ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Mad Men veteran John Hamm will be stretching his comedy chops once again, taking over Chevy Chase’s role in a reboot of the Fletch movie comedy.
Based on Gregory McDonald’s series of novels, the 1985 original saw Chase playing the titular role, Irwin M. “Fletch” Fletcher, an investigative reporter who constantly donned a series of disguises — some, it should be said, that would never pass in today’s politically-correct world — to unravel the mystery surrounding a millionaire’s offer to have someone kill the mogul.
Fletch was a box office hit and grossed $50.6 million domestically — with inflation, the equivalent of just over $121 million today. The film spawned a 1989 sequel, Fletch Lives., which earned $35.1 million, or about $73 million today.
Variety reports the Hamm film is based on the second book in McDonald’s series, Confess Fletch. That adventure sees the intrepid reporter the prime suspect in a series of murders, and at the center of a cache of stolen art, and a possible kidnapping.
By Stephen Iervolino
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