After he finishes his current project, Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi is taking to the seas as Blackbeard the pirate in an HBO comedy series called Our Flag Means Death.
Waititi, who won an Oscar for his multi-nominated World War II film Jojo Rabbit, is co-producing the series, and will direct the pilot. The project reunites him with his What We Do in the Shadows producer Garrett Basch and co-star Rhys Darby.
While the story will be based on the real-life Blackbeard -- an aristocrat named Stede Bonnet, who gave up his title to become the scourge of the high seas -- it's no biopic, Basch notes.
In a statement, he noted, "Our Blackbeard is a legend, a lover, a fighter, a tactical genius, a poetic soul, and quite possibly insane. Only one man could play this role, and that is the great Taika Waititi."