Genndy Tartakovsky has been working as a director in the entertainment industry for years now, but only recently has he started getting into the film game. Starting around the mid-90s, the filmmaker made a name for himself working on Cartoon Network programs like Dexter's Labratory, The Powerpuf Girls, and Samurai Jack, but 2012 will mark the first time that he's gotten into the features game. In September he is set to debut Hotel Transylvania, a new animated comedy starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, but apparently he liked working in the extended format because now he's getting ready to re-team with Sony Pictures Animation on another project.
Variety reports that Tartakovsky has been hired by the studio to helm a new, animated 3D version of Popeye. The project has been in development for a while now, starting in March 2010, and last November Jay Scherick and David Ronn (The Smurfs) were hired to pen the script. Avi and Ari Arad are producing the movie, which brings the classic cartoon character back to the big screen for the first time since Robert Altman's 1980 adaptation with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. First created back in 1929, Popeye The Sailor best known for his love of spinach (which gives him super strength), his big, tattooed forerarms, corncob pipe, and hard-to-understand voice. Tartakovsky is also currently working with Cartoon Network to create a feature version of Samurai Jack.
The article doesn't mention when production or casting will begin, but does anyone see any problem with bringing back Robin Williams as Popeye? Because it's a different medium people won't connect this new version to Altman's version and we know for a fact that he has a dead-on impression of the character. But if Sony decides to go with another actor, who would you like to see be the voice of Popeye?
