Summary
2022’sConfess, Fletchhas received a disappointing sequel update. An adaptation of the Gregory Mcdonald novel of the same name, the movie starred Jon Hamm as investigative reporter Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher, a character previously played onscreen by Chevy Chase in 1985’sFletchand 1989’sFletch Lives. While the movie was only ever released in limited theaters before a PVOD and Showtime release,Confess, Fletchreviewswere almost overwhelmingly positive, earning the movie a Certified Fresh score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes along with a 75% audience score.
Despite director and co-writerGreg Mottolahaving initially been hired to write a sequel adapting the novelFletch’s Fortune, the writer-director has shared a dispiriting update on a possible sequel toConfess, Fletchwhen responding to a joke on X about how multipleFletchsequels need to be made. See the post below:
When responding to the joke, Mottola revealed thatthe replacement for the head of Miramax “shot down my sequel project"and lamented that “the Fletch curse got me.” Because the person in question has the book rights, this likely means that the sequel cannot be made elsewhere. The director then explained the executive’s reasoning, and why it didn’t make much sense:
Mottola was told thatConfess, Fletchdidn’t make money, with the director adding “as if there had been any attempt to make money,” referencing the movie’s short theatrical window before a streaming premiere on Showtime. Admitting to feeling “rather depressed about it,” he remarked that it’s “hard to expect a good break in the feature [film] world these days.”
What Is The Fletch Curse?
Fletch’s Development Hell Explained
While the existence of theConfess, Fletchmovieseemed to refute the existence of theFletchcurse, it does seem to have returned in full force, as Mottola says. The curse to which he is referring is the fact thatnew projects in theFletchfranchise have had a habit of withering on the vine and languishing in production hellafter the release of the Chevy Chase duology. While the originalFletchmade $59 million against its $8 million budget, its sequel was less of a secure hit, only earning $39.5 million against the same price tag.
This did not stop producers from attempting to develop new projects adapting various stories involving the Fletch character, but it may have been one of the reasons that they failed to come to the screen in the ensuing decades between 1989 and 2022. The project, which was for the majority of its life going to be an adaptation ofFletch Won, was alternately set to be helmed by Kevin Smith andScrubscreator Bill Lawrence,struggled to come to fruition from the mid-1990s through 2019, at which point it had most recently been set to star Jason Sudeikis as Fletch.
Stars who were considered for theFletchproject at vairous stages of development throughout the 1990s and 2000s included Chevy Chase, Jason Lee, Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, and Jimmy Fallon.
Confess, Fletchgetting made proved that a version of the project was able to escape production hell. However, its compromised pandemic-era release seems to have left it in limbo in terms of proving its commercial viability as a franchise. It seems that a return to this particularJon Hamm roleis not in the cards, no matter how beloved it may be by audiences and critics alike.
Confess, Fletch
Cast
Based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Mcdonald, Confess, Fletch is a comedy/crime film starring Jon Hamm as Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher. This investigative reporter finds himself a prime suspect in multiple murders surrounding an art heist. However, his options are limited, with a priceless Picasso painting stolen and Fletch somehow appearing at the crime scene. Fletch never takes anything too seriously, but he realizes he’ll have to keep his wits about him to clear his name as he constantly tries to smooth talk the detectives on the case to allow him to help and pinpoint the real culprit.
