Taika Waititi's 2026 Sci-Fi Movie Release Is What We've Wanted For 10 Years

Published Aug 30, 2026, 12:55 PM EDT Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more. Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre. To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net. Taika Waititi has a new movie coming out in 2026, and there is hope that he can regain what made him such a beloved cult director 10 years ago. While Waititi got some big opportunities thanks to his cult popularity on TV and in movies, his success while on top fell off quickly. While Waititi’s sense of humor and heart helped him become a star director, they haven't always worked as well in mainstream movies. Waititi got his start when he was working on television as a director on Flight of the Conchords, alongside directing his feature-length debut film, Eagle vs. Shark. After directing Boy in 2010, he exploded in popularity with his mockumentary film What We Do in the Shadows, which he co-wrote with Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement. From there, Waititi directed his best film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The good news for Waititi is that he used that success to get his foot in the door at Marvel, and he directed Thor: Ragnarok, which was a huge success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It helped Thor finally see success in his solo movies and remains one of the most entertaining MCU movies to date. However, nothing Waititi has directed since then has matched that, although his next movie, Klara and the Sun, might change that. Taika Waititi's Recent Movies Have Struggled It isn't that Taika Waititi hasn't made any good movies since Thor: Ragnarok. It is that they haven't shared the same heart and humor as his early breakout movies, especially with Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which he released 10 years ago. After Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi made the brilliant World War II satire Jojo Rabbit, which stars Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo, a 10-year-old German boy who speaks to an imaginary version of Hitler (Waititi). The movie is an incredible story of a boy raised and indoctrinated in the Nazi culture so deeply that he believes Hitler is secretly talking to him and helping him with his personal problems. What could have been a movie done in poor taste is much deeper, as the boy never realizes his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), is secretly anti-Nazi until it is far too late and he has lost her. Jojo Rabbit received critical acclaim and won Waititi the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, while also receiving a Best Picture nomination, among others. It was also a box office success, making $93.6 million on a $14 million budget. The problem is that few people discuss this film anymore, and it remains mostly forgotten. Since then, Waititi has only two movies to his name, with Thor: Love and Thunder released in 2022 and his sports comedy drama Next Goal Wins released in 2023. Thor: Love and Thunder received poor reviews, with Waititi using too much comedy for a movie that involves Gorr the God Butcher, and that marked his end in the MCU. Next Goal Wins was a box office disappointment and remains mostly forgotten. Klara And The Sun Could Be A Return To Taika Waititi's Best Form The good news is that Waititi has a new movie coming out in 2026, and this looks a lot more like Hunt for the Wilderpeople than anything the director has made since that release. While Jojo Rabbit is a brilliant movie that shows everything that makes Waititi a beloved cult director, this new movie has the awkward, more personal moments that his movie from 10 years ago displays so well. Klara and the Sun is based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and stars Jenna Ortega as an android companion. Amy Adams stars as a mother who buys this companion for her daughter, while Mia Tharia is the young, sick girl who develops a close friendship with the android. The book is told from the point of view of the android, Klara, and the trailers make it appear that the movie will make her the central character as well. While this is a sci-fi dystopian movie, it seems that the movie will play things mostly realistically, other than the android and the future world. This is starting to look more and more like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which follows a child in the New Zealand foster care system who is taken in by a couple, but who ends up on the run from people trying to capture him and his new foster father. Both movies have a fantastical story, with one being a sci-fi movie about an android companion and the other an adventure through the New Zealand bush with hunters tracking their every movement. However, what they both have is a story of kids who have to figure out their place in the world, and they learn this from these situations. Waititi blended comedy and genuine emotion in Wilderpeople, and Klara and the Sun looks to be more of the same.