Showtime orders Waititi horror-comedy

ViacomCBS-owned US premium cablenet Showtime has commissioned Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi’s horror-comedy series The Auteur.

Taika Waititi

The show centres on a film producer desperate to make a great horror movie who accidentally traps his production team on a backlot with a serial killer.

It is based on the graphic novel by Rick Spears, James Callahan and Luigi Anderson and is described as a gonzo horror-comedy, a twisted romance and a satire.

New Zealander Waititi is on board to write, direct and executive produce the series, which will star Jude Law.

The British actor will also serve as executive producer alongside Spears, Callahan, Peter Warren, Eric Gitter and Dan Halsted. The Auteur is produced by Showtime alongside Legendary and Endeavour Content.

Amy Israel, executive VP of scripted programming at Showtime, said: “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.”

Waititi won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay earlier this month for his film Jojo Rabbit.