EXCLUSIVE: Taika Waititi looks to have found his next project to direct as sources tell Deadline the Oscar winner is in negotiations to direct Sony’s 3000 Pictures’ Klara and the Sun, based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s New York Times best-selling novel. The project is in development, with Dahvi Waller penning the original draft of the screenplay.
David Heyman is producing the feature film for Heyday Films. Garrett Basch and Waititi are in negotiations to produce. Heyday’s Jeffrey Clifford and Rosie Alison brought in the project to Heyday. Ishiguro – who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and won a Booker Prize for his novel The Remains of the Day – is an EP. Elizabeth Gabler and Aislinn Dunster are overseeing the project for 3000 Pictures.
Ishiguro’s novel follows, Klara, a robot girl created to prevent teenagers from becoming lonely. This is the story of how she tries to save a family of humans she lives with from heartbreak. The role is certain to become one of the more sought after parts for any actress in her 20s given the awards pedigree past Ishiguro adaptations garner.
The novel, published in March 2021 by Alfred A. Knopf in the US and Faber in the UK, debuted on the New York Times’ Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List at #3 and the Indie Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List at #1. Good Morning America had also selected Klara and the Sun as their March 2021 Book Club Pick.
After directing Marvel’s Thor Love And Thunder, which bowed last July, Waititi was weighing a number of options for his next film including his highly-anticipated Star Wars movie at Lucasfilm. He ultimately landed on Klara and the Sun and once a deal closes will likely make it his next film.
As for Star Wars, insiders say he still very excited about the project and still committed to direct that next year.
His next film, Next Goal Wins, bows this fall and stars Michael Fassbender. He is repped by CAA and Manage-ment.
