Profile | プロフィール
Born / 生年月日
August 16, 1975 | Raukokore, Te Kaha, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Age / 年齢
49 years old (as of 2025)
Occupation / 職業
Film Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor, Comedian, Artist
映画監督、脚本家、プロデューサー、俳優、コメディアン、アーティスト
Nationality / 国籍
New Zealand (ニュージーランド)
Biography | 経歴
[English] Taika Waititi is the most formally inventive and culturally distinctive filmmaker to emerge from New Zealand. His artistry is defined by a unique fusion of deadpan warmth and a bicultural perspective shaped by his Māori and Jewish heritage. Unlike many comedic directors who rely on cynical irony, Waititi possesses the “formal courage” to fully commit to absurd premises, treating even his most eccentric characters with profound sincerity. From the low-budget cult hit What We Do in the Shadows (2014) to the transformative $850 million spectacle of Thor: Ragnarok (2017), he has successfully brought an independent creative voice to the largest commercial stages. His masterpiece, Jojo Rabbit (2019), stands as his formal and moral summit—winning the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay by daring to dismantle Nazi ideology through the playful, yet heartbreakingly vulnerable, lens of a child’s imagination.
[日本語] タイカ・ワイティティは、ニュージーランド映画界が生んだ、最も形式的に独創的で文化的に特異な映画作家です。その作家性は、マオリとユダヤの血を引く二文化的背景から生み出された「デッドパン（無表情）な温かさ」と、特有のユーモアの融合によって定義されます。多くのコメディ監督が自己防衛的な皮肉（アイロニー）に逃げるのに対し、ワイティティは不条理な前提に真っ向からコミットし、奇妙なキャラクターたちをどこまでも真剣に描く「形式的勇気」を持っています。低予算の傑作『シェアハウス・ウィズ・ヴァンパイア』（2014年）から、8億5000万ドルの大作に個人の創造性を注ぎ込んだ『マイティ・ソー バトルロイヤル』（2017年）まで、その活動域は極めて広大です。彼の頂点である『ジョジョ・ラビット』（2019年）は、ナチズムという重層的な負の遺産を、子供の想像力という無垢で脆いレンズを通して解体し、アカデミー賞脚色賞に輝いた形式的・道徳的到達点でございます。
Filmography | 監督作品
Feature Films as Director (監督長編作品)
| Year | Title (English / Japanese) | Budget | Box Office | Awards/Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Eagle vs Shark / イーグル対サメ | ~$1M | ~$1.2M | Loren Horsley / Jemaine Clement / Feature debut / Deadpan NZ comedy / Sundance |
| 2010 | Boy / ボーイ | ~$2M | ~$3.8M (NZ) | James Rolleston / Taika Waititi / 1984 East Coast NZ / Michael Jackson / Father-son / Māori community / Highest-grossing NZ film of year / Most personal film |
| 2014 | What We Do in the Shadows / アット・ホーム・ウィズ・ヴァンパイア | ~$1.6M | ~$6.9M | Co-directed with Jemaine Clement / Jemaine Clement / Jonathan Brugh / Cori Gonzalez-Macuer / Wellington vampires / Mockumentary / Most formally inventive / Major international cult following |
| 2016 | Hunt for the Wilderpeople / ハント・フォー・ザ・ワイルダーピープル | ~$2.5M | $23.8M | Sam Neill / Julian Dennison / Rima Te Wiata / Barry Crump adaptation / NZ bush / Child welfare / Highest-grossing NZ domestic film in history at release / Most beloved NZ film |
| 2017 | Thor: Ragnarok / マイティ・ソー：バトルロイヤル | ~$180M | $853.9M | Chris Hemsworth / Cate Blanchett / Mark Ruffalo / Tessa Thompson / Tom Hiddleston / Jeff Goldblum / Taika Waititi (Korg) / MCU most formally original at release / Career commercial summit / Franchise transformation |
| 2019 | Jojo Rabbit / ジョジョ・ラビット | ~$14M | $39.9M | Oscar Best Adapted Screenplay 🏆 Oscar nom. Best Picture 🌟 TIFF People’s Choice Award 🏆 / Roman Griffin Davis / Thomasin McKenzie / Scarlett Johansson / Sam Rockwell / Rebel Wilson / Taika Waititi (Hitler) / Christine Leunens / Nazi Germany / Child’s imagination / Career artistic summit |
| 2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder / マイティ・ソー：ラブ＆サンダー | ~$250M | $760.9M | Chris Hemsworth / Natalie Portman / Christian Bale / Tessa Thompson / Russell Crowe / MCU sequel |
