Star Wars: Taika Waititi May Have Big Role in New Movie
Earlier today came news that official news on the next Star Wars movies will be confirmed by Lucasfilm at Star Wars Celebration this spring. Naturally with the tease of announcements on the horizon, the Hollywood trades are here to potentially give us an idea of what's coming. Variety reports on a few Star Wars projects that have apparently been shelved and others that may be moving forward faster than others. One of the projects that fans know are in the works is one from Thor: Ragnarok filmmaker Taika Waititi, and the latest update on it may come with a surprise for some fans.
According to the trade, Waititi "continues to work" on his movie, which doesn't have a release date just yet, and he may already be thinking about casting...specifically himself. Just like he previously did in his Oscar-winning movie Jojo Rabbit, Variety notes that Waititi "would most likely have a part" in the film, appearing as a character with a similar amount of screen time to his role as Hitler in the 2019 movie. As viewers may recall, Waititi's part was a supporting one, but one that came with plenty of time on screen throughout the film.
Should this come to pass, and nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to Star Wars feature film projects, it would make Waititi one of the few people to have multiple roles in the Star Wars franchise. Having previously voiced IG-11 in The Mandalorian, Waititi playing a second character would put him in unique company alongside the likes of Warwick Davis, Andy Serkis, and even Mark Hamill.
"It's something I wouldn't want to just leap into and not feel that it's unique, it's my film, and it makes sense," Waititi previously told Rolling Stone about his work on the movie. "Because that would be a disaster. I'm writing at the moment. So I'm gonna do my best to come up with an idea that everyone loves."
Currently Lucasfilm has just two release dates scheduled in the future for Star Wars movies, December 2025 and December 2027 (notably landing in-between future Avatar sequels). Fans will almost certainly get an idea of what the plans are for those two release dates at Star Wars Celebration. With multiple movies having been revealed and then either cancelled, shelved, or completely changed in production, we wouldn't begrudge anyone that was perhaps nervous about anything that does get confirmed in the next few months.