Give me Robert Altman’s much-maligned “Popeye” any day of the week over whatever is currently being brewed at Chernin Entertainment.
Variety is reporting that a live-action ‘Popeye’ movie is in the works. The big-budget feature has screenwriter Michael Caleo (“Sexy Beast,” “The Sopranos”) attached to pen the script. No director has signed on yet. Some are already asking for Dwayne Johnson to play the titular, spinach-eating sailor.
This is set to be the first live-action revisiting of the material since Altman’s 1980 film “Popeye,” led by Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. The character was somewhat relevant back in the day, but do Gen Z-ers even know who Popeye is? Will they even care?
Popeye celebrated his 95th anniversary this year, after appearing in the 1929 comic “Thimble Theater.” There was a popular animated series back in the day, and Sony attempted to make an animated version back in 2011 before scrapping the project and replacing it with … “The Emoji Movie.”