We haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some holiday-themed entertainment, right? And if you’re looking for something to help get your heart ready for Christmas, you have to look no further, as Taika Waititi’s “The Boy and the Octopus” has you covered.

READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

As seen in the new short (which you can watch below), “The Boy and the Octopus” tells the story of a young boy who goes swimming on vacation.

Continue reading Watch Taika Waititi’s New Disney Holiday-Themed Short Film ‘The Boy & The Octopus’ at The Playlist.

Can a background character transform into a leading man? Willis Wu is about to become the star of a compelling story in “Interior Chinatown.” Set amongst the world of police procedurals, this dreamer looks forward to what lies beyond his tedious job. What he finds instead is a mystery that delves into crime and family secrets. The Hulu series is based on Charles Yu’s bestselling novel — with Yu as series creator and executive producer.

Continue reading ‘Interior Chinatown’ Trailer: Jimmy O. Yang’s New Hulu Series With Taika Waititi As Exec & Director Hits Nov 19 at The Playlist.

When it was announced that Apple TV+ was remaking Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits” film as a new TV series, there were quite a few people upset by the prospect. But now that we’ve seen a trailer, the series looks… delightful. 

READ MORE: Summer TV Preview: Over 35 Must-See Series To Watch

As seen in the trailer, “Time Bandits” is co-created by Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Waititi and tells the story of a young boy who finds out that his bedroom allows him to travel all throughout time and space.

Continue reading ‘Time Bandits’ Trailer: Lisa Kudrow Stars In New Comedy Series From Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi at The Playlist.

It feels like we’ve been talking about the new version of “Time Bandits” for years now. Well, as a matter of fact, it was way back in 2018 (remember the good ol’ days pre-COVID?) when it was reported that Apple TV+ was doing a series based on Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi film. Now, as we approach the summer, we’re finally getting our first look at what the new “Time Bandits” will look like.

Continue reading ‘Time Bandits’ First Look: Lisa Kudrow Stars In New Sci-Fi Comedy From Taika Waitit & Jemaine Clement at The Playlist.

Sad news for “Our Flag Means Death” fans: it looks like the ex-Max series won’t find a new home after being canceled by the streamer in January. Deadline reports that series creator David Jenkins confirmed the show’s fate on Instagram, stating that despite many meetings with other outlets, its future is now dead in the water.

READ MORE: ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Review: Max Comedy Continues Confident Sail With Increasingly Lovable Characters

“I can officially confirm that we’ve reached the end of the road,” Jenkins wrote.

Continue reading ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Creator David Jenkins Confirms Show Has”Reached The End Of The Road” at The Playlist.

Once Marvel came calling, Taika Waititi was shot out of his comedy environment and was given the keys to a lot of blockbuster material. While “Akira” never surfaced, and neither has his “Star Wars” project yet, the filmmaker has spent the second half of his career vacillating between big-budget movies (two “Thor” movies for Marvel) and smaller-scale comedic indies. So while Waititi’s last movie, “Next Goal Wins,” was a Searchlight soccer comedy in a smaller vein, it was actually completed ages ago and held by the studio for the right date.

Continue reading Amy Adams & Jenna Ortega To Star In Taika Waititi’s ‘Klara & The Sun’ at The Playlist.

Of all the director hires that Marvel Studios has made over the last 15 years, there are few that are more surprising than Taika Waititi to direct a “Thor” film. However, not only did the decision to bring in a young Waititi to direct “Thor: Ragnarok” pay off in a big way (the film was a huge success, both financially and with fans), but it led to a continued relationship where the filmmaker returned for another round of ‘Thor’ goodness (though ‘Love & Thunder’ wasn’t received nearly as well as the previous film).

Continue reading Taika Waititi Says He Took The ‘Thor’ Job Because He Was “Poor” & Only Read 1 Comic To Prepare at The Playlist.

No one knows when Taika Waititi‘s “Star Wars” movie will come out, but it’s still in the Lucasfilm pipeline. And outside of being in development, the only thing known about it is that it’ll come after Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Dave Filoni, and James Mangold‘s upcoming films hit theaters first. What Waititi and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns have in store for “Star Wars” fans is anyone’s guess, but Variety reports that Waititi teased his film on the red carpet of his latest film with his trademark humor.

Continue reading Taika Waititi On His Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Film: “It’s Gonna Piss People Off” at The Playlist.

Though the general consensus is that “Thor: Love and Thunder” is a disappointing entry in the franchise, the film still earned more than $760 million globally. Given the disastrous start for “The Marvels” and Marvel’s recent woes, perhaps ‘Thor 4’ will be getting a bit of revisionist history soon enough, and that might mean the studio would be interested in calling up Taika Waititi to see if he’s ready for yet another Asgardian adventure.

