By Jonas Reichel on March 20, 2024 at 07:39 pm

The most iconic sailor in film history is returning to the big screen: Just in time for his 95th birthday, a new "Popeye" live-action film adaptation is in the works, which, according to initial information, will have a huge budget.

As Variety reports, the as yet untitled movie is being developed by King Features as well as Chernin Entertainment, which was most recently responsible for the Planet of the Apes productions, and is described as a "big-budget feature". The screenplay comes from Michael Caleo, who previously worked as a writer for "The Sopranos".

The sailor with a penchant for spinach received his first live-action film in 1980. At the time, Robin Williams took on the role.

Late last year, some Popeye fans came up with the idea of releasing a series of self-made movie trailers that have already generated millions of views. In these trailers, the character is portrayed as a shipwrecked man with the physique of Dwayne Johnson. Will the producers possibly take this as an example when it comes to casting?

Since the movie is still in an early phase of development, there is still plenty of room for speculation.