Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit screenwriter Taika Waititi has been confirmed as the director of a new Star Wars feature film for theatres.

A new Star Wars series for streaming service Disney+ also is in development from Russian Doll writer Leslye Headland, Walt Disney Co says.

It will mark Waititi’s second outing in the Star Wars story after directing the first season finale of The Mandalorian for Disney+. He will also write the new film.

No release dates for either project were announced in a statement from the Star Wars website.

Disney had paused its development of Star Wars movies after the December 2019 release of The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth instalment in the saga that began with George Lucas’s original 1977 film.

Psych! https://t.co/mTZ6ybqnZf

— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) May 4, 2020

Rise of Skywalker sold nearly $US1.1 billion ($A1.7 billion) worth of tickets worldwide but was the lowest-grossing film of the three Star Wars movies released by Disney since 2015.

-with agencies