Thor: Love and Thunder Director Taika Waititi Jokes the Film Isn't Anywhere Close to Being Finished

By Russ Burlingame

If you're Taika Waititi, heading down a red carpet is one of the many places you're guaranteed to be asked about Thor: Love and Thunder, the upcoming sequel to Thor: Ragnarok and Chris Hemsworth's fourth outing in the solo franchise. The film, which sees Natalie Portman's Jane Foster becoming the Mighty Thor after she takes Mjolnir, is set for a release this summer, but according to the filmmaker, it isn't ready just yet...and won't be anytime real soon. Pressed for details by Variety, Waititi joked that there was nothing left to say about the movie, that he hadn't already said in the last two years. 

He added that it wasn't finished. That seemed to shock the reporter, who asked when it might be finished.

"Comes out in July, so probably like end of June?" Waititi joked. "Probably like a day before the premiere, that's how we do it."

You can see the clip below.

Of course, there's a kernel of truth in that joke. Longtime readers will remember that James Gunn was tweaking Guardians of the Galaxy almost right up until its release date (although toward the end it was likely minor visual effects changes, not something that would suggest that movie wasn't done). The advent of digital projection means that studios don't have to print movies on film, and can just drop the files onto a server right up until the last moment.

Waititi previously described Thor: Love and Thunder as his craziest film yet. 

"Well, just between [me and] you and the readers, I've done some crazy sh*t in my life. I've lived, like, ten lifetimes. But it's the craziest film I've ever done," Waititi said. "If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn't make sense," he added, "It's almost like it shouldn't be made. If you walked into a room and said, 'I want this and this and this.' Who's in it? These people. What are you going to call it? Love And Thunder. I mean, you'd never work again. Maybe I won't after this."

Waititi not only returns to direct, but also co-wrote the film's screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The film and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Vin Diesel.

Thor: Love and Thunder will be in theaters July 8th.

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