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Star Wars: Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi approached by Disney to direct new film

New blood needed after Game of Thrones duo quit planned trilogy

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 17 January 2020 09:44 GMT
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Jojo Rabbit - Official Trailer

Plans to make a new Star Wars film are already underway – and Disney has an idea who they want to guide the franchise.

Just one month after the release of JJ Abrams’ concluding chapter, The Rise of Skywalker, reports state that Lucasfilm is moving ahead with a new project that they want Taika Waititi to direct.

The Hollywood Reporter states that it’s currently unclear whether this project is related to another that is being developed by Marvel president Kevin Feige.

Waititi is already a Disney favourite following the success of Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, which the studio acquired following the merger with Fox.

The latter picked up six Oscar nominations earlier this week, including one in the Best Picture category, and the former is getting a high-profile sequel titled Thor: Love and Thunder, which Waititi will also direct.

He also directed the season one finale of Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which is a Star Wars spin-off.

Originally, Lucasfilm planned for Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and DB Weiss to write a trilogy of Star Wars films, but they dropped out ahead of signing a lucrative deal with Netflix.

Rian Johnson, who directed The Last Jedi, was also set to return to the franchise, but is working on a sequel to his 20119 hit Knives Out instead.

Disney and Lucasfilm are yet to comment on the reports.

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