‘The Auteur’ Taika Waititi Horror-Comedy Starring Jude Law Confirmed By Showtime, Details Revealed

Nellie Andreeva

18 February 2020 at 4:27 pm·2-min read

Showtime has confirmed development of half-hour series The Auteur, starring Jude Law (The Young Pope) and directed by newly minted Oscar winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), who will also write with Peter Warren (Ghost Team). Signaling its intention to pick up the project to series, the network has ordered multiple scripts of The Auteur, produced by Showtime and Legendary with Endeavor Content serving as studio.

Based on the graphic novel by Rick Spears, James Callahan and Luigi Anderson, The Auteur is described as a gonzo horror-comedy, a twisted romance and a glamorous, high wire act of biting satire. In it, desperate to make a great horror movie after a massive bomb, a film producer accidentally traps his production on a backlot with a serial killer.

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“The Auteur unites the wildly imaginative filmmaker Taika Waititi and the barbed wit of Peter Warren with the undeniable Jude Law in a bloody love letter to the movies that will make you simultaneously die laughing and want to run for your life,” said Amy Israel, Showtime’s EVP, Scripted Programming.

The Auteur is executive produced by Taika Waititi, Peter Warren, Jude Law, Eric Gitter, Rick Spears, James Callahan and Dan Halsted. Waititi is set to direct the pilot episode. Directing followup episodes would be subject to availability due to his hectic feature schedule.

Law received Oscar nominations for his performances in Cold Mountain and The Talented Mr. Ripley, along with a Golden Globe nom for HBO’s The Young Pope. He is set to reprise his starring roles in the Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Beasts threequels.

Waititi wrote, directed, produced and starred in Jojo Rabbit, which won him an Oscar, a BAFTA and WGA for Best Adapted Screenplay and PGA and DGA nominations, as well as, an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Waititi directed Thor: Ragnarok, as well as wrote and directed, the feature films Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows and Boy. He serves as executive producer, co-writer, and director of FX’s TV series adaptation of What We Do in the Shadows, and directed the season finale of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, while also voicing the character IG-11.

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