Taika Waititi’s Star Wars Movie: Filming Start Revealed

Taika Waititi is returning to the galaxy far, far away. After previously helming the Season 1 finale of The Mandalorian, the Oscar-winning director is set to leap to the big screen for his next Star Wars endeavor. While specifics on Waititi’s live-action Star Wars film remain close to the vest, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter indicates that the project is looking at an early 2023 production start. Waititi’s latest film, Thor: Love and Thunder, is currently in theaters, and a recent interview with Rolling Stone teases that this Star Wars project is next on his list.

“Natalie [Portman] said to me, ‘What do you do next?’ And I said, ‘I’m trying to work on a Star Wars thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a Star Wars movie?’” Waititi said. “She said, ‘I’ve been in Star Wars movies.’ I forgot about those ones.”

Not long before that chat with Rolling Stone, Waititi told The Wrap that he was tied up with other projects throughout the rest of 2021.

“Not this year,” Waititi said when asked about if he’s started working on his Star Wars project. “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. I’m still trying to figure out what the story is.”

Waititi’s Star Wars project was first announced in 2020. Developments on it, including plot points and castings, have been non-existent since, but Waititi emphasizes that there’s a method to his madness.

“I’m still writing. I’m still coming up with the ideas and storylining it and just wanted to make sure that it feels like a Star Wars film,” Waititi told Screen Rant. “”Because, I could say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just write any old thing and set in space and then put Star Wars on the front.’ But it wouldn’t be a Star Wars film without certain elements and a certain treatment, so I’ve just got to make sure that it stays within that wheelhouse.”

While making an authentic Star Wars film is one of his highest priorities, Waititi has also stressed that the project needs to capture his unique tone as well.

“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 said to Rolling Stone. “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.”

Waititi’s untitled Star Wars project is currently in development.