Sony Pictures Animation’s belabored CG Popeye project finally looks to be moving forward with the studio announced that T.J. Fixman has signed on to draft a new screenplay. Fixman is one of the writers behind the popular Ratchet & Clank video games and penned the upcoming feature adaptation from Rainmaker Entertainment.
Fixman is keeping busy, having been tapped by Hasbro Studios as a creative consultant for their future TV and film notions, and is currently attached to a couple features in development, including Disney’s Gargoyles.
Sony’s Popeye was originally being guided by Genndy Tartakovsky — the cartoony hand behind their animated monster comedy Hotel Transylvania — but that version was declared dead in the water last spring. Tartakovsky had been developing the project for years before departing over the difference between his vision for the classic character and the studio’s.
“It’s still a mystery for me that [Sony] didn’t like that version. 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,” Tartakovsky told The Wrap last year. “They wanted it really updated, and I can only update it a little before it isn’t Popeye anymore.”
