It’s been over three years since the last Star Wars film hit theaters. While we finally received news about Lucasfilm’s live-action theatrical slate earlier this year at the annual Star Wars Celebration, a new rumor suggests that one of the studio’s previously planned films might be scrapped altogether.
Earlier this week, during the TIFF tribute awards, Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi delivered remarks honoring his fellow film colleague Shawn Levy. During his speech, however, he made a small comment about how Levy has contributed to so many different franchises.
“After he’s had his way with [the Marvel Cinematic Universe], like a cruel, indiscriminate virus, he’ll move on to another, and another, and another, and then eventually, probably Star Wars,” he said. “And unlike me, and it’s where he manages to finish the script for that.”
While that last part evoked a laugh from the audience, Waititi’s delivery suggested that perhaps he wasn’t joking at all.
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Now, as a filmmaker it’s one thing to not be able to finish a script due to Writer’s Block or because you’re just so busy with so many other projects. With Waititi being such a hot commodity over the last few years, the latter is totally possible. However, one popular scooper speculated that it might mean something else entirely.
The Twitter user MyTimeToShineHello seemed pretty confident to say that project might no longer be in development. “Welp looks like Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie is dead,” they quote tweeted on Friday afternoon.
As of now, obviously nothing is confirmed. With the Hollywood strikes ongoing, and cancellation becoming a common form of retaliation from studios, it would not be surprising if Lucasfilm started to kill of some of its previously announced projects that have seen little progression.
READ: ‘Thor 5’ In Development with Taika Waititi Set to Return as Director
You might recall that at this year’s Star Wars Celebration there was no mention of Waititi’s project, despite it being one of the first films announced by Lucasfilm after The Rise of Skywalker. Only time will tell if the film is on hold due to Waititi’s schedule or if it’s gone the way of Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron. Considering how frequently the studio cancels projects, we would not be surprised.
You can check out Waititi’s remarks below, and decide for yourself.
Next on deck for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel), which was born from the ashes of Damon Lindelof’s script. The film is slated to be a sequel or sorts to J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars sequel trilogy with Rey leading a brand new group of Jedis. Production is on hold because of the Hollywood scripts, but we expect it to be the “Untitled Star Wars film” scheduled to hit theaters on May 22, 2026.
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