DBF-New-Vintage-Headerv4
Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi, director of Thor Love and Thunder
Short Biography:
Taika Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. His 2003 short film Two Cars, One Night earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. He co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement, which was adapted into a television series of the same name in 2019. The series has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. His most recent directing credits include the superhero films Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) as well as the black comedy film Jojo Rabbit (2019), the last of which he also wrote and starred in as an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler. Jojo Rabbit received six Academy Award nominations and won for Best Adapted Screenplay. Waititi also earned a Grammy Award for producing the film’s soundtrack.

Here is a rundown of his movies, with the score based on the average from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes (public votes only) and Letterboxd, from lowest ranked to highest:

NUMBER OF MOVIES:
CAREER AVERAGE SCORE:
TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE:
TOTAL BUDGETS COMBINED:
TOTAL PROFIT OR LOSS:
Return on every $1 invested over his career:
7
7.82
$ 1,705,942,615
$ 449,850,000
$ 1,256,092,615
$ 7.26
7 – Eagle vs Shark (2007)
There’s Someone For Everyone… Luckily Love Is Blind.
Star icon
6.67 /10
Comedy, Romance
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Love blossoms for Lily over double Meaty Boy burgers at mid-day when uber-computer nerd Jarrod comes in and leaves with free extra large fries. After gatecrashing Jarrod’s party and proving her skills on the game console, Lily goes down to Jarrod’s home town with him so he can settle an old score with a past school bully.
play-icon
Critics response: Mixed Reviews
109 Critic reviews: 61 positive (56%); 48 negative (44%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 1,298,037
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 1,350,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ (51,963)
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 0.96
6 – Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
The one is not the only.
Star icon
6.91 /10
Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
After his retirement is interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who now inexplicably wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. Together they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
play-icon
Critics response: Slightly Positive
408 Critic reviews: 266 positive (65.2%); 142 negative (34.8%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 720,495,211
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 250,000,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 470,495,211
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 2.88
5 – Boy (2010)
Welcome to my interesting world.
Star icon
8.04 /10
Drama | Comedy
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
play-icon
Critics response: Slightly Positive
73 Critic reviews: 64 positive (87.7%); 9 negative (12.3%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 8,661,393
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 400,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 8,261,393
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 21.65
4 – Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
No Hammer. No Problem.
Star icon
8.12 /10
Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Comedy
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor’s quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization.
play-icon
Critics response: Slightly Positive
439 Critic reviews: 409 positive (93.2%); 30 negative (6.8%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 853,983,879
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 180,000,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 673,983,879
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 4.74
3 – What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Some interviews with some vampires
Star icon
8.17 /10
Comedy | Horror
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Vampire housemates (Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh) try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) some of the perks of being undead.
play-icon
Critics response: Slightly Positive
191 Critic reviews: 184 positive (96.3%); 7 negative (3.7%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 7,253,160
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 1,600,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 5,653,160
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 4.53
2 – Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Nature just got gangster
Star icon
8.33 /10
Adventure | Comedy | Drama
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.
play-icon
Critics response: Universal Praise
207 Critic reviews: 200 positive (96.6%); 7 negative (3.4%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 23,915,910
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 2,500,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 21,415,910
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 9.57
1 – Jojo Rabbit (2019)
An anti-hate satire.
Star icon
8.47 /10
Comedy | War | Drama
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Top Billed Cast:
SYNOPSIS:
Jojo is a lonely German boy who discovers that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his imaginary friend — Adolf Hitler — Jojo must confront his blind nationalism as World War II continues to rage on.
play-icon
Critics response: Highly Positive
428 Critic reviews: 343 positive (80.1%); 85 negative (19.9%)

(Source: Rotten Tomatoes)

FINANCIAL DATA:
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:
$ 90,335,025
PRODUCTION BUDGET:
$ 14,000,000
PROFIT OR (LOSS):
$ 76,335,025
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, THE MOVIE MADE BACK:
$ 6.45