Jenna Ortega to Star in Taika Waititi’s ‘Klara and the Sun’

Taika Waititi just keeps piling up these projects. He has many in development, including a “Star Wars” movie, a live-action remake of “Flash Gordon“ and his adaptation of the anime classic “Akira.”

However, up next for Waititi is the start of production on his next film, an adaptation of “Klara & The Sun,” the sci-fi novel from Kazuo Ishiguro (“Never Let Me Go“). Jeff Sneider is now reporting that Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”) is close to being cast as the lead in ‘Klara.’

Dahvi Waller (“Mrs. America“) penned the original draft of the script, with Waititi, potentially, having rewritten some, or all, of it. Below is the novel’s official synopsis via Penguin Random House:

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.

Ishiguro and Waititi don’t quite gel in my books. On paper, it’s one of the weirder director/author partnerships of recent years. We’ll see how it turns out as production is set to begin in March. I should also mention that Waititi’s last film, “Next Goal Wins,” was released this past November to very mixed reviews.