Jojo Rabbit is a war comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, adapted from Christine Leunens's 2008 book Caging Skies. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a ten-year-old Hitler Youth member who finds out that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. He must then question his beliefs while dealing with the intervention of his imaginary friend, a fanciful version of Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi) with a comedic stance on the politics of the war. The film also stars Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, and Alfie Allen.
Waititi wrote the screenplay in 2011, a year after his mother described the premise of Caging Skies. He rewrote the first draft, which as a rough adaptation of the dark-toned source material did not contain much comedy; it was also in the rewritten version that Adolf's character was included. Waititi recalled the pitching process as exhausting. In 2012, it landed on the Black List, where it remained in a development limbo until several years later when Fox Searchlight Pictures showed interest in it. A tight casting schedule started in 2018, and the film started principal photography in the Czech Republic in May 2018, finishing two months later. Post-production included adding the visual effects, editing done by Tom Eagles, as well as a score composed by Michael Giacchino.
Jojo Rabbit had its world premiere at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019, where it won the Grolsch People's Choice Award. It was later released theatrically in the United States on October 18. It was chosen by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of the year. The film mostly received critical acclaim, though there were a few polarized critical reviews due to its comedic treatment of the subject of Nazism. Among its numerous accolades, the film won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, while also being nominated for five other awards, including Best Picture, at the 92nd Academy Awards.
