‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Director Taika Waititi Says His ‘Star Wars’ Film Will Bring Back “The Fun From The Original Films”
If ever there were a moment to ‘press X to doubt’, it would be in response to Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi’s claiming that his aim for his supposedly-still-in-development Star Wars film is to bring the franchise back to “the fun” of George Lucas’ original trilogy.
Speaking with Variety during the currently ongoing 2026 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, Waititi was at one point asked if, in light of now former Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s exit evaluation of his script as “hilarious and great”, he could provide any insight into “what you might bring to that world that we might have not seen before?”
In turn, the director explained, “I think you’ve seen it before, but I’m just trying to go back and harness a little more of the fun from the original films.”
“The stakes are very high, and there are serious things going on, but there’s also a lot of fun to be had,” he added. “So that’s what I’m trying to bring back.”
Given that the last time he sought to take such an approach to a major IP, audiences were subjected to the objectively insulting Thor: Love and Thunder, whether or not he actually intends to deliver on his promise – to say nothing of whether or not he’s actually capable of doing so – is a textbook case of ‘needs to be seen to be believed’.
But thankfully for Star Wars fans, who have at this point already suffered enough, it appears Waititi’s Star Wars film is stuck in the frozen wastelands of development hell.
First announced in celebration of Star Wars Day 2020 (May 4th) and and then set to be co-written by 1917 and Last Night in Soho co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns, not only did it take roughly three years for fans to receive an update regarding the production status of Waititi’s film, but it and every report since has indicated that the film has been deftly placed on the director’s back burner.
“I’ve got a really good idea for it,” Waititi told The Hollywood Reporter when asked for insight into the film’s status. ‘It’s just as with all films, it’s this middle part. You’re like, ‘What’s going to happen?’ And then you look at all of those films that are so great, you’re like, ‘Well, I guess they can’t meet some smuggler with an alien sidekick.'”
Pressed for more info by Variety later that November, the Thor: Love and Thunder director cheekily declared, “It will be…dramatic pause…a Taika Waititi film. It’s gonna piss people off.”
Likewise, asked in March 2025 by Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. as to the status of Lucasfilm’s full range of currently-in-production Star Wars projects, Kennedy noted that when it came to this specific film, “Well, I keep waiting for Taika [Waititi], and he is working with another writer now.”
“He’s so busy,” she added. “I love him. I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic. I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down, it’s tricky.”
At the time, Kennedy did not provide any details on as to Taika’s script-less relay of his first act, nor which specific writer has since replaced Wilson-Cairns.
And nor would she, as the last update she would ever give in her capacity as Lucasfilm president was her aforementioned exit appraisal.
Thus, as of this article’s publication, it remains genuinely unclear as to just what the hell is going on with Waititi’s Star Wars debut – and given the franchise’s recent track record, it’s unlikely to receive any real news in the foreseeable future.
