(JTA) – On May 4, what has come to be known as Star Wars Day, Disney and Lucasfilm revealed some exciting news: Taika Waititi is set to direct a new “Star Wars” film. The Jewish Māori filmmaker will co-write the movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who co-wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed war film “1917.”

It is unclear when the film is scheduled to come out. There are currently three untitled “Star Wars” films slated for December 2022, 2024 and 2026. Rumors had swirled about Waititi’s connection to a “Star Wars” project since he won an Oscar for the Holocaust satire “Jojo Rabbit” in February. He appeared in the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” and directed the first season’s finale.

Waititi already has a lot in the works, including: “Next Goal Wins,” about the national soccer team of American Samoa, which entered post-production this past January; an animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s work for Netflix; and “Thor: Love and Thunder,” starring Natalie Portman, which is slated to hit theaters on Feb. 18, 2022.

Back in 2017, when Waititi was asked what would happen if he were to direct a “Star Wars” movie, he tweeted, “I’d be fired within a week.”

mainPhoto: Taika Waititi will co-write the new Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cains, who wrote the World War I thriller 1917 with Sam Mendes. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)