Apple snags the rights to Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits for a new TV series

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

In the race to adapt every 1980s fantasy property under the sun, Apple as announced that they're nearing a deal that will grant them the rights to director Terry Gilliam's fantasy comedy classic TIME BANDITS. Once Apple sinks their teeth into the proper paperwork, their plan is to adapt the film into a TV series, as part of a joint production between Anonymous Content, Paramount Television and Media Rights Capital. The deal stipulates that Gilliam will enter the project as a non-writing executive producer alongside Anonymous Content and MRC.

TIME BANDITS was released in 1981 courtesy of Handmade Films, a small production company and that was created by Denis O'Brien and former Beatles guitarist George Harrison. In time, the studio began losing money and was forced to shutter their doors, but not before releasing such films as THE LIFE OF BRIAN, MONA LISA, and LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS.

TIME BANDITS told the story of an 11-year-old boy who accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal. The fantasy adventure came along at the start of the beloved fantasy film boom of the 1980s, which gave birth to other cinematic gems the likes of THE NEVERENDING STORY, THE DARK CRYSTAL, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, LABYRINTH, WILLOW, and more.

For the moment, production plans for Apple's TIME BANDITS remain unknown, though with the label looking to make a big push for their streaming platform, I suspect we'll be hearing much more about this project quite soon.

Did you grow up watching TIME BANDITS? Do you think there's enough material there to stretch into a full-blown series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.