‘Spider-Verse’ Producers Developing ‘Archie’ Movie
Archie and his pals are headed to the big screen. A feature film adaptation of the generations-spanning Archie comic books is in development at Universal Pictures.
Spider-Verse franchise producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the filmmaking duo also behind 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, are developing the yet-to-be-titled film, with comic book author and DC Studios writer Tom King tapped to write the script.
“We are longtime fans of Archie, Veronica, Betty and the gang in all of their iterations. When we heard Tom King’s take on the classic material, we instantly thought it made sense as an event movie for all audiences — both lifelong fans and a whole new generation. We’re so excited to bring these beloved characters to the big screen,” Lord and Miller said in a statement.
According to Variety, the movie will be a live-action film and will be produced by Emma Watts, Aditya Sood, and Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater.
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It’s unclear if or to what extent Archie Comics Studios will be involved in the development of the film. The in-house production studio was launched in 2019 to “[shepherd] the company’s vast, diverse and beloved library into television and film.”
The film will mark Archie Andrews’ official big screen debut. The character was previously played by Christopher Rich in the 1990 made-for-TV movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again.
Archie and friends made their debut in Pep Comics Issue #22 in 1941, and they’ve been pop culture staples ever since. The gang most recently appeared on television screens in the hit CW teen drama Riverdale, which ran for seven seasons between 2017 and 2023.
In July, Archie had a brush with two of cinema’s fan-favorite, cult characters when he joined the Jay and Silent Bob movie canon in the Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob spinoff comic written by Kevin Smith.
Canonically the one-shot comic takes place after Clerks III and sees Archie Andrews take a summer job at the Quick Stop mini mart.
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