Among the big news items to come from Star Wars Celebration last month was Lucasfilm revealing its concrete Star Wars movie plans for the coming years, with some interesting titles finally confirmed for the masses. But there are a handful of other upcoming Star Wars movies that are still in development, including the feature that filmmaker Taika Waititi is writing and set to direct. However, word’s come in that Waititi looks to have found his next movie, which begs the question: where do things stand with his work in a galaxy far, far away?
Nearly a year after the release of Thor: Love and Thunder, and half a year ahead of the already-filmed Next Goal Wins (which dropped its first trailer last week) coming out, Deadline reports that Waititi is in negotiations to direct Klara and the Sun, a film adaptation of the same-named 2021 New York Times-bestselling novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, for Sony 3000 Pictures. David Waller is writing the project’s screenplay, and David Heyman already attached to produce the film for Heyday Films, with Waititi and Garrett Basch also in talks to carry out producing duties.
Klara and the Sun follows a robot girl named Klara who’s created to prevent teenagers from getting lonely, with the main story seeing her trying to save a family of humans from heartbreak. The articles notes that the role of Klara will be “one of the more sought-after parts for actresses in their 20s” given how popular Ishiguro’s body of work is; other novels he’s published over the decades include The Remains of the Day, When We Were Orphans and Never Let Me Go. Assuming Taika Waititi signs on the dotted line, this will be his ninth time directing a movie, with his other filmmaking credits including What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit.
This film adaptation of Klara and the Sun certainly sounds like an interesting project for Waititi to tackle, but if this is next on his agenda, then what does that mean for the Star Wars movie he’s been attached to for three years? Well, Deadline’s “insiders” claim that he’s still “excited” about the movie and is “committed to direct that next year.” In other words, Waititi would spend the rest of 2023, and perhaps a little bit of 2024, putting Klara and the Sun together. Once that’s in the can, then he’d be able to turn his attention back to Star Wars, assuming nothing holds up that project or something else doesn’t catch his eye afterwards.
Originally Taika Waititi was writing his Star Wars movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, but during the latest Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy shared that he’s now working on the script by himself, and that the movie would be made “one day.” He admitted last year that he knows he’s “never gonna please the fans,” as well as stated that while he didn’t have the time to read “thousands” of Star Wars books for research, he simply wants to “be able to do something that’s like very close to what everyone knows.” At least Waititi already has some Star Wars creative experience under his belt from directing The Mandalorian Season 1 finale, along with voicing the droid IG-11.
We’ll keep you apprised on how things are going with Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie and Klara and the Sun’s progress as more updates come in. For now, Next Goal Wins is slated among the 2023 new movie releases for a November 17 drop, and you can use your Disney+ subscription to stream the Star Wars movies in order.