Taika Waititi will be bringing his directing talents to the big screen for an exciting new movie in the Star Wars universe! The news was confirmed on Monday, which also happened to be May the 4th. Since May the 4th has become something of an unofficial holiday amongst Star Wars fans, Lucasfilm decided to made the big announcement via social media in honour of the day!
Waititi has not only been tapped to direct the as-of-now untitled Star Wars film, he will also be co-writing it alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Wilson-Cairns was nominated for an Academy Award for 1917, while Waititi is an Academy Award winner for Jojo Rabbit. He's got another big franchise movie in the works too, with Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder set to be released on February 11, 2022.
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Waititi was already involved in Star Wars through The Mandalorian
Waititi tried to play off rumours of his involvement with a future Star Wars project when the topic came up earlier this year. "Listen, what does 'approached' even mean?" he asked Entertainment Tonight back in February. "I've seen Star Wars. That's about as far as it got."
But while it may be his first time directing an upcoming movie for the franchise, Waititi already has some experience being part of the Star Wars universe! That's because he voiced droid "IG-11" in the hit Disney+ Star Wars spinoff series The Mandalorian, and also directed the show's season 1 finale.
Star Wars Disney+ series helmed by Leslye Headland in the works
Waititi and Wilson-Cairns' movie wasn't the only Star Wars project fans got news about on May the 4th. The official Star Wars website also confirmed that Leslye Headland has a new show currently under development for Disney+.
Headland worked on the Netflix series Russian Doll, and is set to write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner for the streaming series. While neither of these projects have a release date or any additional information provided as of yet, they're still highly anticipated by Star Wars fans!