If you thought “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Next Goal Wins” was going to be the final nail in the coffin of Taika Waiti’s career, think again. The guy just keeps getting hired for all of these projects.
The mastermind behind “Jojo Rabbit” is still a majorly sought after filmmaker in Hollywood. There’s something about Waititi that keeps luring studio execs back to hiring him, on project after project. I don’t believe Waititi knows what a “break” means, he just keeps chugging along, at a ferocious pace.
Waititi is currently shooting his next film, “Klara and the Sun,” an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s sci-fi novel, starring Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega. He’s already shot his “Time Bandits” TV series. He also, supposedly, might, still make a “Star Wars” film for Kathleen Kennedy. Not to mention a live-action remake of “Flash Gordon.” He also has an additional two projects (“The Incal” and “Akira”) for which we haven’t heard much of an update on.
We can now add yet another project to Waititi’s busy schedule. Universal landed the rights, and none other than Steven Spielberg’s Amblin has assigned the Kiwi filmmaker to direct an adaptation of Percival Everett’s “James.”
“James” is a modern reimagining of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel “The Adventures Huckleberry Finn,” told from the point of view of Jim, Huck’s loyal and trustworthy black companion.
According to the logline: “when the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. Thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.”
It should be noted that Everett, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, wrote “American Fiction” which was made into a 2023 Oscar-nominated film starring Jeffrey Wright.
Last year, in an interview with THR, Waititi predicted that he would most likely become “obsolete” and that it could happen “15-20 years from now.” It sounded like he was going through some kind of mid-life crisis. For now, it doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere, he’s remaining in the industry.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.