Last month, Taika Waititi took a trip home to New Zealand to present a photography exhibition he teamed with luxury car brand Zeekr for.
The exhibition took place over a weekend at Auckland’s Studio 230, and while he was in town, Rolling Stone AU/NZ was lucky to snag a few minutes of the Oscar winning director’s time for a wide-ranging conversation, from upcoming projects like Klara and the Sun and Place to Be, to his old pals Flight of the Conchords recently reuniting for the first time in eight years and touring New Zealand for the first time in 14.
You can check out all of the exhibition chat here – as well as it potentially coming to Sydney – but here’s everything else that was discussed.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: You were only just at the Venice Film Festival for Place to Be. It’s made a lot of headlines and stars the great Ellen Burstyn, Pamela Anderson and Australia’s own Murray Bartlett. But you’re only acting in this one, no producing or directing. It must be nice to take a step back every now and then?
Taika Waititi: It’s a beautiful thing. I get it now. I understand why people love acting. It’s like, 3pm, and you can go home and take three days off! You don’t have to stress and take the whole project to bed with you, wondering how the hell am I ever going to finish this movie and whoever’s gonna see it.
I was acting before I was a filmmaker, so it was just nice to revisit that and fall in love with it again.
Murray Bartlett, Waititi, Ellen Burstyn, Pamela Anderson and Kornel Mundruczo at the Venice International Film Festival 2026. Image: Getty
Do we have a local release for that yet, in Australia and New Zealand?
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No idea, actually. I think because it’s only just premiered there, they’ll probably start figuring that out soon.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople just hit its 10th anniversary this year, a belated congratulations.
Thank you.
I was working at Blockbuster Video when [2007 debut feature film] Eagle vs Shark came out.
Oh, wow!
Is it fair to say Wilderpeople was the one that blew you up globally?
Hunt for the Wilderpeople was actually after What We Do in the Shadows, which was probably more underground. The fan base was smaller, but more fanatic. They’re the ones who started all the cosplay stuff. They were relentless. So Shadows was the one that really pushed me into filmmaking conversations with the studios, but Wilderpeople got way more exposure and attention. It’s a more accessible film to a broader audience.
Waititi and Clement at the “What We Do in the Shadows” Premiere during the 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Paramount Theatre on March 8, 2019 in Austin, Texas. Image: Getty
Fast-forward to now, you’ve got a bunch of stuff in the works. We’ve recently seen the trailer for Klara and the Sun, you’ve signed on to direct the new Judge Dredd film, and there’s the Star Wars project hovering above all that. Any updates on these?
No updates. Nothing! But I am making a film, probably next year, is what I’m hoping for, adapting this book “James,” by Percival Everett. And that’s with Amblin [Steven Spielberg’s production company]. It’s just a little company – they’ve got a logo of a little boy on a bicycle going past a giant full moon. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Amblin [laughs]. That’s the next thing that I’m trying to do next year.
And then, Very Young Frankenstein. We’re starting to shoot that in about two months. That’s a TV adaptation of the classic Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks film. So there’s lots and lots of things happening.
With something like Very Young Frankenstein, do you get to sit in a room with someone like Mel Brooks, or is it more of an homage to his work?
Not in a room, but there’s a lot of communication, yeah. He was very involved right from the beginning. He told us what he wanted from the show, what he hoped we’d retain. Because it’s such a unique and specific tone. So we definitely have to check in with him. He’s 100 now and still showing no signs of slowing down, and he’s still very, very funny… he cares a lot about everything that he’s done and comedy in general.
I know we have to wrap now, but before you go, you’re obviously very busy and your old friends the Flight of the Conchords have made a bit of a comeback. Can you give us some intel there – are they back for good?
I don’t know how many years they took off. Maybe six years?
It was actually eight.
Eight years! Right. And then they did the American tour, and it was hugely successful. So I think they should just keep going — I think they’ve waited long enough, and they should just go for it and tour for the rest of their days, because there’s nothing like a Conchords show live. They’re just so brilliant. I think they should just admit it’s one of the greatest things that’s ever come out of New Zealand.
You’ve worked heavily with Jemaine Clement in particular over the years. Is there anything in the pipeline with him or with Bret McKenzie, moving forward, even unrelated to the Conchords?
I think people are getting bored of us saying it, but we’re still working on a sequel to Shadows. We’re very, very slow writers, so God knows if this will ever happen. But yeah, we are still working on a sequel, which focuses more on the werewolves.
