Taika Waititi to Direct and Co-Write New Stars Wars Feature Film

Just days after the announcement that Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland would helm a female-fronted Star Wars series at Disney Plus, comes news on the series’ theatrical future. None other than Oscar-winner and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi will be headed to a galaxy far away to direct and co-write his own Star Wars film, returning to the ground he memorably trod in the first season finale of The Mandalorian.

Co-writing alongside Waititi will be fellow Oscar nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who was screenwriter on 1917 alongside Sam Mendes, and also co-wrote Edgar Wright’s upcoming Last Night in Soho. Talk about a career on the rise, right?

As far as additional details on Waititi’s Star Wars production goes … that’s literally all we’ve got, as the initial announcement was made with full knowledge that the director’s involvement alone would be news enough. There’s no way to tell at what time period or corner of the Star Wars galaxy this film might find us, so it could be back in the days of the Old Republic, or set during the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance and the Empire, or in the far-flung future past the events of the “sequel trilogy” that concluded with Rise of Skywalker. Literally anything is a possibility here, and we can’t help but think that Waititi probably has a blank slate to work with … along with an almost unlimited well of Disney resources, of course.

It likely goes without saying, but release dates haven’t yet been announced, for either Waititi’s project or Headland’s series. Also coming to Disney Plus: A series about Rogue One’s Cassian Andor before the events of that film, and a Ewan McGregor-starring Obi Wan Kenobi series that takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Along with further seasons of The Mandalorian, is that too much Star Wars content? Viewership numbers will ultimately tell the tale, but you can be certain that people will turn out in the theater for a Taika Waititi Star Wars movie no matter what happens.