“Samurai Jack” creator and “Hotel Transylvania” trilogy director Genndy Tartakovsky spent several years working on an ultimately abandoned “Popeye” movie at Sony Pictures Animation – a project which collapsed in 2015 after he and SPA had creative differences.
At the time Tartakovsky said to Animation Magazine: “They wanted to do Popeye for the brand recognition and I loved the character and grew up with it, so there was a tug of war. They wanted it really updated, and I can only update it a little before it isn’t Popeye anymore.”
Now a new report from the same outlet indicates Tartakovsky is once again developing the project about the spinach-loving sailor, this time teaming with King Features who hold the cinematic rights. As a result, Tartakovsky must “go back to the drawing board” on the film version.
After he left the Sony project, “Ratchet & Clank” writer T.J. Fixman had a go at the script but it didn’t coalesce. It’s not clear if Sony Pictures Animation is still involved or if any of Fixman’s script has survived.
