Despite the leadership change at Lucasfilm, the Star Wars film from Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi is still alive. That was clear from recent comments by both the director and outgoing studio head Kathleen Kennedy. At the Sundance premiere of his new film Fing, Waititi spoke about his approach to the saga. “I’m just trying to go back and get a little more of that fun from the original films that I remember,” the director said. “The stakes are really high, serious things happen, but those films also have a lot of humour. That’s what I’m trying to bring back.”
Waititi also said he aims to create something self-contained within the universe: “I tried to create a world that would be a bit separate from the main one, because so much is already going on there. To do something of my own I had to make something a bit different, more independent.” The project Waititi is working on was announced back in 2020, but news has been scarce since. Interest picked up again after Kennedy, who is leaving her post as Lucasfilm president, said the film was “still in some shape alive”. She also confirmed that the director has submitted a script.