The TV take of Archie Comics, Riverdale, spanned 137 episodes on the CW, and ran from 2017-2023, but Universal Pictures believes there are more Archie stories to tell on the big screen. The studio has a project in the works with Tom King adapting the 85-year old comic and Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and former 20th Century Studios film boss Emma Watts producing.
King wrote the DC Comic Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow which was adapted into Craig Gillespie directed movie, set for release next summer. He’s also a writer and EP on HBO/DC Studios’ upcoming Lanterns series.
Watts brought the project to Lord & Miller with King. Archie Comics CEO and publisher Jon Goldwater will produce. Aditya Sood, the President of Lord Miller will produce the company’s first look at Uni.
Plot details are under wraps. However, Archie follows the high school hijinks of the cute Archie and his main squeezes, Veronica and Betty. Riverdale was steeped in a Twin Peaks-like noir and followed the underbelly of the small town where Archie and the gang lived.
“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” said Lord and Miller in a statement.
There was a previous feature take of Archie characters Josie and the Pussycats at Universal in 2001 which didn’t do well at the box office grossing under $15M at the domestic box office.
Archie Comics have sold over three billion comics and are published in dozens of languages as well as being read worldwide in English. Additionally, over 20 million copies of the hit single “Sugar, Sugar” have been sold. Archie Comics social media has over 3M followers across different channels. Archie Comics is sold in countries such as India, Philippines, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, South America, Australia, UAE, with 100 million comics sold in India in the last 50 years. Archie Comics provides a generational and shared reading experience and, as such, upwards of 4 billion Archie books have been read in households across the globe.
SVP of Production Development Britt Hennemuth and Director of Production Development Christine Sun are overseeing the project for the studio.
InSneider broke the news.
From Deadline.com