'Fletch' Remake Supposedly Happening Again

I wouldn't count on it actually happening, but Warner Bros. is making the audacious claim that they're going to be the ones to finally make another Fletch movie. The studio has purchased the rights to Gregory McDonald's novels and are planning what they call a "reimagining, not a remake ... that plays out on a bigger canvas than the previous movies." Yeah, really stretch out that canvas. People will totally forget about the previous films once they see how huge this awesome new canvas is.

By the way, those previous films, in case you've forgotten, were Fletch and Fletch Lives, both starring Chevy Chase as the wise-ass, oft-incognito journalist. Talk of a sequel or prequel follow-up to those has been talked about since the '90s, with Kevin Smith once trying to get the film going with Jason Lee at Miramax; more recently, Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence and his dopey muse, Zach Braff, also took a failed shot. Even more recently, Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink was supposedly making the film with Joshua Jackson, but that attempt, too, was scrapped when Pink failed a crucial test by casting Joshua Jackson.

Now that Warner has taken over the rights, things will be starting again from scratch, so expect some "eyeing Bradley Cooper and Ryan Reynolds" reports to start up soon. But don't expect to see Joshua Jackson anywhere outside of Fringe promos and Sunday afternoon ABC Family airings of The Mighty Ducks.