Is Warner Bros making an Archie movie… featuring zombies?!

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Here’s some unusual news: Warner Bros. has just closed a deal to make a live action movie based on the Archie Comics books. We wouldn’t report on that usually, but it looks like the studio intends on pitting Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica against the undead!

Deadline reports that Jason Moore (PITCH PERFECT) will direct, while CARRIE remake screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is penning the script, which likely means the film will be based on AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, an ongoing series of comics launched earlier this spring and penned by Aguirre-Sacasa.

AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE asks the question: what if the zombie apocalypse began in Riverdale, where Archie and his friends live.

Evidently this series of comics came about when Aguirre-Sacasa and Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater started asking questions like, “What if the Archie characters found themselves in a Stephen King novel like The Stand or a Sam Raimi movie like The Evil Dead?” The writer also said in the press release for the comic that “all the horror stuff will be balanced by elements that are quintessentially Archie.”

While the character of Archie has been around since 1941, this would be his first trip to the big screen. Do the kids today even know who Archie is? I suppose if Aguirre-Sacasa’s script is entertaining enough, it won’t really matter.