‘Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi has signed on to co-write and direct the pilot for a series based on the 1981 Terry Gilliam film ‘Time Bandits’ for Apple‘s upcoming streaming service.  Waititi will also serve as executive producer along with Gilliam and Dan Halstead (‘People of Earth’).  This will be just one of many shows that Apple plans to offer for free to owners of its various devices, including Apple TV, iPhones, iPads and Macs.  ‘Time Bandits’ will be co-produced by Anonymous Content, Paramount Television and Media Rights Capital.

Time Bandits is a dark, irreverent adventure about imagination, bravery and the nature of our dreams. It follows the time-traveling adventures of an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin who, one night, stumbles on six dwarfs who emerge from his closet. They are former workers of the Supreme Being who have stolen a map that charts all the holes in the space-time fabric, using it to hop from one historical era to the next in order to steal riches. Throughout the movie, they meet various historical and fictional characters, including Napoleon Bonaparte and Robin Hood, while the Supreme Being simultaneously tries to catch up to them and retrieve the map.

Waititi recently directed an episode of ‘The Mandalorian’, the new ‘Star Wars’ series for Disney+.  His is also executive producing and directing episodes of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ for FX, based on his 2014 film of the same name, which has also spawned, ‘Wellington Paranormal’, which airs in his native New Zealand, and which Waititi also executive produces.  ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ will premier on FX on March 27.

His next directorial film will be ‘Jojo Rabbit’, expected to arrive this fall.

Apple arranged to develop ‘Tim Bandits’ as a series last year, but the tech giant has had trouble getting its family-friendly streaming service off the ground.  It was rumored that it would launch as early as this month, but now it is rumored that it won’t be available until next year.

Check back for details.

Source: Deadline