Taika Waititi Shares A New Update On His 'Star Wars' Movie

Director Taika Waititi is still thinking over ideas for his "Star Wars" movie that was first announced three years ago.

Although the writer and director isn't actually working on the script at the moment to stand in solidarity with the writers during the WGA writer's strike, he did share an update about his progress.

During a May 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the "Thor: Love and Thunder" director indicated that, although he has a good idea for the story, he seems to be stuck on the "middle part."

“I've got a really good idea for it,” he said. “It's just as with all films, it's this middle part. You're like, 'What's going to happen?’ And then you look at all of those films that are so great, you're like, 'Well, I guess they can't meet some smuggler with an alien sidekick.'"

In April 2023, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy spoke to Variety at Star Wars Celebration London and revealed that "Taika is still working away" on the film.

"He’s writing the script himself," Kennedy said. "He doesn’t really want to bring others into that process and I don’t blame him. He has a very, very unique voice. So we want to protect that and that’s what he’s doing. But we’re going to make that one day."

On May 4 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Taika Waititi would co-write a new Star Wars movie alongside “Last Night in Soho” writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns, but it looks like Waititi is now working on the script by himself.

Unfortunately for fans, it seems that little progress has been made on the film since that time. When Waititi was asked by /Film if he would be able to bring his signature style to the franchise in July 2022, Waititi revealed that the draft was still in the early stages of development.

“At the moment it’s just very early, because I … still haven’t even finished the script,” he explained. “I’m still trying to come up with ideas and I’m mostly kind of in that part of the process where it’s still very kind of open.”

“And when I write, I kind of write every idea I’ve ever had and then start to kind of chisel it down into something,” he continued. “But I’m still throwing everything at the wall right now.”

However, in an interview with Total Film, he revealed that he was planning on introducing brand new characters to the franchise.

“Look, I think for the Star Wars universe to expand, it has to expand,” Waititi said. “I don’t think that I’m any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone’s like, ‘Oh great, well that’s the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that’s Chewbacca’s grandmother.'”

“That all stands alone, that’s great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it’s a very small story,” he added.

In a 2022 interview with The Wrap, he was asked if had begun working on the script yet. He replied, "Not this year."

“I’m going to be in New Zealand from August until the end of the year with ‘Our Flag Means Death’ and ‘Time Bandits’ and during that time I will still be writing,” he explained, adding, “I’m still trying to figure out what the story is.”

That being said, in another interview with the New York Times, Waititi expressed doubt that his "Star Wars" movie will get made even if he does finish the script.

“I’m trying to write the ‘Star Wars’ idea at the moment,” he explained. “I’ve got to see how that goes, because once I submit it, that might determine when it gets made or if it gets made, even.”

That being said, he did tell Variety in March 2023 that he would like to star in his own "Star Wars" movie. The publication reported that Waititi “continues to work” on his “Star Wars” script and will “most likely have a part in it as well.”

At least three new "Star Wars" movies were announced at Star Wars Celebration! Fans can check out everything we know about those three films by clicking here.