Confess, Fletch: Jon Hamm reboot sold to Showtime

In a move reminiscent of what just happened to the Chris Pine action flick, The Contractor, Deadline is reporting that Paramount Global Content Distribution has acquired all rights to the Jon Hamm Fletch reboot. The film, titled Confess, Fletch, will hit theatres (in a limited release) and Premium VOD on September 16th and will premiere on Showtime on October 28th.

The film is based on the long-running series of novels by Gregory MacDonald, which were previously adapted for the screen in a pair of Chevy Chase movies, Fletch and Fletch Lives. And one of them (the first) was really good! The sequel was bogged down because they didn’t adapt one of MacDonald’s novels. Those books are so well written that you could film them page-by-page and still get a great movie (I ran dozens of them in college).

Here’s the synopsis via Deadline:

Fletch becomes the prime suspect in a murder case while searching for his heiress girlfriend’s stolen art collection. His only way out is to sift through a long list of suspects that include his own girlfriend, to find the real culprit.

Hollywood has been trying to relaunch the Fletch franchise for years, with Kevin Smith notably attached to the project. He was planning to use Chevy Chase again in wraparound segments for a prequel – Fletch, Won, based on one of MacDonald’s best books. It never happened, but truth be told, Jon Hamm is ideal casting. Fletch, who’s an investigative journalist, should be a funny guy but also needs to be sophisticated and good-looking. Hamm is definitely all three. Superbad’s Greg Mottola directs the film and re-teams Hamm with his Mad Men co-star John Slattery, in addition to Marcia Gay Harden, Kyle MacLachlan and more. Now, if only they were getting Harold Faltermeyer back to do the score – that would be something.

Are you excited for Confess, Fletch, and is Fletch Lives as bad as I remember? Let us know in the comments!