A New POPEYE Movie is in the Works Which Will Bring the Popular “Sailor Man” Back to the Screen

A New Live-Action Popeye Movie is Brewing

A new Popeye movie to be written by Michael Caleo is currently in the development stages and looks like it has the possibility to be a future big screen movie event.

In 1980, Robin Williams played Popeye the Sailor Man in the $49 million grossing picture, Popeye. Though that film had a lot going for it, including the great Shelley Duvall playing Olive Oyl, the movie wasn’t a successful picture from a critical standpoint. Now, after 44 years, a new Popeye film project is in the development stages which promises to be a Popeye film for a whole new generation.

Writer Michael Caleo of “The Sopranos” fame has been enlisted to write the script for the upcoming cartoon character-based Popeye movie. While the Popeye we have all come to know and love gets energy when he pops open and eats a can of spinach, it’s too early to tell if the movie will be entirely faithful to the original comic strips on which the character was based. That comic premiered back in 1929 which is 95 years ago. It has taken a while for another Popeye movie to emerge in Hollywood because of the lukewarm reception to director Robert Altman’s 1980 film version of the material.

Popeye was created by Elzie Crisler Segar, and was the star of many cartoons from Max Fleischer over the years preceding the 1980 movie’s release. Perhaps, Robin Williams’s characterization wasn’t 100 percent on the mark but the 1980 film still had memorable music and songs as well as a fun overall nature to it. It remains to be seen if the new version will be a musical or a straight live-action adaptation of the material.

Bluto, Popeye’s main competitor for Olive Oyl’s affections, was played by Paul L. Smith in the 1980 Altman production. The casting of the three principal roles will be a process in and of itself to ensure the new upcoming movie is successful. If there’s anything Hollywood doesn’t want, it’s another lukewarm Popeye movie, especially after 44 years have passed. The 1980 movie was actually said to be one of Robin Williams’ least favorite projects that he starred in. Williams barely got through shooting the picture and perhaps his exhaustion with the role showed in his performance to audiences who turned up to see the movie.

One actor who stole the 1980 movie out from under Robin Williams was Paul Dooley as the humorous hamburger eating character, Wimpy. That’s another character that the casting of will help make a huge difference in determining whether the new Popeye movie will be mediocre or rise above the ranks of the 1980 picture.

Let’s not forget that heroic music from the cartoons that came on whenever Popeye got the strength from a can of spinach to help him get out of a troublesome situation. There are a lot of elements which need to be worked out in the script stages of the upcoming film to make sure that this version of Popeye doesn’t leave audiences wanting more. It seems like this will be a big screen picture at the present time as opposed to a straight to streaming project.

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