***Update from Nick***
Here’s Zach Braff’s take on the issue from his official site: "I know the obvious
question that follows, and the answer is: I don’t know yet. There are
many things up in the air. Most important to me is directing my
adaptation of "Open Hearts," which I had planned to shoot next summer.
Plus what would my Sims do if I left them for too long. I know what
they’d do, they’d all bang Randy."
The Weinsteins have finally tapped a guy to helm the new Fletch films, and it’s Bill Lawrence, the maniacal mastermind behind TV’s best sitcom, Scrubs. Lawrence will be adapting Fletch Won, the prequel that reveals Fletch’s secret origin. Kevin Smith had once been among the people supposed to direct the movie, and he was a massive fan of the original Chevy Chase movie. So is Bill Lawrence, it turns out.
"The coolest thing about the ‘Fletch Won’ book is that it’s an origin story. Like ‘Batman Begins,’ I think people will enjoy seeing how Irwin Fletcher became Fletch. Not only can I recite the original ‘Fletch’ movie line for line, I actually read all the Greg Mcdonald books as a kid. Consider me obsessed, – I’m going to try as hard as I can not to screw this up."
So who will be Fletch? Rumors had been going around before Lawrence came on board that Zach Braff would be taking the role, and now that his TV boss is in charge, that does seem more likely. Plus, Lawrence would be making Fletch Won during the Scrubs break, meaning Braff would be available. Nothing is official yet, but if Braff does take the role (please take the role!) I would imagine we’ll be hearing about it soon.
This became official today but had been hitting the net as a rumor yesterday (it showed up here at Coming Soon). The rumor claimed that Lawrence was signed on for two Fletch films, which the Weinstein press release doesn’t confirm – but the fact that the Fletch series is seven books long is certainly mentioned. Feel free to talk about all the Fletch possibilities in this thread!