New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi puts his Star Wars film on ice
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The gist
Filmmaker Taika Waititi said his Star Wars film, announced in 2020, is being put "on ice."
Six years on, the project has no cast, story or release date.
Background
Taika Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker, 51, who has been attached since 2020 to write and direct a Star Wars film for Lucasfilm, the studio behind the franchise; he also directed an episode of The Mandalorian and voiced the droid IG-11. Lucasfilm made the project official on May 4, 2020, with Krysty Wilson-Cairns co-writing, but six years on it has no story details, no cast and no release date. Waititi gave the update while promoting Klara and the Sun, his adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel.
How it unfolded
- May 4, 2020Lucasfilm officially announced Taika Waititi as writer and director of a new Star Wars movie, with 1917's Krysty Wilson-Cairns co-writing.
- Apr 2023Then Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said Waititi was taking his time with the screenplay: "He is just a little slow, but he's working away."
- 2025Screenwriter Tony McNamara, who wrote Poor Things and The Favourite, joined the project, reportedly taking over screenplay duties so Waititi could focus on directing.
- Jan 2026Kathleen Kennedy said the movie was still in development and praised a script Waititi had submitted; Waititi said he wanted to bring back the fun of the original Star Wars films.
- Oct 18, 2026Waititi told Inverse, in an interview published during the Klara and the Sun press junket, that the Star Wars film is being put "on ice."
- Oct 19, 2026Rolling Stone AU/NZ and Just Jared reported Waititi's confirmation that the film is on hold.
- Oct 21, 2026Hypebeast reported the film has been put on hold indefinitely.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Outgoing Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy called the film "still somewhat alive" and said Waititi turned in a script she found "hilarious and great," but the decision belonged to Dave Filoni's new leadership team.
- Filmmaker
- Waititi said the project is "very iced" and that he has "about four other movies" he is trying to do, adding: "Ice ages do come to an end. Who knows?"
- Insiders
- Cosmic Book News insiders said at Comic-Con 2024 that Waititi was out at Lucasfilm and the movie wasn't happening.
Still unverified
The movie is on hold but has not been officially announced as permanently canceled, and there is no word on when or if it will move forward. Cosmic Book News' 2024 Comic-Con insiders' claims that Waititi was out at Lucasfilm and that Marvel removed him from Thor: Love and Thunder are attributed to insiders.