Back in 2022, we got word that Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi and frequent collaborator Jemaine Clement (Legion, What We do in the Shadows) were in the process of developing a reimagining of Terry Gilliam's '80s sci-fi classic Time Bandits for Apple TV+ with Friends alum Lisa Kudrow set to star.
Now, following a recent preview image spotlighting the new team, the first trailer has been released.
Kudrow will lead a cast that also includes Kal-El Tuck (Unseeing Evil), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up), Tadhg Murphy (Conversations With Friends), Roger Jean Nsengiyumva (You Don’t Know Me), Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle), Kiera Thompson (Martyrs Lane) and Rachel House (Heartbreak High).
Waititi will play The Supreme Being, while Clement is on board as Pure Evil.
The series is described as "a comedic journey through time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an eleven-year-old history nerd," and based on this teaser, we will be revisiting quite a few locations and characters from Gilliam's film.
Kudrow is playing the team's leader Penelope; with Tuck as Kevin; Yi as Judy; Murphy as Alto; Nsengiyumva as Widgit; Temte as Bittelig; Thompson as Saffron, and House as Fianna.
The new take on Time Bandits will play out over 10 episodes, and follows Kevin as he falls in with a group of "expert thieves."
Waititi notes that he's wanted to work with Kudrow for years, and he and Clement have long admired her work from afar, particularly in HBO’s The Comeback.
“I just love Lisa Kudrow and thought it’d be awesome to see her leading a band of idiots through time,” the filmmaker explained in a recent interview.
“It was just nothing I’d really ever seen before,” Waititi continued, praising the original movie. “I remember being freaked out by a lot of it. A lot of the kids’ films back then were not as inventive and imaginative.”
“I was pretty young, so it would have been one of the bigger introductions to Terry Gilliam and British comedy,” adds Clement. “Seeing John Cleese as Robin Hood is still one of the funniest scenes in any movie, I think.”
Waititi is set to direct the first two instalments of the series, which will be co-produced by Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content’s AC Studios and MRC Television.
Check out the trailer below, and let us know what you think in the comments section.