Scarlett Johansson to Star in Taika Waititi’s Next Film, ‘Jojo Rabbit’

Taika Waititi will work with another Avenger, but not for a Marvel Studios movie. The Thor: Ragnarok director’s follow-up film Jojo Rabbit has just enlisted its next star: Scarlett Johansson.

Johansson is in final talks with Fox Searchlight to join Jojo Rabbit, Variety reports.

The World War II-set film is a satirical dramedy about a young nationalistic German boy who creates an imaginary Adolf Hitler to befriend. But his world is turned upside down when he discovers that his mother, to be played by Johansson, is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.

Here is the synopsis of this strange, wild film, courtesy of The Wrap:

JOJO RABBIT, by Taika Waititi (THOR, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), blends his signature humor, pathos, and deeply compelling characters in a World War II satire about a ten-year-old boy who, ridiculed by his peers and misunderstood by his mother, can’t quite figure out how to fit in. As the naïve young German struggles to understand his place in an increasingly Fascist regime, he resorts to an imaginary friend who can offer advice and help him cope.

Waititi has already signed on to write and direct the film, as well as play the imaginary Adolf Hitler. Now with Johansson on board, Waititi is looking to cast the young boy.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, some of which is sure to be controversial. I mean, it’s a movie being billed as a “Nazi comedy.” Waititi is playing a goofy, imaginary Adolf Hitler. It’s a World War II satire.

But if anyone could pull it off, it’s Waititi. Though Thor: Ragnarok sometimes felt a bit weightless from the plethora of jokes, Hunt for the Wilderpeople was a deeply moving and deeply funny movie about a two lost souls bonding in the New Zealand bush. Waititi has got a knack for balancing profundity with outrageous humor, and for playing scene-stealing characters while doing so.

And Johansson will be a great collaborator for Waititi as well — capable of balancing introspective performances with wry comic timing.

Jojo Rabbit, which first appeared on the 2012 Black List, seems like a perfect fit for the two of them.

Waitit is also producing Jojo Rabbit alongside Carthew Neal and Chelsea Winstanley. Production is expected to start this spring.

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from /Film http://bit.ly/2J3lbgs