Apple's 'Time Bandits' Series Will Be Co-Written And Directed By Taika Waititi

Last summer we learned that Apple was working on a series adaptation of the 1981 time traveling fantasy Time Bandits. The movie hails from Monty Python troupe member Terry Gilliam, and now it's being handed off to a worthy successor. Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows director Taika Waititi has boarded the Time Bandits series as co-writer and director.

Deadline has news on the Time Bandits series from Apple, MRC and Paramount Television hiring Taika Waititi, who is fresh off two other forthcoming TV shows. Waititi has turned his vampire mockumentary film What We Do in the Shadows into a new comedy series on FX (read our review), and he also directed an episode of Lucasfilm's upcoming live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

If you've never seen Time Bandits, here's the very Monty Python-style trailer for the movie:

If you need any convincing that it's worth your time, the film is in the Criterion Collection, and here's their synopsis:

In this fantastic voyage through time and space from Terry Gilliam, a boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarfs. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)—but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move. Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin (who also appears in the film), Time Bandits is at once a giddy fairy tale, a revisionist history lesson, and a satire of technology gone awry.

This sounds like the perfect material for Taika Waititi to tackle. Not only is there a place for his brand of comedy, but the filmmaker has also proven to be adept with coming-of-age narratives with his 2010 film Boy. Since the story focuses on a young kid traversing various time periods, there's bound to be lessons for him to learn along the way. It also sounds like it could easily fit into the extremely family friendly approach to content that Apple seems keen on.

Waititi has yet to tackle anything that I haven't loved. From his earlier work on HBO's Flight of the Conchords to his blockbuster debut with Thor: Ragnarok, he's got a gift for comedy, but he also knows his way around genre material too. Bringing his own sense of humor to a variety of properties has proven to be fulfilling for himself and the audience, so seeing what he can do with Time Bandits is quite the thrilling prospect. Stay tuned for more soon.