Popeye loves Olivia oil, but the evil Bluto has something against it and makes things difficult for the peaceful sailor. He doesn’t want to put up with that and quickly resorts to his secret weapon: spinach! This vegetable, of which the cartoon character always has a can in his pocket, gives him superhuman strength for a short time. Naturally, he uses this to give his nemesis a sound beating and free his beloved girlfriend from the clutches of the disgusting villain. This is roughly the basic formula of the Popeye cartoons, which were produced starting in 1933 and still have their fans.
But in addition to the cartoons, there was also a live-action film adaptation in 1980. In ‘Popeye, the Sailor with the Hard Punch’, none other than comedy icon Robin Williams took on the role of the spinach-addicted villain for director Robert Altman (‘Last Radio Show’). Most recently, Genndy Tartakovsky, director of Hotel Transylvania, planned to revive the character, created in 1919, in an animated film. But unfortunately nothing came of it.
In 2024, Popeye will celebrate his 95th birthday – and fittingly, it seems like people are thinking about bringing the lovable sailor back to the big screen – but not in animated form…
Revival as a live-action film
Instead, the adventures of the spinach guzzler will once again find their way to cinemas as a live-action version. How It is exclusively reported that the project is currently being developed by Chernin Entertainment and King Features and is planned as a “big budget production.” It also appears that a screenwriter has already been found. ‘Sexy Beast’, ‘Malavita – The Family’ and ‘The Sopranos’ screenwriter Michael Caleo are expected to contribute the script for the as-yet-untitled Popeye film.
The project is currently still in the early stages of development. It is currently impossible to estimate when Popeye fans can look forward to the sailor setting sail again and delighting us with his antics in the cinema.