As reported back in February, Warner Bros. has become just the latest studio to try and revive Fletch, Gregory McDonald’s smart-ass reporter who always seems to find himself in the middle of big-ass conspiracies. And while the long, bloody history of filmmakers who have tried and failed to bring the character from out of the shadow of Chevy Chase would seem to indicate that Warner Bros. would also eventually give up, they’ve gone ahead and hired a screenwriter, suggesting that for now, at least, they’re using the whole fist, doc, to borrow a phrase. The project is now in the hands of David Mandel, the screenwriter whose credits include Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming The Dictator (as well as the not-bad-at-1 a.m.-on-cable Eurotrip), so he’s definitely got a way with witty banter—even if his past work will probably inspire people to rename it Kvetch, like we just did. Of course, the defining factor of any Fletch reboot remains who will play Fletch himself, and so far there haven’t been any leads as to the “A-list comedy star” who will get the part. Though given the past few months, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear Bradley Cooper’s name attached to this.
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