Popeye, the iconic sailor man known for chugging spinach, is heading back to the big screen with a new live-action movie in development, according to a new report from Variety.
While details are slim, Variety reports the film is a collaboration between Chernin Entertainment and the owner of the Popeye IP, King Features. The former is a film production company that worked on Rupert Wyatt's 2011 movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
The report calls the move a "big-budget feature," with Michael Caleo, whose screenwriting credits include the Paramount+ crime drama series Sexy Beast and one episode of The Sopranos, set to write the script.
Popeye is a pop culture icon known as a one-eyed sailor with a cleft chin and a pipe in their mouth. While the character has a muscular physique, his forearms grow significantly every time he consumes a can of spinach.
While Popeye first appeared in a comic strip in the late 1920s, the character has popped up in various ways over the last several decades, from comic books to video games and cartoons. The most notable example of an adaptation based on the character is the 1980 live-action film Popeye, starring the late Robin Williams as the titular character.
This is the latest attempt to bring Popeye to the big screen since the 1980 film. In 2012, Sony announced that Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky would direct its new Popeye animated film. However, despite positive feedback from the test footage, Sony opted not to release the film as Tartakovsky exited the project in 2015. In 2020, it was announced that King Features was reviving the project, but it would suffer the same fate, with the footage leaked online.
Image credit: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
