Taika Waititi on ‘Next Goal Wins’ and his quest to quit Hollywood

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

TORONTO (AP) — Taika Waititi would really rather just go to the beach. In an interview, the 48-year-old Māori filmmaker of the upcoming “Next Goal Wins” says he’s already begun planning how he can quit Hollywood, which he calls “just sad people eating lukewarm food out of cardboard boxes in offices.” For him, the writers and actors strikes were a welcome hiatus after a long stretch of work, including the Oscar-winning “Jojo Rabbit” and 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.” And he’d rather keep the slower pace. “Next Goal Wins,” inspired by a 2014 documentary of the same name, is a sports movie that delights in upending the conventions of sports movies. It’s in theaters Friday.