A new live-action feature film adaptation of spinach-chugging sailor “Popeye” is in the works via Chernin Entertainment and King Features. A studio partner is being sought.
First appearing in comic strips in the late 1920s, the project is in the development phase as a big-budget feature with screenwriter Michael Caleo (“Sexy Beast,” “The Family”) attached.
It will mark the first live-action revisiting of the character since the 1980 Robert Altman-directed film led by Robin Williams as Popeye and Shelley Duvall as his love interest Olive Oyl.
That film grossed $60 million worldwide from a $20 million budget and whilst panned at the time, appreciation for it has grown with time.
The character had both animated features and series, and is considered one of the earliest works that underwent mass merchandising across generations. To this day the character remains the face of McCall Farms Spinach.
Source: Variety
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