Taika Waititi’s ‘Time Bandits’ Apple TV+ series gets time-twisting trailer [Watch]

Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s long-in-the-works TV adaptation of “Time Bandits” is finally ready to go, and on Tuesday Apple TV+ released a timey-wimey trailer for the family fantasy comedy. 

The series follows a lonely, history-loving kid named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) who discovers a “time egress” in his wardrobe and ends up joining a crew of thieves led by Penelope (Lisa Kudrow) who travel through time stealing priceless artifacts and having comedic misadventures. 

“Time Bandits” hails from frequent collaborators Waititi, Clement (best known together for their work on “What We Do in the Shadows”) and Iain Morris (who wrote for Clement’s “Flight of the Conchords” and co-wrote the screenplay for Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins”). Oscar-winner Waititi directs some episodes, while Clement and Morris serve as showrunners. The series is based on Terry Gilliam’s 1981 film of the same name. It’s been in the works at Apple since 2018, over a year before the streaming service even launched. 

In addition to Tuck and Kudrow, the cast includes Charlyne Yi (who departed the production after accusing a co-star of physically assaulting them during filming), Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rune Temte, Kiera Thompson, and frequent Waititi collaborator Rachel House. Waititi appears as an all-powerful entity known as the Supreme Being, and Clement plays the embodiment of pure evil, simply called Pure Evil, both of whom are after the Time Bandits’ time travel map. 

The original film starred Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, John Cleese, and Craig Warnock, and was Gilliam’s post-Monty Python breakout film. Gilliam is credited as an executive producer on the series. 

“Time Bandits” debuts on July 24.

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