Continue reading Taika Waititi “Won’t Be Involved” If Marvel Wants ‘Thor 5’ & Says His ‘Star Wars’ Film Is “Still Marinating” at The Playlist.

Max’s pirate comedy “Our Flag Means Death” felt like a pretty standard spoof of pirate pop culture when it started its first season, but it developed over that 10-episode run into something much richer, smarter, and even moving by its end. As it navigates the tricky waters of streaming comedy in the 2020s, David Jenkins’ show has found a very loyal fan base; one attracted to both its smart sense of humor and its notable representation of LGBTQ+ characters.

Continue reading ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Review: Max Comedy Continues Confident Sail With Increasingly Lovable Characters at The Playlist.

You’ll recall in 2014, there was the ridiculously entertaining documentary “Next Goal Wins.” Directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, the doc follows Thomas Rongen, a Dutch soccer coach hired to lead the national team for American Samoa. This famously pitiful outfit spent nearly two decades at the bottom of FIFA’s international rankings. So that true story has been brought to life by Taika Waitii (“Thor: Ragnarok”) in a very similar but more humorously imagined comedy called, you guessed it, “Next Goal Wins.”

READ MORE: ‘Next Goal Wins’ Review: Taika Waititi Scores With An Underdog Soccer Comedy [TIFF]

Starring Michael Fassbender as the constantly-peeved but ultimately caring Dutch coach, “Next Goal Wins” tells the same story of triumph over adversity in a feel-good underdog narrative.

Continue reading ‘Next Goal Wins’ Trailer: Taika Waititi’s Soccer Comedy With Michael Fassbender Is A Feel-Good Underdog Story at The Playlist.

“Our Flag Means Death” was a sleeper hit for Max on its series premiere last year. That makes Season 2 of the pirate comedy one of the most anticipated releases on TV this Fall. Based on the (kind of) true story of Rhys Darbie‘s Stede Bonnet, the series follows the wannabe pirate as he sets to become a legendary buccaneer himself. But after he crosses rapiers with Taika Waititi‘s Captain Blackbeard, he discovers more than just the romance of the high seas.

Continue reading ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2 Trailer: Max’s Pirate Romantic Comedy With Rhys Darby & Taika Waititi Returns On October 5 at The Playlist.

Everybody loves a winner turned loser, especially these days, Taika Waititi. As of late, in his non-“Thor” directorial output, the once-beloved filmmaker has gravitated toward zeroes meekly shuffling around the margins of power. He’s vaunted swagless vampires dissed by alpha-werewolf rivals, the dweebiest li’l squadron the Third Reich ever saw, and with his latest film “Next Goal Wins” — a slight step up from his calamitously precious take on the Holocaust, which has left him with an evident self-destructive impulse to tackle issues bigger than he can handle — he rallies the losingest club in the history of international soccer. 

Continue reading ‘Next Goal Wins’ Review: Taika Waititi Gets One Big Red Card For His Underdog Soccer Comedy [TIFF] at The Playlist.

TIFF 2023 gets underway tomorrow, and that means plenty of world premieres over its ten-day schedule. And there several movies debuting in Toronto to get excited about, like Brian Helgeland‘s “Finestkind,” the GameStop short comedy “Dumb Money,” and the star-studded New England noir “Reptile,” which makes the feature debut for Grant Singer.

READ MORE: TIFF 2023: Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ Starring Michael Fassbender Will Premiere In Toronto

And there’s also Taika Waititi‘s “Next Goal Wins,” which has its world premiere at TIFF this weekend.

Continue reading New ‘Next Goal Wins’ Clip: Taika Waititi’s Soccer Comedy With Michael Fassbender Has Its World Premiere At TIFF This Weekend at The Playlist.

While many people were expecting big things from the series “Our Flag Means Death,” most probably didn’t expect it to be something of a queer love story. Now, with fans itching to know more about Stede and Blackbeard, we’re getting a tease about what to expect in Season 2.

READ MORE: ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Made Taika Waititi Care About Acting Again [Interview]

As seen in the teaser for Season 2, “Our Flag Means Death” continues the story of Stede Bonnet, the man who left his life of privilege to become a swashbuckling captain of the high seas.

Continue reading ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2 Teaser: Rhys Darby & Taika Waititi Return In Max’s Acclaimed Comedy Series at The Playlist.

It’s hard to believe that viewers will have to say goodbye to “Reservation Dogs” already. Premiering in 2021 on FX, it feels like we’re still just getting to know Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), and Cheese (Lane Factor). There’s something to be said for creators like Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi being willing to end a show before it gets critically stale, but this one feels a bit more frustrating than the arguably short runs of 4-season shows like “Barry” and “Succession,” more like a story that’s being cut off before it’s really been told.

