Today, Archie Comics announced that Universal Studios has won the rights to make an Archie movie. Produced by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Aditya Sood (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, The Lego Movie) with Emma Watts, it already seems like they know to walk the fine lines among earnest, silly, and a touch melodramatic.
“Archie is about how we find the meaning of life in our love and the meaning of love in our life,” says writer Tom King, “And also about how incredibly hungry Jughead is. Like so hungry.”
With that quote, King (Mister Miracle, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) took me on the right short roller coaster ride. Because to me, Archie and his pals (and gals) from Riverdale High still need a bit of innocence and optimism. After all, Archie Andrews almost convinced The Punisher to be better. Almost.
It seems like King, Watts, and Archie Comics CEO and publisher Jon Goldwater have been working on this for a while. King wrote the one-shot Archie: The Decision last year with art by Dan Parent. Separate from the decade or so old “multiverse” story that became “Married Life,” The Decision combined King’s trademark soulful philosophy and character exploration with Archie Andrews the way you know and love him. If you know and love him, which most comics fans do. Because Archie is that rare comfortable thing — a starter comic passed down generationally.
It’s already been a couple of years since the teen angsty Riverdale finished on the CW and the South Asian film The Archies landed on Netflix. Despite a thriving line of horror comics (and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix), I’m getting the vibe that this is somewhat of a back to basics take. Lord and Miller know that you can’t eliminate the magic ingredient of fun. Even the TV movie of the 90s, Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again, remembered to keep the fun.
“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,” Lord and Miller said.
Goldwater, the “heir” of Archie, offered, “These are the perfect visionaries to bring our wonderful Archie characters to life on the big screen. This is an event that’s been 85 years in the making, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what is about to come.”
Of course a lot could happen in the development still to come. But the combination of talent here gives me hope. Like I said, Archie should give us hope, whether be in comics or live-action.
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