New live-action Popeye movie in development from The Sopranos writer – Washington Examiner

Popeye the Sailor Man is setting sails for the big screen because a live-action movie starring the character is currently in development.

The film will mark the second time the iconic muscular sailor will flex his talent on the big screen in this form, with the new film being released by Chernin Entertainment and King Features. Michael Caleo, whose writing credits include HBO’s The Sopranos, is working as the film’s screenwriter, according to a report.

Ernie Schuchert, left, nephew to J. William Schuchert, the inspiration for Wimpy, a character from the Popeye comic strip, and Laurie Randall, right, co-owner of Spinach Can Collectibles and the Popeye Museum, pose inside the museum in downtown Chester, Ill., Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. Saturday, Jan. 17, is the 75th anniversary of Popeye the Sailor Man’s comic-strip debut. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Popeye’s first live-action film was released in 1980 and starred the late Robin Williams as the famous sailor. It was not well received among critics, though it did turn a financial profit, grossing about $60 million at the box office against a $20 million budget.

This new movie is not Hollywood’s first attempt to bring Popeye back to the big screen since the 1980 film. Sony Pictures was set to release an animated film based on the iconic character in the 2010s. However, the film was canceled, with the film’s director attributing part of the cancellation to the Sony hack that occurred in late 2014.

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“The whole studio was excited and the marketing was gearing up, but then the hack happened,” director Genndy Tartakovsky said. “The executives were dealing with so much and all this ugliness came out it was just the wrong place and wrong time.”

The announcement of Chernin Entertainment’s new Popeye film comes as the character is celebrating his 95th anniversary this year, making his public debut in the Thimble Theater comic strip in 1929. Since then, the character has appeared in countless animated shorts and cartoons.