Fletch Reboot

Remember Fletch, the 1985 comedy starring Chevy Chase as a reporter who breezily adopts false identities and charms his way through various situations? The film got a forgettable sequel in 1989, but Hollywood has spent the past 20 years trying to find a way to bring that title character back to the big screen for a new generation – and it looks like it’s finally happening.

Greg Mottola, the director of movies like Superbad and Adventureland, is set to helm a reboot with Jon Hamm (Mad Men) playing the lead role, and Mottola recently shared a photo on Twitter suggesting that production begins very soon.

Fletch Reboot Photo

Last year, we learned that Mottola became the latest in a long line of filmmakers to try to wrestle a new Fletch movie into existence in the 21st century, and Jon Hamm was on board to star. Their version is called Confess, Fletch, which is based on the second of author Gregory Macdonald’s eleven novels centering on L.A. Times reporter Irwin Maurice Fletcher. The original film was a legitimate neo-noir mystery which was infused with comedy because it was a starring vehicle for Chevy Chase and his particular brand of sarcastic humor, but this new iteration is supposedly going to be “closer to a film noir with comedic elements.”

Here’s a synopsis:

In a mysterious chain of wild events, Fletch finds himself in the middle of multiple murders – one of which pins him as a prime suspect. While on a quest to prove his innocence, Fletch is tasked with finding his fiancée’s stolen art collection, the only inheritance she’s acquired after her father goes missing and is presumed dead.

Hollywood Has Fletch Fever

For years, it looked as if Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) was going to be the one who ended up directing a new Fletch movie. After it became clear that Chase would not reprise the role, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee (who had both worked with Smith previously) were rumored to be potential choices to take over in Fletch Won, a prequel that would have explored the character’s origins. Smith left the project and Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso) stepped in as director, with Scrubs star Zach Braff poised to play the younger version of Fletch. Hot Tub Time Machine‘s Steve Pink was the next filmmaker to give it a shot, and eventually Jason Sudeikis was attached to star for a few years before falling away from the project.

Now Zev Borow (Chuck, Human Target) has written a version of the script, with Mottola rewriting. Hamm is not only starring, but producing, and if Mottola is to be believed, filming begins in two and a half weeks. Let’s just hope the Fletch development curse is finally broken this time.

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