Fresh off the success of Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi is not only turning his vampire-comedy What We Do in the Shadows into a television show for FX, but also writing and directing his next film. Production is now under way on Jojo Rabbit, a World War II satire about a young German boy and his imaginary friend, Hitler. (It’s probably another Hitler, though, right? Maybe Melvin Hitler?)
That’s quite the premise, and Jojo Rabbit boasts quite the cast, including Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Thomasin McKenzie, youngster Roman Griffin as Hitler’s buddy, and Waititi as Hitler himself. It’s the dream of every actor, to play “as Hitler himself.” Or herself. Anyway, Waititi knows full well how some people are going to take a movie about the Nazi leader as a young boy’s imaginary friend, and he’s ready for the controversy.
In fact, he welcomes it.
“I’m stoked to begin shooting my anti-war satire,” Waititi said in a statement. “We’ve assembled an incredible cast and I couldn’t be more excited to finally ridicule Nazis and their beliefs. This film is going to piss off a lot of racists and that makes me very happy.” That makes everyone happy, except the racists.
Jojo Rabbit does not have a release date yet.