After winning his Oscar for Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi shot down reports that he was in talks with Lucasfilm to make a Star Wars movie. Well guess what? Taika Waititi is now making a Star Wars movie. There is zero information about this film except that he will co-write it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, an Oscar nominee for co-writing 1917. Lucasfilm, though limping after the unsatisfying conclusion of the sequel trilogy, remains committed to theatrical films and hiring top-tier talent to make them, and Taika feels like a natural fit after his success with Marvel—the only movie machine as big as Star Wars—and directing the final episode of season one of The Mandalorian. The idea of a Taika Waititi Star War is not a bad one, and he’s one of a few filmmakers who can prompt immediate interest in his project. We’re all a little wary after The Rise of Skywalker, but we’re at least going to give Taika a shot.
But what is this movie, and will Lucasfilm rush it out? They have three undated movies slated for 2022, 2024, and 2026. The scheduling certainly looks like a new trilogy, but rushing to meet a predetermined calendar is what knee-capped the sequel trilogy. And given how those movies burned us, I don’t think anyone would be sad if Star Wars took a little break and let the cinematic space breathe a bit. Focus on The Mandalorian, and whatever new show Lesley Headland is cooking up. Television is working well for Lucasfilm right now, no need to rush back to cinemas. Even though movie-going is undoubtedly changing due to the COVID-19 crisis, Star Wars will always have a home in theaters. People will always turn out for those movies. There’s no need to rush it. If 2022 passes without a Star War, no one will be sad. And that’s what the movie side of Star Wars needs to outwait—we’re burnt out and we need time as an audience to recover. Let us miss Star Wars for a bit before bringing it back.
It’s not like Taika can get to it any time soon. He has to make Thor: Love and Thunder first (still a little upset this movie is not called Th4r). Thanks to the coronavirus release date shuffle, that movie is now due in February 2022. It’s probably 2024 before we realistically see whatever Star Wars movie Taika makes, and that is assuming nothing else goes wrong and movie releases don’t get shuffled again. So why hurry? Star Wars is one of the only movie franchises that can afford to take a break, and even with a popular filmmaker like Taika Waititi shaping the next iteration films, they could really use the time away to let us remember what we love about these movies.
