Taika Waititi can never be accused of resting on his laurels. The Thor: Love and Thunder director might be best known for his work in the MCU, but he's also planning on taking on the Star Wars universe, and it appears that a shuffling in the schedule could mean that his project will be the next in the series to hit theaters.
Waititi is certainly busy these days. In addition to putting the finishing touches on Love and Thunder in the last few months, he's also been working on the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. At the same time, he's also been working on the still-untitled Star Wars movie. It appears that work has progressed enough that the famed director's project could be the next Star Wars flick to be released.
In a new cover story for Vanity Fair, the roadmap for the Star Wars franchise was laid out. That roadmap included a new series by Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy added that the roadmap has the company likely moving Waititi's project to the front of the line. It also appears that it might be standing alone for a little while longer than Star Wars fans are used to seeing.
Kennedy made it clear that Star Wars films are not going to be marched out at the "relentless cadence" the franchise has been released at in the last few years. While Waititi's film is presently slated to arrive first, Rogue Squadron from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is likely going to be coming second, though it will be a ways off. Production on Rogue Squadron reportedly stalled over creative differences.
Because it appears that Lucasfilm is starting to slow things down, and the fact that Waititi and Jenkins' films are going to be the next up, it appears as though Rian Johnson's trilogy that was announced years ago has officially been "back burnered." Kennedy blamed the fact that Johnson has been so busy working on his Knives Out franchise as one of the big reasons why that trilogy is going to be placed well off in the future if it arrives at all.
While the Love and Thunder director's Star Wars project is next up in the hopper, it's not clear what that means as far as release dates go. For the moment, Waititi is still putting together whatever the next movie will be, but Lucasfilm has not said when fans will get to see the finished product.
The Star Wars saga is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Vanity Fair