New STAR WARS Project from Taikia Waititi; Headland Show Official

It’s now official: Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland will write and produce a new Star Wars series for the Disney+ platform. The announcement comes on StarWars.com, making official what has been rumored for over a week.

The announcement also includes news that Taika Waititi will direct a new film for theatrical release. He’ll also co-write with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

Waititi won over fans with his work on The Mandalorian, both directing the eighth episode of the first season and providing the voice for assassin droid IG-11. He recently won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit, and he’s also the writer and director behind What We Do In the Shadows.

Wilson-Cairns has been a staff writer for Penny Dreadful and won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year on 1917, for which she also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. She also was a contributing writer on the Penny Dreadful comic book tie-in.

Headland co-created Russian Doll, and she’s also an executive producer of the reboot of Heathers. Her other work includes Sleeping with Other People, Bachelorette, and she was a staff writer on Terriers. She’s earned nominations for the Emmy Award, Hugo Award, and the Bradbury Award.

Headland has been the subject of buzz and speculation since Variety reported on her involvement in a Star Wars project just over a week ago. Her hiring at Lucasfilm isn’t without controversy, however, as some reports began to surface that the information was leaked and that both Bob Iger and Bob Chapek were subsequently involved in several last-minute high-level meetings to discuss the situation.

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Rumors about Waititi’s continued involvement in Star Wars re-surfaced in January following his Oscar win. He told Variety, “Are there discussions about the Star Wars film? Like, yeah, I discussed with my friends in 1996 how cool Star Wars was,” Waititi said at the time. “I think people see me hanging out with people, especially with Star Wars, and think I’m having some big discussions about it. I would f—ing love to.…If it was right. I would want to do any kind of movie if it made sense, and if it felt not like career suicide.”

No dates have been announced for either project.

 

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