journalist named I.M. “Fletch” Fletcher, ComingSoon.net brings news that the character is destined for more movie adventures. Only this time without Chase’s involvement.The site reports that “Spin City co-creator and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence will write and direct the next two Fletch films for The Weinstein Company, of which the first remains Fletch Won,” based on Mcdonald’s 1985 novel of the same name (the eighth in a series that began with 1974’s Fletch). Screenwriter/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) had previously been associated with the project, but has apparently tossed it over. ComingSoon adds, “Smith had wanted to cast My Name is Earl star Jason Lee in the title role, but Scrubs star Zach Braff was reportedly also a frontrunner for the role. Now that Lawrence is indeed on board, Braff definitely has an edge over other actors.” Shooting on the film--Lawrence’s first big-screen effort--is expected to begin in April 2007, while the producer is on hiatus from Scrubs.
It’s always dicey to translate a character familiar from books onto the screen, and Chase--while I respect much of his work--didn’t measure up to my vision of Fletch. He was broadly comic, rather than understatedly so, as Mcdonald’s tales really demand. I could see Lee in the part, sure, with his look of perpetual bewilderment at being caught up in the whirlwind of life. But I can imagine, too, Braff stepping into Fletch’s shoes. Although he strikes me initially as rather too young-looking, his role in Scrubs over the years has helped distinguish that NBC-TV sitcom as a smarter-than-average example of a pretty atrocious breed. What’s more, his work with the lovely Natalie Portman in Garden State (2004) shows he has the chops to pull off the sort of nuanced performance that could set Fletch Won apart from its more slapstick predecessors.
(Hat tip to Sarah Weinman.)
READ MORE: “Will Fletch Finally Be Made, Starring Zach Braff?” by Jen Creer (TV Squad).
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