After the massive success of Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok,” writer/director Taika Waititi has a golden ticket to do whatever he wants next. And according to The Wrap, his next film is a satire in which the director also acts and will play an imaginary version of Adolph Hitler. You read that right, Taika Waititi is going to play Hitler in his next film.
Well, kinda.
In “Jojo Rabbit,” a ten-year-old German boy creates an imaginary friend during World War II, that happens to be Adolph Hitler. Or at least a version of Hitler. “It’s my version of… a lonely boy’s best version of his hero, which is really his dad,” Waititi told The Wrap.
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In a character description released by The Wrap, the character is further described, “This is not the Adolf we know and hate, this guy is goofy, charming, and glides through life with a childlike naivety.” So, while the truth is that Waititi will, in fact, play Hitler, it’ll have the typical satirical twist we come to expect from the filmmaker.
The film is being distributed through Fox Searchlight. The script for “Jojo Rabbit” was originally found on the coveted “Black List” back in 2012. Since then, it seems like Waititi was just looking for the right time to work on the film, and with the subject matter, he probably needed the extra juice that a blockbuster like ‘Ragnarok’ can provide.
“Jojo Rabbit” is looking to begin production in May.
Here’s the official synopsis:
JOJO RABBIT, by Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), blends his signature humor, pathos, and deeply compelling characters in a World War II satire about a ten-year-old boy who, ridiculed by his peers and misunderstood by his mother, can’t quite figure out how to fit in. As the naïve young German struggles to understand his place in an increasingly Fascist regime, he resorts to an imaginary friend who can offer advice and help him cope.