Taika Waititi is currently in New Zealand directing the first three episodes of his Apple series adaptation of “Time Bandits.” This is an ambitious project that could easily go wrong. Terry Gilliam, the 1981 movie’s director, had perfectly balanced that fine line between humor and drama.
Gilliam, who has an Executive Producer credit on the Apple series, decided to visit the New Zealand set last month. The cast and crew soon realized just how irritated Gilliam was by what he was seeing. “He wasn’t happy. He kept groaning and making remarks,” one crew member told me.
“Terry was supposed to be there for two weeks but he left after three days,” this same person adds. “His disdain for the entire project was quite obvious. You probably won’t be hearing any praise for this series from him anytime soon.”
Gilliam not being a Taika Waititi fan isn’t a total shocker. It probably doesn’t help that Gilliam had absolutely zero creative input when it comes to this new series. Fact of the matter is that these two filmmakers have different styles of comedy, both tonally and thematically. Waititi’s comedy is more infantile, whereas Gilliam’s veers on the cheeky satirical.
Gilliam is the director of such classics as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Brazil," "12 Monkeys," and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," he’s currently looking for funding on a new project.
According to Gilliam, the premise of this upcoming new film would involve God wanting to wipe out humanity, because he's so disappointed by what has gone down on planet earth, only for Satan to convince God to create a new Adam and Eve to create a new improved humanity.
As expected, Snyder's latest is being torn apart by TIFF attendees. No mercy given. The film, which had its world premiere this evening, is being called by some one of the worst movies to ever premiere at the festival.