Based on the long-running Saturday Night Live skit of the same name — and serving as a sequel to the 2010 film — MacGruber is now a TV series. In advance of the MacGyver parody arriving on Peacock later this week, series creators Jorma Taccone and John Solomon spoke with Collider about the show’s development, including a discussion they had with one famous fan — director Christopher Nolan.
According to Taccone, Nolan himself is a big fan of the MacGruber movie, even going so far as to quote the film on the set of his own The Dark Knight Rises. Upon discovering Nolan’s affinity for MacGruber, the showrunners lobbied hard to get him to direct an episode of the TV adaptation.
“We were relentless in pursuing him, like, he sent us a super sweet note, he couldn’t come to the table read, but we invited him to the table read,” said Taccone. “I honestly have been too up his butt… I wanted to see if he could get his throat ripped out, he didn’t have any time for that. We offered him any episode that he wanted to direct [laughs]. I think he’s gotten to a point where he’s like, ‘I’m not gonna actually be a part of your world, but I do appreciate it.’”
The MacGruber series picks up 10 years after the events of the movie, with MacGruber (Will Forte) locked up in prison for the murder of Dieter von Cunth (Val Kilmer). When the villainous Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth (Billy Zane) threatens the world yet again, MacGruber teams up with Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) to stop him. The series also stars Sam Elliot, Laurence Fishburne, Joseph Lee Anderson, and Timothy V. Murphy.
MacGruber lands on Peacock beginning this Thursday, December 16.
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