Discover the career path of Taika Waititi, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Taika Waititi is a celebrated New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian, recognized for his distinctive quirky comedic style. He's expanded into voice acting and producing. His work has garnered numerous prestigious awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award. In 2022, Time magazine acknowledged his influence by naming him among the 100 most influential people globally.
1999: Billy T Award
In 1999, Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, as the comedy duo The Humourbeasts, received New Zealand's highest comedy accolade, the Billy T Award.
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2003: Two Cars, One Night Short Film
In 2003, Taika Waititi directed the short film Two Cars, One Night, which gained acclaim.
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2003: Two Cars, One Night Nomination
In 2003, Taika Waititi's short film Two Cars, One Night earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.
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2004: Short film 'Two Cars, One Night'
In 2004, Waititi released the short film 'Two Cars, One Night'.
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2005: Academy Award Nomination
In 2005, Taika Waititi received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for 'Two Cars, One Night'.
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2005: Academy Award Nomination
In 2005, the short film Two Cars, One Night, which was directed by Taika Waititi, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.
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2007: Eagle vs Shark Release
In 2007, Taika Waititi's first feature film, Eagle vs Shark, which he co-wrote, was released in US theatres.
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January 2010: Boy Premiere
In January 2010, Taika Waititi's second feature, Boy, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
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2010: Boy Release
In 2010, Waititi's feature film Boy was released, becoming the top-grossing New Zealand film.
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2011: Directing and Acting Roles
In 2011, Taika Waititi directed the New Zealand TV series Super City and portrayed Thomas Kalmaku in the superhero film Green Lantern.
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2013: Co-Directing What We Do in the Shadows
In 2013, Taika Waititi co-wrote, co-directed, and acted in the vampire comedy mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows with Clement.
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2013: What We Do in the Shadows (2013)
In 2013, Taika Waititi worked on What We Do in the Shadows.
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January 2014: Premiere of What We Do in the Shadows
In January 2014, What We Do in the Shadows premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
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2014: Film 'What We Do in the Shadows'
In 2014, Taika Waititi released the film 'What We Do in the Shadows', which then went on to be the television series.
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2014: What We Do in the Shadows Film Release
In 2014, What We Do in the Shadows, a horror comedy film co-written, co-directed, and starring Waititi with Jemaine Clement, was released.
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2016: Hunt for the Wilderpeople Release
In 2016, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, another feature film directed by Waititi, also became the top-grossing New Zealand film.
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2016: Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
In 2016, Taika Waititi worked on Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
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2016: Hunt for the Wilderpeople Premiere
In 2016, Taika Waititi's fourth feature, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
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2017: Thor: Ragnarok Directing Credit
In 2017, Taika Waititi directed the superhero film Thor: Ragnarok.
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2017: New Zealander of the Year & Thor: Ragnarok
In 2017, Taika Waititi won the award for New Zealander of the Year and directed Marvel Studios's Thor: Ragnarok.
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2017: Working on We're Wolves
In 2017, Waititi stated he was working on a sequel to What We Do In The Shadows titled We're Wolves.
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May 2018: What We Do in the Shadows TV Adaptation
In May 2018, a television adaptation of What We Do in the Shadows was commissioned, with Taika Waititi as an executive producer and director.
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October 2018: Directing The Mandalorian
In October 2018, it was announced that Taika Waititi would be one of the directors of The Mandalorian.
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2018: Executive Producer of 'The Breaker Upperers'
In 2018, Taika Waititi served as executive producer of the New Zealand film 'The Breaker Upperers', directed by a Māori filmmaker.
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March 2019: What We Do in the Shadows TV Series Premiere
In March 2019, the What We Do in the Shadows TV series premiered on FX.
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November 2019: The Mandalorian Premiere
In November 2019, The Mandalorian series premiered, with Taika Waititi directing the first-season finale and voicing IG-11.
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2019: Confirmed Director of Akira
In 2019, Taika Waititi was confirmed as the director and co-writer of a live-action film adaptation of Akira.
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2019: Jojo Rabbit Release and Accolades
In 2019, Taika Waititi wrote, starred in, and directed Jojo Rabbit, winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Grammy Award for the film's soundtrack.
