Following the huge success of Thor: Ragnarok, you might have expected Taika Waititi to leave the quirky, smaller filmmaking of his past behind in favor of tackling more blockbusters. Yet that wasn't the case, and for his next film, the Maori director will be taking on perhaps his wildest material to date. The film, titled Jojo Rabbit, is written and directed by Taika Waititi, and stars the director as an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler. For promote the World War II satire film, Taika Waititi has already shared an image of him telling Hitler how he feels, and now he has shared what he will look like in the film as imaginary friend Hitler. Check it out below:
Not even in memes has Hitler ever looked more entertaining. You can just tell from this image how over the top Taika Waititi is going to be as this character. In Jojo Rabbit, this Hitler is an imaginary friend to 10-year-old Jojo and sort of an amalgamation of the boy's missing father and Adolf Hitler. Here he is giving Jojo's mother, played by Scarlett Johansson, a somewhat dubious look. It's funny because even though this film will take place in Germany during the Nazi rise, this image kind of evokes a '50s America with the smiling family all sitting down for dinner. Which, as Taika Waititi notes, is made quite weird with Hitler's presence. Given Jojo Rabbit's outlandish premise and Taika Waititi's penchant for the hilariously absurd, you have to imagine that Hitler will be getting young Jojo into all sorts of situations and providing ridiculous commentary along the way.
Honestly, this image from Taika Waititi's Instagram and the film's premise remind me a lot of Drop Dead Fred. That film used an imaginary friend to tell a darkly humorous story about growing up, divorce and emotional abuse. Jojo Rabbit looks to be using an imaginary friend Hitler to tell a satirical story about World War II and a young boy trying to find his place in the world, while also using the device to insult Adolf Hitler in every possible way. I don't know if anyone could pull off this kind of thing off other than Taika Waititi, but I'm glad he is trying something so bold, and I'm stoked to see if he succeeds. This movie has only been shooting for a little over a week but is it too soon to ask for a teaser trailer?
In addition to the three leads, Jojo Rabbit also stars Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson and Thomas McKenzie. Jojo Rabbit does not currently have a release date, but we'll keep you updated on the film as we hear more and provide any future glimpses Taika Waititi shares from what's sure to be an outrageous satire. Don't forget to check out our release schedule to see everything releasing this year.
