You can’t accuse Taika Waititi of playing it safe. The writer-director is following up Thor: Ragnarok with something completely different — a World War II satire called Jojo Rabbit with Waititi himself play Hitler, as the imaginary friend of a ten-year-old boy in Nazi Germany. With the shoot now underway — and the likes of Scarlett Johannson, Rebel Wilson, and Sam Rockwell in the cast — Waititi has shared the first image of himself in costume on his Instagram.
Playing a version of the Nazi leader is a risky move, but as Waititi wrote on Twitter: “What better way to insult Hitler than having him portrayed by a Polynesian Jew?” The director also shared a photo of himself flipping the bird at a Hitler portrait and calling him “fuckface”, just in case you needed any further proof who the butt of the joke is here.
The film is based on Christine Leunens’ novel Caging Skies, and sees its Hitler Youth protagonist discover that his mother is harbouring a Jewish girl in their house. There’s no release date for this one yet, but based on Waititi’s current filmography this is one to eagerly anticipate.
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