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2019: Awards for 'Jojo Rabbit'
In 2019, Taika Waititi's film 'Jojo Rabbit' earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
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2019: Jojo Rabbit Directing and Writing
In 2019, Waititi wrote and directed Jojo Rabbit, winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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2019: What We Do in the Shadows TV Series
In 2019, What We Do in the Shadows was adapted into a television series, receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.
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2019: Directing Flash Gordon
In 2019, it was announced that Waititi would direct an animated Flash Gordon movie for 20th Century Studios.
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2019: Star Wars Film Rumors
In late 2019, rumors began circulating about Waititi and a Star Wars film.
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2019: Television series 'What We Do in the Shadows'
Since 2019, Taika Waititi has written and produced the television series, 'What We Do in the Shadows', based on the 2014 film of the same name.
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May 4, 2020: Directing and Co-writing Star Wars Film
On May 4, 2020, it was officially announced that Taika Waititi would direct and co-write a Star Wars movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.
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2020: Charity Reading and DC Role
In 2020, Taika Waititi narrated a charity reading of James and the Giant Peach.
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2020: Executive Producer of 'Baby Done'
In 2020, Taika Waititi served as executive producer of the film 'Baby Done', directed by a Māori filmmaker.
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2020: Roald Dahl Animated Series
In 2020, Waititi was announced to write, direct and executive produce two animated series for Netflix based on Roald Dahl's children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel.
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May 2021: Akira Release Date
Taika Waititi had been confirmed as director and co-writer with Michael Golamco of a live-action film adaptation of Akira, with a release date of May 21, 2021.
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August 2021: The Suicide Squad and Free Guy Roles
In August 2021, Taika Waititi portrayed Ratcatcher in The Suicide Squad and Antwan Hovachelik in Free Guy.
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2021: Executive Producer of 'Night Raiders' and cousin begins producing Māori language versions of Disney animated films.
In 2021, Taika Waititi served as executive producer of 'Night Raiders', directed by an indigenous filmmaker. Also in 2021, his cousin Tweedie Waititi began producing and directing Māori language versions of Disney animated films.
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2021: Grammy Award for Jojo Rabbit
In 2021, Taika Waititi won the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media as a producer of the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack.
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2021: Directing and Producing Series and Film
In 2021, Waititi would executive produce and direct the Showtime limited series The Auteur and that Waititi would adapt The Incal into a feature film.
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2021: Flash Gordon to Live Action
In 2021, it was revealed that the Flash Gordon movie is now live action.
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March 2022: Our Flag Means Death Release
In March 2022, the first season of the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death, where Taika Waititi executive produced, directed, and starred, was released.
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July 2022: Thor: Love and Thunder Release
In July 2022, Thor: Love and Thunder, written and directed by Taika Waititi, was released.
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2022: Potential Release Date
In 2022, Kathleen Kennedy stated that the film would most likely come out before Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron.
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2022: Thor: Love and Thunder Directing Credit
In 2022, Taika Waititi directed the film Thor: Love and Thunder.
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November 2023: Next Goal Wins Release
In November 2023, Next Goal Wins was released after delays and re-shoots. The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival to negative reviews.
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2023: Executive Producer on 'Frybread Face and Me'
In 2023, Taika Waititi was the executive producer on 'Frybread Face and Me', a film directed by Billy Luther.
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2023: Directing Klara and the Sun
In 2023, it was announced that he would direct a film adaptation of the novel Klara and the Sun, intending on making it his next movie after Next Goal Wins.
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2023: Possible Role in Star Wars Film
In 2023, reports stated that Waititi was looking to star in the film. The next month, Kennedy stated that Waititi's film is still in development and that he was now writing the film alone.
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2023: We're Wolves Project Status
In 2023, there were no updates on the project, We're Wolves.
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2024: Directing Time Bandits and Interior Chinatown
In 2024, Taika Waititi directed and co-wrote the pilot episode of a television adaptation of the film, Time Bandits. Also in 2024, Waititi directed the pilot and executive produced a television adaptation of the Charles Yu novel, Interior Chinatown.
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2024: Executive Producer on 'We Were Dangerous'
In 2024, Taika Waititi served as executive producer on 'We Were Dangerous' directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu.
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2024: Directing Adaptation of James
In 2024, it was revealed that Waititi would direct a film adaptation of the Percival Everett novel James with Steven Spielberg producing.
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2024: Potential Start of Filming
In 2024, the Star Wars film was reported to start filming, though this did not pan out.
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