Taika Waititi has a number of projects on his to-do list, including a mysterious Star Wars movie and a live-action adaptation of Akira.
Whether all or even most of them will ever see the light of day is another matter, but we found out last May that the Thor: Love and Thunder director had settled on his next movie, and we may now know who is set to play the lead role.
According to Jeff Sneider in the latest edition of his newsletter, Jenna Ortega (Scream VI, Wednesday) is set to star as the title character in Waititi's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s best-selling sci-fi novel, Klara and the Sun.
The story takes place in a dystopian future in which some children are genetically engineered ("lifted") for enhanced academic ability. As schooling is provided entirely at home by on-screen tutors, opportunities for socialization are limited, and parents who can afford it often buy their children androids as companions.
The book is narrated by one such Artificial Friend (AF) called Klara.
"From the window of the store in which she is for sale, Klara learns about the world outside and watches the Sun, which she always refers to as "he" and treats as a living entity. Klara is chosen by 14-year-old Josie, who lives with her mother in a remote region of prairie. Soon after joining them, Klara learns that the lifting process carries some risk: Josie's older sister Sal had earlier died, and Josie herself is gravely ill."
The project is being developed at 3000 Films, with Dahvi Waller penning the original draft of the screenplay. David Heyman is producing the film for Heyday Films, with Garrett Basch and Waititi also on board as producers. Heyday’s Jeffrey Clifford and Rosie Alison brought in the project to Heyday.
After playing the character in the last two Scream movies, Ortega was on board to reprise her role as Tara Carpenter for Scream VII, but we recently learned that she'd parted ways with the latest instalment in the long-running slasher franchise.
Initially, it was believed that the actress decided to step away in solidarity with co-star Melissa Barrera after she was fired for supposed antisemitic social media posts, but it later came to light that she had actually left the movie some time before. Did she drop out of Scream so she could star in Klara, perhaps?
Ortega also has the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton's Beetlejuice on the way, as well as Miller's Girl, Alba, and Death of a Unicorn. She will also reprise the role of Wednesday Addams for a second season of Netflix's The Addams Family spin-off series.