Showbiz News | Jenna Ortega returns to the big screen with a role far removed from Wednesday Addams. This time she plays Klara, the solar-powered robot at the center of the story in Taika Waititi's latest adaptation, Klara and the Sun. The Film is scheduled to air October 23, 2026 and has received a PG-13 rating from MPA due to thematic elements, some violence, as well as abusive language. The duration of the film is recorded at 116 minutes, with the first trailer already released in June 2026 through Sony Pictures.
Interestingly, Waititi has been known for his eccentric comedy and superhero humor. But for this project he insists that the film is not funny and that there are no robots that kill anyone. The statement is not just a promotion. This is a sign that Sony 3000 Pictures is aiming for something different: a serious science fiction drama, touching, and a chance to enter the awards market.
The story takes place in the United States, in the near future. One of the essential differences of his novel is the disappearance of the internet from people's daily lives. Waititi admitted that he wanted to create a world that felt both familiar and unfamiliar. The production aesthetic and 1960s-themed costumes became the main way. In that society, genetic engineering was applied to many children in order to improve their academic intelligence. However, those who failed to achieve these standards were excluded from the lower social strata.
Klara herself is an outdated robot who still hopes to be chosen despite competing with newer models. He is eventually bought by Chrissie, the mother of Josie, a teenager suffering from a mysterious illness. Klara soon realizes that the House harbors old wounds, and Josie's relationship with her mother is far from harmonious.
The original Novel was published in March 2021 and immediately entered Barack Obama's summer reading list, as well as the Booker Prize longlist the same year. Ishiguro's presence as executive producer is not just a name in the credits. This guarantees that the adaptation will not stray far from the original vision. Sony acquired the adaptation rights in July 2020, before the novel was even published, and appointed Dahvi Waller to write the screenplay in March 2021.
Waititi admitted to reading the novel in one sitting on a flight, something he said never happened. He initially thought this adaptation would be easy because nothing really happened in it. But after starting to write, he found that it was the absence of the usual plot that was the source of his difficulties. The relationships between the characters he explores go deeper, and their complexity increases.
There is one sentence Waititi is worth pondering. Love is a program? Because if you've had enough therapy, they'll say you can program yourself to believe anything. This is not a rhetorical question for promotion. It's at the core of what makes Klara and The Sun interesting philosophically. Klara, a robot programmed to care, is the only character whose care is unambiguous.
On the contrary, the humans in this story are full of doubts and hidden interests. Josie is sick and probably will not recover. His mother worried about the future. There is a great loss that is never called explicit, but overshadows the entire narrative. Klara is present in the midst of it all with an almost painful simplicity: she believes the sun can heal Josie, because it energizes her.
Sources: Vanity Fair, Empire, ScreenRant