Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 21: Archie Andrews and his Riverdale gang are once again headed to the silver screen, with Universal Pictures announcing a big-budget live-action adaptation of the iconic 85-year-old Archie Comics franchise. Backed by the makers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the project will see writer Tom King, noted for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, penning the screenplay while Craig Gillespie takes the director’s chair. The film is slated for release next summer.

Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, along with Emma Watts and Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater, revealed that the film will bring a “family-friendly” spin on Archie, Veronica, and Betty—promising a sharp contrast to the darker, edgier tones of the hit TV series Riverdale. “We’re longtime fans, and when we heard Tom King’s take, it instantly felt like an event movie for all generations,” Lord and Miller said in a statement.

While Hollywood gears up, the announcement has sparked a wave of reactions in India. Fans were quick to recall that Bollywood had already given Archie its own reimagining through Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies in 2023, starring Agastya Nanda, Suhana Khan, and Khushi Kapoor. Set in a 1960s Anglo-Indian town, the film released on an OTT platform rather than theatres, yet drew comparisons to the original comic universe.

“Why not just release Bollywood’s Archies in cinemas instead?” asked one fan on social media, while another quipped, “We don’t need this—India already has its own Archie.”