Taika Waititi to Direct 'Thor 4' (Exclusive)

Authored by hollywoodreporter.com and submitted by thomasp003
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But his boarding of what would be a fourth installment of the Marvel franchise comes at a cost: Warner Bros.' long-gestating adaptation of Japanese manga Akira.

That project, which was penciled for a May 21, 2021, release and had Waititi testing actors in a worldwide search for talent, is being put on pause indefinitely as the two projects' production dates began to bump up against one another. Script development concerns caused Akira to push back its shooting start, and while some of those have been addressed, say sources, the dates were now too close for comfort.

Warners' next step for Akira is unclear. Several sources have said that Warners is keen on keeping Waititi involved for the long term and hopes to see him pick up Akira after Thor 4.

Waititi brought his own stamp to the Thor franchise with Ragnarok, infusing the movie with an idiosyncratic wit evident in his previous work like What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Audiences responded to the tune of almost $854 million worldwide while critics’ raves put the movie at 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The move also rejuvenated what had been a rare declining franchise performer for Marvel.

Chris Hemsworth is expected to reprise his career-defining role as the Asgardian god of thunder.

Next up for Waititi is Jojo Rabbit, a unique Nazi-era satire he directed for Fox Searchlight, which opens Oct. 18. Scarlett Johansson stars in the picture alongside Waititi, who portrays a boy's imaginary version of Adolf Hitler.

He is repped by CAA and Manage-ment.

Zaplos on July 16th, 2019 at 17:48 UTC »

The revolution has begun!

rooney815 on July 16th, 2019 at 17:45 UTC »

THOUR

coreyp0123 on July 16th, 2019 at 17:43 UTC »

I wonder where they are going to take Thor’s story in this one. It is so open ended it could really be anything.