Continue reading ‘Reservation Dogs’ Review: FX’s Critical Darling Will Be Dearly Missed As It Wraps Up With Great Final Season at The Playlist.

After three seasons, FX‘s “Reservation Dogs” will come to an end. Series creator Sterlin Harjo announced the news on his Instagram account today, and FX also sent a press statement about the show ending. The news comes before the third season of “Reservation Dogs” premieres this August.

“Here it is: the coming third season of Reservation Dogs will be the final season,” Harjo wrote on his Instagram post.

Continue reading ‘Reservation Dogs’ To End After Its Upcoming Third Season at The Playlist.

Summer has just started, but film festival season is already approaching. And while Cannes dazzled with new films by Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and more, the first major salvo in the fall film festival wars has been thrown down by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Today, TIFF announced that Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins,” a soccer comedy directed and co-written by the New Zealand filmmaker, will make its world premiere at the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (September 7–17).

Continue reading TIFF 2023: Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ Starring Michael Fassbender Will Premiere In Toronto at The Playlist.

When the vampire mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows” hit theaters in 2014, even its most ardent fans probably could not have guessed that its subsequent FX television adaptation would become one of the most popular comedies in a crowded television marketplace. But now, almost a decade later, the “What We Do in the Shadows” brand remains as strong as ever, and fans are ready for what season five will have to offer their favorite band of misfit vampires.

Continue reading ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 5 Trailer: Staten Island’s Vampires Return To Suck Your Blood at The Playlist.

On the week I’m scheduled to speak with legendary artist Terry Gilliam, a quote from Martin Scorsese starts going viral. “I’m only now beginning to see the possibility of what cinema could be, and it’s too late,” Akira Kurosawa had expressed at 83. “At the time, I said, ‘What does he mean?’” Scorsese reflected, “Now I know what he means.” I thought it was prudent to ask Gilliam, also an octogenarian if he knows what Kurosawa meant.

Continue reading ‘Time Bandits’: Terry Gilliam Reflects On The Evolution Of Family & Fantasy Films Ahead Of Criterion 4K Release [Interview] at The Playlist.

Back in early April, during the fan-focused Star Wars Celebration, many folks were expecting clarity regarding the future of the “Star Wars” franchise on the big screen. For years prior, there were reports of films that were in development, but then we’d get other news about drama behind the scenes, directors coming and going, and general disarray at Lucasfilm. But Celebration was set to be the time when we get an idea of what the future will hold.

Continue reading Taika Waititi Confirms Work Is Still Being Done On ‘Star Wars’ Film: “I’ve Got A Really Good Idea For It” at The Playlist.

The number of outstanding genre projects that Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit“) is attaching himself keeps growing as the Kiwi filmmaker is still developing a mysterious “Star Wars” feature film after working on “The Mandalorian” and is trying to put together a new live-action remake of “Flash Gordon“ for 20th Century as well.

Continue reading Taika Waititi In Talks To Direct Sci-Fi Film ‘Klara & The Sun’ Based On Kazuo Ishiguro Novel at The Playlist.

Taika Waititi’s follow-up to “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Next Goal Wins,” has all the ingredients of a potential Awards contender. The movie is based on the 2014 British documentary of the same name, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, with a script written by Waititi and Iain Morris. The movie tells the story of coach Thomas Rongen, who is tasked to turn around the American Samoa national football team from one of the worst football teams in the world to one of the best.

Continue reading ‘Next Goal Wins’ Trailer: Taika Waititi’s Sports Comedy With Michael Fassbender Hits Theaters In November at The Playlist.

Star Wars Celebration is in full swing in London. Yesterday, we got some big updates about new films from James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Daisy Ridley‘s return as Rey for the upcoming movie helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel“). In the midst of all that, there was a little bit of shock that some previously announced films weren’t getting discussed during the Lucasfilm panel.

Continue reading Kathleen Kennedy: Taika Waititi ‘Star Wars’ Film Still In Development & Doesn’t Rule Out Rian Johnson’s Films & ‘Obi-Wan’ S2 at The Playlist.

There’s a minor disturbance in the force, but there always is when it comes to Lucasfilm and “Star Wars” Celebration. And what we mean by that is Lucasfilm always makes major “Star Wars” updates at Celebration—which is coming up in April of this year in the U.K.—and the nature of development over at the company, which has been admittedly a little rocky over the last few years, means, some projects go forward and some get nixed (and honestly, this is a better approach than just releasing a movie with a weak script because it has a release date like a lot of blockbusters).

Continue reading ‘Star Wars’: Kevin Feige & Patty Jenkins Movies Shelved As Taika Waititi & Damon Lindelof Movies Move Into Frontrunner Position at The Playlist.