Taika Waititi to Direct New "Star Wars" Movie

Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that Oscar-winning “Jojo Rabbit” screenwriter Taika Waititi is set to direct and co-write a new “Star Wars” movie.

Krysty Wilson-Cairns, co-writer of Oscar-nominated movie “1917,” will also write the movie with Waititi.

"A new “Star Wars” series for Disney+ streaming service is also in development, which is coming from the “Russian Doll” writer Leslye Headland," the company added in a statement.

Neither project has a release date yet.

Disney had halted its development on “Star Wars” movies after December 2019 release “The Rise of Skywalker,” the ninth installment in the saga that was launched with George Lucas’ 1977 movie.

“The Rise of Skywalker” had sold nearly $1.1 billion worldwide, however, it was the lowest-grossing film of the three “Star Wars” movies, which was released by Disney in 2015.

The announcement was made on May the Fourth, a day in which “Star Wars” fans celebrate the franchise for popular phrase “May the force be with you.”

The new projects are the lastest in the list of Disney's upcoming works, which includes live-action remake for its 1997 animated movie “Hercules,”.

The studio has hired Dave Callaham, the scripter of Marvel’s upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, to pen the script.

Meanwhile, “Avengers” filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo are set to produce the remake through their AGBO production company.

It is unclear what the new take on Hercules will be or if it will even be a musical.

The original “Hercules” was a musical fantasy retelling of the Greek legend, which followed Hercules, the son of the Greek God, Zeus, ho is turned into a half-god, half-mortal by the evil Hades. Hercules discovers his immortal heritage and is told by Zeus to return to Mount Olympus.

The 1997 pic had 18 writers who worked on the story and screenplay. It was directed by Ron Clements and Jon Musker directed.

Disney over the past years released a number of live-action adaptations of its animated classics, such as “the Jungle Book”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Dumbo”, “Aladdin”, and “The Lion King”.

Moreover, a number of Disney’s animated classics live-action adaptations are scheduled to be released soon such as “Mulan“, “Lady and the Tramp”, “The Sword and the Stone” (Disney Plus), and “The Little Mermaid”.