Summary
- A new live-action
Popeye
movie is now in development. -
Popeye
, known for his spinach-fueled superhuman strength, first appeared in 1929 and has become a cartoon icon over the years. - A previous live-action adaptation with Robin Williams faced mixed reviews.
A new live-action Popeye movie is now in the works courtesy of Chernin Entertainment and King Features. According to a report by Variety, the new Popeye outing “is currently in development as a big-budget feature,” and has tapped writer Michael Caleo, who is best known for the likes of Sexy Beast, The Family, and the iconic HBO series The Sopranos to pen the screenplay.
Wider details regarding the live-action adaptation are unknown at this time, but considering that Popeye celebrated his 95th anniversary just this year, the timing could not be better to bring the ‘Sailor Man’ back to the big screen.
Created by Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye first appeared way, way back in 1929 in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. A sailor with a huge chin and giant forearms, Popeye is most famous for his use of spinach, which imbues the character with superhuman strength. The character has since become a cartoon icon, spawning a series of animated shorts, Popeye the Sailor, from legendary animator Max Fleischer. The cartoon adventures were a huge success, with many no doubt able to hum the recognizable theme tune which played whenever Popeye partook of some spinach.
Related 10 Live Action Cartoon Movie Adaptations That Actually Worked Over the years, there have been quite a few live-action adaptations of popular cartoons to hit our screens.
Popeye Has Been Adapted Into Live-Action Before With Robin Williams as the Spinach-Eating Sailor
Popeye has been adapted for live-action before by director Robert Altman and starring the late, great Robin Williams as the titular sailor. The movie follows Popeye as he attempts to track down his father, who deserted him as a baby. Popeye journeys to the port town of Sweethaven and befriends an assortment of eccentrics as well as falling in love with Olive Oyl, who already has a suitor, the bully Bluto.
Starring Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl and Paul L. Smith as Bluto, Popeye was mauled by critics at the time, and currently sits at 58% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes (alongside a 39% audience score). In the years since, however, the movie has found a following, with many finding a lot to love in the performances of Williams and Duvall.
Williams has discussed his role in Popeye in the past, revealing in The New York Times bestselling book Robin by Dave Itzkoff that he took the part after being advised to do so by Superman star and friend, Christopher Reeve.
“I also had that dream of getting up to thank the Academy. I thought, this is it, this is my ‘Superman,’ and it’s gonna go through the f*****’ roof! After the first day on ‘Popeye,’ I thought, ‘Well, maybe this isn’t it,’ and I finally wound up going, ‘Oh, God, when is it going to be over?’”
In an interview with the Rolling Stone, Williams confessed that he had had trouble speaking with the character’s crooked mouth and dialect, with the comedian having to re-dub his lines in post.
“I had to dub that movie over twice… because people couldn’t understand what I was saying. I sounded like a killer whale farting in a wind tunnel.”
The new
Popeye
live-action movie does not yet have a release date.
Popeye (1960)
Cast Jack Mercer , Mae Questel , Jackson Beck
Directors Jack Kinney , Seymour Kneitel , Gene Deitich John Dunn , Paul Fennell
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