Taika Waititi Celebrates His Return To A Movie Set By Doubling Down On Masks

Taika Waititi as imaginary Adolf Hitler in Jojo Rabbit
(Image credit: (Fox Searchlight))

Being a director is tough work. There’s a ton of running around and yelling action and cut and action and cut again. And now we’re in unprecedented times. Hollywood has been faced with shifting norms on movie sets as health concerns have arisen around the world. Many filmmakers are steadily starting to adjust to the new normal and get back to work despite what’s going on in the world. This includes Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit’s Taika Waititi, who has shared a behind-the-scenes look at his return to set. Take a look:

See more

Well that’s one way to do it! The director shared this super cozy picture of himself in a recliner with both a mask over his mouth and nose (as health officials recommend to slow the spread of COVID-19) and one silky mask over his eyes so he can do very important directing work and definitely not just take a nap. It looks like Taika Waititi has discovered the epitome of comfort and safety with this Twitter update. Not to mention how amazing that sweater is. I need the dets on this whole outfit here because it’s iconic. Oscar-Isaac-eating-Cheetos-with-chopsticks status of iconic.

Intriguingly, he doesn’t say which set he’s on exactly, but a fair guess would be that he's finishing work on his soccer comedy Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss and Armie Hammer. The movie is based on a 2014 documentary of the same name about an American Samoa soccer team’s massive loss to Australia.

It honestly makes sense for Taika Waititi to rest up because he has a huge few years ahead of him. The writer/director said last month he’s working on the finishing touches for Thor: Love and Thunder ahead of its expected production start in early 2021. The sequel to the Marvel favorite Thor: Raganok will feature the return of Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder, Natalie Portman as The Mighty Thor, and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie who “needs to find her queen.” Taika has teased a ton of romance for the Phase Four film slated for February 11, 2022. Christian Bale is also supposed to be the villain (we don’t know which one) and that’s perfect.

Oh, and did you hear Taika Waititi is working on a Star Wars movie for Disney too? That’s right, he’s set to direct and co-write a mysterious movie with 1917 scriptwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns. The filmmaker already has some experience with the franchise for Disney+’s The Mandalorian. He directed the eighth episode of the first season and voiced the droid IG-11. Mandalorian was just nominated for 15 Emmys, including a voiceover nod for Taika Waititi.

Whew, that’s a lot on his plate. No wonder he’s gotta rest up and keep safe from COVID-19 at the same time. Which Taika project are you most excited to see? Vote in our poll below and stay tuned on CinemaBlend for more movie news.

This poll is no longer available.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.