Star Wars: Taika Waititi Compares His Movie to Original Trilogy Sequels

Even tough Taika Waititi appears to be done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having confirmed he’s not attached to a Thor 5, the filmmaker is still set to make a new movie in the Star Wars franchise. During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where he was promoting his new movie Next Goal Wins, Waititi was asked about his Star Wars project and once again confirmed that development is moving along slow and steady. The Academy Award winner also noted that he’s aiming for something similar in nature to some of the original trilogy movies.

“I’ve been developing [the Star Wars film] for a few years, but I think with any film, but that one in particular, it’s something I’d really like to get right so I don’t want to rush it,” Waititi said. “It’s going to bubble along on the side…I wanna capture that joy and entertainment of those early ones like The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and all those ones, so I’m trying to figure that out. It’ll happen.”

There could be a tiny hint of irony to be found in Waititi insisting “It’ll happen,” when the filmmaker previously teased that he wasn’t interested in directing a Star Wars movie for a similar reason. Back in 2017 when a fan asked if he would be interested in taking on directing duties for Star Wars, Waititi replied, “Lolz, I like to complete my films…I’d be fired within a week.” This comment came after Phil Lord and Chris Miller had been fired from directing Solo: A Star Wars Story and Colin Trevorrow departed from Episode IX.

What’s the next Star Wars movie?

As has been the case for Star Wars for a few years now, the future of Star Wars is mostly on Disney+. The success of The Mandalorian TV series has made way for a number of Star Wars TV Shows, but that doesn’t mean Star Wars isn’t still making plans for the big screen. Though an announced Rogue Squadron movie was seemingly shelved by Lucasfilm, they did announce three new Star Wars movies at Star Wars Celebration earlier this year. 

The three new Star Wars movies will all take place in totally different eras of the Star Wars timeline, some separated by thousands of years. Coincidentally, Logan director James Mangold was one of the filmmakers announced to be directing a new Star Wars movie, with Lucasfilm confirming that his movie “will go back to the dawn of the Jedi;” Mangold himself previously compared it to a biblical epic.

Another new Star Wars movie that was announced was a film from Dave Filoni, described as focusing on the New Republic era of the timeline and acting as a “close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series.” Finally, Lucasfilm will return to the post-Episode IX point in the timeline with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy set to direct a movie about Daisy Ridley’s Rey starting the new Jedi Order.

(H/T IGN)