Television — Selected (テレビ — 主要作品)
| Year | Title | Network | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Mandalorian (Director, Episodes 1 & 8) | Disney+ | Star Wars universe / Season 1 launch episodes / Baby Yoda (Grogu) introduction / Most-watched Disney+ launch |
| 2022 | Our Flag Means Death (Creator/Director/Producer) | HBO Max | Rhys Darby / Taika Waititi / David Jenkins creator / Pirate comedy / LGBT+ representation |
| Various | Flight of the Conchords (Director, selected episodes) | HBO | Jemaine Clement / Bret McKenzie / Wellington-to-New York comedy |
| 2005–07 | Flight of the Conchords (BBC Radio / TV development) | BBC / HBO | Co-development / Clement partnership |
Short Films — Selected (短編)
| Year | Title | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Two Cars, One Night | Oscar nom. Best Short Film (Live Action) 🌟 / Two children / NZ pub car park / Career announcement |
| 2005 | Tama Tū | Māori soldiers / WWII / New Zealand |
As Producer — Selected (プロデューサーとして)
| Year | Title | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Jojo Rabbit | Taika Waititi | Own production |
| 2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder | Taika Waititi | Own production |
Awards & Recognition | 受賞歴
Academy Awards (アカデミー賞)
Winner: 1 🏆
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Jojo Rabbit (2020) 🏆
Nominated: 1 🌟
- Best Picture – Jojo Rabbit (2020) 🌟 (as producer)
- Best Short Film (Live Action) – Two Cars, One Night (2005) 🌟
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
Winner: 1 🏆
- People’s Choice Award – Jojo Rabbit (2019) 🏆; the prize that has historically predicted the Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards with the highest consistency of any festival award
New Zealand Film Awards (NZ Film Awards / Spirit Awards)
Winner: Multiple 🏆
- Multiple wins for Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and other NZ productions across his career
- Recognized as the most significant figure in New Zealand cinema of his generation
Writers Guild of America (WGA)
Winner: 1 🏆
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Jojo Rabbit (2020) 🏆
Critics’ Choice Awards
Nominated:
- Best Director – Jojo Rabbit (2020) 🌟
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Jojo Rabbit (2020) 🌟
Other Honours
- New Zealand Order of Merit — recognition of his contribution to New Zealand film and culture
- What We Do in the Shadows — cult classic status; spawned the Wellington Paranormal (2018–2022) and What We Do in the Shadows (FX, 2019–) television spin-off series, the latter running to multiple seasons and establishing a shared fictional universe
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople — recognized as the most beloved New Zealand film of its decade by multiple polls of New Zealand audiences and critics
- The Thor: Ragnarok Korg character—voiced and motion-captured by Waititi himself—became one of the most beloved individual character introductions in MCU history, spawning significant merchandise and fan engagement
Box Office Achievements | 興行成績
| Film | Worldwide Box Office |
|---|---|
| Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) | $760.9 million |
| Thor: Ragnarok (2017) | $853.9 million |
| Jojo Rabbit (2019) | $39.9 million |
| Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) | $23.8 million |
| What We Do in the Shadows (2014) | $6.9 million |
Career worldwide box office as director: Over $1.7 billion
