Late last year, director Taika Waititi announced that he would be working on a new comedy series, Reservation Dogs, inspired by Quentin Tarantino. Now, the trailer for the show is out, and the first look is quite promising.
The forthcoming show is "a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California.” reads a synopsis.
Starring D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor, the trailer shows all four protagonists committing crime alongside a whole bunch of chaos together in rural Oklahoma as they "spend their days committing crime…and fighting it”.
Co-written and produced by the Jojo Rabbit director alongside Indigenous filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, the series takes notes and inspiration from Quentin Tarantino's debut 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, with one scene even showing the teenagers in black suits with ties that feels very in line with the original film, which Tarantino recently mentioned he may consider rebooting as his final film as a director - a return to the beginning of sorts.
Waititi and Harjo have also made the affirming and necessary decision to have every writer and director working on Reservation Dogs be Indigenous alongside the on-screen cast - which is not only a vital decision when telling Indigenous stories, but a necessary step to amplify and create equal opportunities within the entertainment industry for Indigenous folks.
“I am so proud to be a part of something that amplifies Indigenous voices and especially proud to be making it with my brother Sterlin Harjo,” wrote Waititi when announcing the show last year.
“Sterlin Harjo draws deeply on his experiences as a Native Oklahoman to make Reservation Dogs a true-to-life and incredibly funny story of youth, courage and misadventures.” FX Original Programming President Nick Grad added in a statement.
The first episode of Reservation Dogs is set to air via FX on Hulu on August 9. Watch the trailer, below.
