Kiwi Academy Award winner Taika Waititi will direct and write a new Star Wars film, Disney has confirmed.
Waititi, who won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film Jojo Rabbit earlier this year, was announced as director and writer on May 4, known as Star Wars Day.
He will pen the film alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the Oscar nominee who won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year for 1917.
Waititi is no stranger to the Star Wars universe, having directed the widely-acclaimed finale to the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. He also voiced a bounty-hunter droid in that show.
Back in January - prior to Waititi's Oscar win - it was rumoured the director was in talks with Disney for the film gig.
No release date has been announced for the film, but Waititi is already signed to direct 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder, a sequel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) Thor: Ragnarok. He also has his Michael Fassbender football film Next Goal Wins coming out later this year.
While no further information was provided on Monday (US time), several other Star Wars films are understood to be planned, including a movie from MCU producer Kevin Feige.
Also confirmed by Disney is that Emmy-nominated writer Leslye Headland is developing a new Disney+ Star Wars series. The streaming platform is investing big in the franchise, with The Mandolorian Season 2 currently in post-production, while two other shows are also being developed, including one focusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi.
