Star Wars: Krysty Wilson-Cairns is a dark-horse co-writer joining with Taika Waititi

We now know Taika Waititi will be co-writing and directing his own Star Wars film, but Krysty Wilson-Cairns is a dark-horse addition to the project.

One of the biggest pieces of news to break on Star Wars Day was the reveal that Taika Waititi will be directing and co-writing a new Star Wars movie. While details are scarce at the moment, one important part of the announcement was the choice of Krysty Wilson-Cairns as a co-writer to work on the screenplay.

While Taika Waititi is a relatively proven commodity with experience writing and directing hits like What We Do in the Shadows, Jojo Rabbit, and joining an existing universe with Thor: Ragnorak, Wilson-Cairns is a bit of an unknown.

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Wilson-Cairns broke out when an un-produced script for the science fiction thriller Aether made the 2014 Black List of “most liked” motion picture screenplays not yet produced. The accolade led to her role as a staff writer on Penny Dreadful, but things really took off with her feature film debut.

In late 2019, we got to witness 1917, a war film that takes place during World War I directed and produced by Sam Mendes. One of the more unique aspects of the film was the use of long takes to have the entire film appear as two continuous shots, which surely provided some challenges during the writing process.

Mendes co-wrote the screenplay with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, and it’s safe to say the execution was a rousing success. 1917 holds an approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was even the first film to dethrone Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker at the box office, which held the top spot for the first three weekends after release.

1917 received 10 Academy Award nominations, including Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns being nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It also won for Outstanding British Film at the British Academy Film Awards.

The only other significant note on Wilson-Cairns’ resume is the upcoming psychological horror film Last Night in Soho, in which she co-wrote the screenplay with producer and director Edgar Wright, who is most known for the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.

While details aren’t fully clear about the film, which was slated to be released in September of 2020 and has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson-Cairns likely brought her personal experience to the table. While attending the National Film and Television School in England, Wilson-Cairns worked as a bartender at an Irish pub in Soho.

Despite feeling like the dark-horse addition to this project, Wilson-Cairns has shown her ability to work with others on important projects where her co-writer brought big ideas to the table right from the start. If her contribution to Star Wars is anything like what she’s shown us in the past, Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Taika Waititi are likely to write a truly unique addition to this universe.

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