Like a Death Star floating above Endor, a new report suggests Taika Waititi’s Star Wars film might be closer than we thought.
Unless you count Michael Waldron’s recent update about his Star Wars script or the rumours regarding Millie Bobby Brown joining the Star Wars universe, it’s been a while since we heard any news about cinematic Star Wars projects. At one point, the company seemed to be poising itself for a comeback of sorts around a year ago as news of several projects surfaced but since then, it has all gone very quiet.
With several projects like Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron movie suspended, Lucasfilm boss, Kathleen Kennedy recently stated that MCU impresario Kevin Feige’s planned film was on the backburner too, saying “I would love to see what movie he might come up with. But right now, no, there isn’t anything specifically.”
Kennedy did hint that Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie might be with us by the end of 2023, perhaps heralding a new spate of films, but the director has firmly quashed that idea a few weeks ago, telling The Wrap, “I’m going to be in New Zealand from August until the end of the year with [HBO Max series] Our Flag Means Death and [Apple TV+ pilot] Time Bandits and during that time I will still be writing. I’m still trying to figure out what the story is.”
However, a new report from Heat Vision is citing multiple sources to suggest that the film might be coming sooner than expected after all. The outlet, which is part of The Hollywood Reporter and therefore fairly reliable, is stating that the film is set to enter production early in 2023. Waititi has spoken in the past about his desire to get it right, rather than rush the process, stating “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. 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.”
At least we’re getting plenty of projects from Waititi regardless of when his Star Wars film does start shooting. Thor: Love And Thunder has just released and he also has Our Flag Means Death, the Time Bandits remake and Next Goal Wins, the latter being already completed. As well as plenty of Waititi’s’s work to come, the prospect of a Star Wars movie shooting as soon as next spring is another reason to be cheery.
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