Variety Studio presented by Audible. “I’ve always liked characters like that.”
When asked to name his favorite movie villain, Waititi steered the conversation back to the Star Wars series, calling Darth Vader “one of the greatest villains I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s exploiting a child’s worst nightmare and fear that their parents are against you and you can’t get them back,” he added. “‘Body Snatchers’ is similar. Zombies are also a great collective villain because it’s the idea of the people you love not recognizing you and trying to eat your brain.”
Waititi also expressed interest in seeing the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” which will feature the return of Thor. The director, who co-directed the two Thor movies with Chris Hemsworth, said he wouldn’t be uncomfortable missing out on the next God of Thunder adventure while the Russo brothers direct Hemsworth.
“Thor was before me,” Waititi said. “What Chris and I did and how we molded him into that new version… it was for the greater good of the series as a whole. I can’t wait to see these ‘Avengers’ movies. I was just watching ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ two weeks ago. They’re very good. I’m good friends with the Russo family, so I’d love to see what they’re doing.”
