'Fletch' Reboot Heading to the Big Screen

Warner Bros. is looking to bring investigating reporter Fletch back to the big screen.

The studio has pre-emptively picked up the movie rights to the Gregory McDonald mystery novels featuring the character for an adaptation to be produced by Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Michael Sugar as well as David List, the manager of McDonald’s estate.

No writer or director is board, but Warners and the producers are aiming for a reimagining, not a remake, and hope to make an smart action comedy that plays out on a bigger canvas than the previous movies.

The 11 mystery books, the first of which was published in 1974, center on a reporter named I.M. Fletcher who juggles writing exposes while avoiding headaches caused by his two ex-wives. (Kinda like the Borys Kit story.)

The book and its first sequel is the only time a novel has won back-to-back Edgar Allan Poe Awards, the prize handed out by the Mystery Writers of America.

The books were memorably adapted into a Chevy Chase vehicle in 1985, with the comedy quotient amped, followed by a sequel in 1989.

Harvey Weinstein, via Miramax then TWC, tried for more than a decade to launch a Fletch franchise, attaching Kevin Smith to direct and produce an adaptation of McDonald’s Fletch Won. While that version never got off the ground, it attracted names such as Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Joshua Jackson and others into its orbit, a testament to the strength of the character McDonald created.

Jesse Ehrman will oversee Fletch for Warners.