Studio:
Universal Pictures.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase: Development Hell.
Who's In It:
Unknown.
Who's Making It:
Tommy O'Haver (Director, Screenwriter); Ben Myron (Producer);
based on the comic book published by Archie Comics.
Premise: The adventures of Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang -- as Mr. Whitherbee investgates allegations of 'hazing' and lewd behavior on the school grounds.
(Ok ok, so we're lying about the last part of that sentence. But aside from having the regular Archie characters, you guess as to the storyline is as good as ours.)
Release Date: Sometime in 1999.
Comments: None.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
[Page draft submitted by 'Widgett'.] August 18, 1998... Our scooper had a phone interview with Archie director/screenwriter Tommy O'Haver last Friday night and learned some current details about the project. Haver is in Kansas working on the film's script and told our scooper it would be "fairly low budget, $15 million or a little less, which is still enormous to me."
"I'm rewriting the script and will be directing the film" Haver told our scooper. "I wrote the first draft as well. It's going to stay very true to the comic book. It's going to be like a live action comic and will be hip in its aesthetic. And yet these characters are going to be ultra-pure and squeaky clean, but there's going to be so much drama going on in their romantic lives that I hope people won't hold that against them. It's going to have dream sequences and musical numbers, some good catfights between Betty and Veronica."
Cool so far, but yet the real question has yet to be asked. Our fella stepped up to the plate and asked Haver point-blank: are any of the characters getting laid or not? "No, but they dream about making out a lot (laughs). They'll be wandering around in their underwear a lot, Betty and Veronica in the locker room and the guys in the showers."
['Crash' got the goods where others have failed before. Remember that.]
November 10, 1998... We've been told that the latest issue of Playboy reports that former Playmate of the Year Jenny McCarthy has been cast as Betty. Could anyone confirm this? [Scoop sent anonymously, but we're sure our scooper only reads Playboy for the articles.]
November 17, 1998... We've finally been able to figure out the validity of the previous scoop...and by doing so, found out there are really articles in the magazine. "For the Jenny McCarthy report [scoop], it's in the December 1998 issue of Playboy. It's in an article called 'Sex Stars 1998'.Jenny's picture is on page 159.The caption says, 'Jenny McCarthy Bodacious Betty FHM's number one sexpot wins a role in the Archie film.' FHM is a British men's magazine. As for myself, I read the articles and look at the photos." Yeah, right. [Scoop sent anonymously. C'mon, what are you afraid of?]
January 4, 1999... A friend of Jenny McCarthy writes in to deny the star has been cast in any Archie movie. "I know Jenny personally and she laughs when she is asked about various movies she is 'up' for" Kelly Monro writes to us. "She said that Playboy got it wrong and she is NOT going to be in the movie....end of rumor...sorry guys..." What a way to start off the new year. [Thanks Kelly.]