Taika Waititi is one of the most beloved filmmakers out there right now, churning out delightfully offbeat movies both very indie (What We Do in the Shadows) and very mainstream (Thor: Ragnarok). His next movie is going to test these sensibilities something fierce: a satirical take on the Big One, about a little boy named JoJo and his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler.
The exact details are being kept under wraps, but it’s worth noting that Waititi is unusually qualified for this sort of work. He’s of Polynesian-Jewish descent, and is keenly interested in the ways humor can illuminate serious issues (squint a little and you can even see a critique of colonialism in Ragnarok). That’s not a guarantee that this will necessarily be a successful venture, but if there’s anyone who could handle a story like this with the steady hand it requires, it’s Waititi, who stars as the imaginary Hitler alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson.
The movie comes out in October. The marketing campaign also features a very funny overdub of the old Hitler classic Downfall.
— Jojo Rabbit (@jojorabbitmovie) July 26, 2019
