Taika Waititi’s Star Wars Film Gets Green Light Despite Disney CEO Bob Iger’s Planned Cutbacks

The Disney CEO told shareholders earlier this month that the Star Wars parent would be enforcing stricter quality control standards for new content.

The director of Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder is getting a go at another massive Disney property, Star Wars, according to THR. This is in spite of plans for brand-wide spending cutbacks and attempts to wrangle quality control standards.

Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors during a Q1 2023 earnings call that the brand needs to reform its current spending habits, while alluding to the oversaturation of mid-grade Marvel and Star Wars vehicles landing on the Disney+ streaming platform:

“We have to be better at curating the Disney and the Pixar and the Marvel and the Star Wars of it all as well. And of course, reduce costs on everything that we make because, while we’re extremely proud of what’s on the screen, it’s gotten to a point where it’s extraordinarily expensive. And we want all the quality.”

Iger added:

“We want the quality on the screen, but we have to look at what they cost us. So, we’re going to continue to go after subs, but we’re going to be more judicious about how we do that. We’re going to look carefully at pricing. We’re going to reduce costs, both in content and of course, infrastructure.”

Marvel content seems to be getting the brunt of the cuts, as Marvel CEO Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly last week:

“It is harder to hit the zeitgeist when there’s so much product out there — and so much ‘content,’ as they say, which is a word that I hate. [Laughs] But we want Marvel Studios and the MCU projects to really stand out and stand above. So, people will see that as we get further into Phase 5 and 6. The pace at which we’re putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine.”

As for Star Wars — The Mandalorian season 3, and two new series, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew, are being added to Disney+’s streaming lineup this year. However, one inside source told THR, “Lucasfilm may ramp up, but it will have to abide by the same fiscal discipline as the rest of the company.”

Nevertheless, Waititi’s unique cinematic vision for the Star Wars franchise remains cleared for takeoff.

Related: Marvel Boss Says Taika Waititi Pitched Some ‘Extreme’ Ideas for Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder Challenges Fans Expectations

Taika Waititi — who outside of giant corporate franchises also directed the critically-beloved and Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, which approaches Hitler from a child’s perspective — went in a completely different direction for his second take at the hammer-wielding viking superhero. A more innocent one.

The director knew Thor buffs might not prefer this, according to AP:

“I wanted to show him in a light that most Thor fans wouldn’t really want if you were to tell them. If you were to say them: ‘Yeah, I’m going to make Thor in love,’ it’s probably the last thing that a Thor fan really wants to hear.”