Taika Waititi’s ‘Star Wars’ Film ‘On Ice,’ but He’s Still With the Franchise

Throughout the 2020s, various Star Wars movies have been announced and then not gone anywhere. As of this week, we can add the one directed by Taika Waititi to the list of films on the backburner. While doing recent press for his upcoming flick Klara and the Sun, Inverse asked about the film’s status. Waititi’s answer? “We’re actually going to put it on ice,” attributing it to him being quite busy. Along with Klara, he’s co-written and starring in Netflix’s Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory and co-EP on FX’s Very Young Frankenstein, and he’s directing some films, including a sequel to What We Do in the Shadows. However, he then teased he and Lucasfilm were doing “a different thing together.” Immediately after saying that, Inverse reports that he asked his publicist if he could say more. When told he couldn’t, he concluded with, “I don’t even know how to dress it up or make it even vague.” In case you forgot, the Thor alum was announced to be tackling a Star Wars movie in 2020, working from a script by The Great creator Tony McNamara. Flashforward to 2022 and 2023, and it seemed this was Schrodinger’s Star Wars movie: maybe it wasn’t happening, or maybe it still was and would feel like the original trilogy. Occasional chatter about its status continued up to this year, but given Rogue Squadron and other projects, it’s not too surprising to hear this is shelved. Waititi ended with a vague tease that “ice ages do come to an end,” so maybe it’s just a matter of waiting for his schedule to clear up. Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.