Taika Waititi once said he'd be 'fired from a Star Wars movie within a week'

Reports have it that Taika Waititi, the Kiwi director of Thor: Ragnarok, is being eyed to develop a new Star Wars movie.

Variety says that Waititi is in 'early talks' with Disney, though there are no details about what the project would be, nor how he would be involved.

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But if he is boarding the Lucasfilm bus, it's something of a volte-face for the man currently riding on six Oscar nominations for his latest movie, the wartime satire Jojo Rabbit.

Asked by a fan on Twitter back in 2017 if he'd ever consider making a Star Wars movie, he replied in short order.

“Lolz. I like to complete my films,” he said. “I'd be fired within a week.”

Mind you, much has changed since then.

Earlier this year, he jumped in to direct the series finale of The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm, as well as voicing the bounty hunter droid UG-11.

So now that he's got his feet wet in the pool, maybe he'll just dive right in there.

Refering to the recent press attention connecting him to the Star Wars universe, Waititi has been coy, refusing to comment directly but posting this tweet.

He told Variety on Monday this week: “Oh, I don’t know anything about that. But Mandalorian was my chance to work with some stormtroopers.

“Obviously I would, but I’m going to just settle for IG-11 being the hero of the entire season.”

Waititi has a pretty hefty schedule stretching out in front of him, however.

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His next project is football movie Next Goal Wins with Michael Fassbender and Elizabeth Moss, and after that, it'll be straight on to Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder, due in 2021.

He's also got a front-of-camera role in The Suicide Squad, so there'll be lines to learn for that too.

Disney does have a slot in the release shedule for the next Star Wars movie, however, on December 16, 2022, though whose project it will be is currently anyone's guess.

The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson was long said to be thinking up a new trilogy concept, while Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff exited a previously announced deal to do the same back in October last year.