Taika Waititi to Write, Direct Time Bandits TV Series for Apple

Taika Waititi has signed on to co-write and direct Apple’s potential TV adaptation of Time Bandits, the 1981 fantasy classic that Paste named one of the 25 best time travel movies. Former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, who directed and co-wrote the original film starring Sean Connery and John Cleese, will executive produce with Waititi and producer Dan Halsted, THR reports.

For those of you unfamiliar with the first in Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination” (completed by his subsequent films Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Time Bandits follows the adventures of a history-obsessed kid named Kevin. The 11-year-old travels through spacetime, and meets figures like Robin Hood and Napoleon Bonaparte along the way, but his journey is thwarted by the reality-bending being known as Evil.

While the series is still in development, Waititi’s addition to the behind-the-scenes team is a promising start for the project, which comes from Anonymous Content, Paramount Television and Media Rights Capital. Waititi previously helmed What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok, and is even working on a TV series adaptation of the former (find out more about that here). He’s also set to direct an episode of the small screen Star Wars series The Mandalorian.