Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi Bring Time Bandits to Apple TV+ — Watch the Trailer

Forty-three years after the feature film of the same name, the Time Bandits are back, with Apple TV+ releasing the first trailer for its updated take on the concept introduced in Terry Gilliam’s 1981 comedic fantasy.

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The 10-episode series, premiering Wednesday, July 24, comes from longtime collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi ( What We Do in the Shadows ), both of whom have on-camera roles and who serve as creators alongside fellow Flight of the Conchords alum Iain Morris.

As in the original, the story centers on a young British boy named Kevin (played here by Kal-El Tuck) who finds himself accompanying a group of time-traveling thieves on their fantastic adventures, with Lisa Kudrow’s Penelope serving as their leader. Notably, unlike in the movie, the Time Bandits themselves are not portrayed by little people, though Waititi’s character, the Supreme Being, does appear to have a group of advisors that serve as a callback to that aspect of the film.

Clement meanwhile plays the aptly named villain, Evil, whose outfit is clearly closely modeled after what David Warner wore in the movie as the same character, complete with red robes, plated chest armor, and ornate shoulder armor. The visual style of the time map the characters are using also strongly stylistically resembles the one from the movie.

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The original Time Bandits was the first success for acclaimed director Gilliam ( 12 Monkeys , The Fisher King ) outside of his work as a member of Monty Python. Python’s Michael Palin co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Glliam and appeared in the picture, as did John Cleese. There were attempts by Gilliam to make a theatrical sequel in the 1990s that never came to fruition, with this new series serving as the first time the title has been used since the movie’s debut.

Apple TV+’s Time Bandits premieres with two episodes on Wednesday, July 24, followed by weekly released of two episodes each. We’ll see if this version gets as dark as the film did, especially in regards to how things work out for [SPOILER]…

Check out the full trailer above, then let us know in the comments if you’ve ever seen the original and are excited for the streaming series!

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