Sony Pictures has confirmed that Taika Waititi will be directing the tale of Klara, an android set on helping the family she lives with.
Taika Waititi has been announced as the director of Klara And The Sun, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel about ‘Klara, a robot girl created to prevent teenagers from becoming lonely.’ The novel is written from Klara’s point of view, following the android as she goes to live with a family and attempts to help them, whilst also having to deal with a fair amount of anti-android sentiment.
It’s a sweet and sad story, and experiencing it through Klara’s eyes we often see how she doesn’t fully comprehend what’s happening around her, an idea that we imagine might have interested Waititi who tends to like stories where one character is out of step with much of the world. That said, the tone of the book is markedly different to much of his prior filmography so it will be interesting to see if he’s planning to adapt it significantly or is aiming to stretch himself with a project of a different tone.
Deadline is reporting that once Sony officially closes the deal with Waititi, the film is likely to be his next project. Where that leaves his planned take on Akira is anybody’s guess, with reports as recent as last week suggesting that the long (and we mean ‘long’) road to production for the live-action take on the classic anime was potentially coming to an end, with Waititi looking to get to it next.
Likewise, does this news spell curtains for Waititi’s Star Wars project? The film wasn’t even mentioned at the recent Star Wars Celebration fan event and we can’t help but wonder if this has been quietly shelved, much like Rian Johnson’s planned trilogy. Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy can’t really afford to publicly cancel any more Star Wars projects following a disastrous decade of bungled productions so we wonder if this news is further confirmation that Waititi’s Star Wars project is dead in the water.
We’ll bring you more news on Klara And The Sun as we hear it. In the meantime, you can catch Waititi’s next film, Next Goal Wins, when it releases in cinemas this autumn.
Image: BigStock
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