Released in 1981, Time Bandits was the first film in Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination,” which also included Brazil (1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). The fantasy was co-written and directed by Gilliam, the former animator of Monty Python who also made Meaning of Life, 12 Monkeys, The Fisher King and his latest, troubled production, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

And according to Deadline, Apple has announced it will adapt it into a television series.

Time Bandits follows an 11-year-old boy named Kevin, played by Craig Warnock, as he’s chased by the Supreme Being for unwittingly helping a group of six time-traveling dwarves who are ripping off historical luminaries. The film co-starred John Cleese as Robin Hood, Ian Holm as Napoleon Bonaparte, Sean Connery as King Agamemnon, Shelly Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughn and David Warner. Made for $5 million, it pulled in $42 million at the box office.

Anyone whose age starts with a “4” will have almost certainly enjoyed this movie growing up, but it’s a sad fact that many in today’s generation probably haven’t seen it, so we welcome this news. Time Bandits is firmly cemented in the annals of cinematic history as a unquestioned classic, with references appearing throughout pop-culture, the Simpsons even used it for a “couch gag” in “Homer Badman” (season 6, episode 9).

Gilliam will not direct the series, but will be a non-writing executive producer. Apple, it seems, recognizes the fact that sci-fi is very much back in vogue and also plans to stream an original TV series based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, relaunch Steven Spielberg’s 1980s sci-fi anthology series Amazing Stories and develop the sci-fi series See with Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore.

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