Ace director, Zoya Akhtar has announced her new film, The Archie comics which will be set in 1960s. The Hindi will be co-produced by Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Sharad Devarajan under their production houses Tiger Baby and Graphic India, respectively. Announcing the film, Zoya Akhtar shared a few comic strips from The Archie showing Archie and his group, including Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper, talking about the live-action musical set that will premiere exclusively on Netflix.
She wrote: "Archie and the Crew are about to get Down and Desi! 'The Archies' A coming-of-age musical drama directed by me. Coming soon to Netflix!" Zoya said in a statement that she is ‘super excited’ to be directing The Archies. “It was a large part of my childhood and teenage years. The characters are iconic and globally loved, which is also why I am a little nervous. I have to make sure the film stokes the nostalgia of a generation that grew up on the comic and yet resonates with the young adults today,” she said.
Archie Comics CEO/publisher Jon Goldwater said that he believes Zoya will ‘deliver a truly unique and exciting take on Archie and friends through the lens of Indian cinema’. “We know that these characters have global appeal and translating them into other settings and cultures is just the start of what we have planned for future multimedia adaptations,” he added. The Archie Comics follow the lives of four friends — Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones — as they navigate teenage life. While Archie is caught in a love triangle with Betty and Veronica, Jughead is known for his love for food. The other fictional characters include, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, Josie and the Pussycats and Katy Keene. Created by John L Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in 1941, the initial Archie characters first featured in Pep Comics in the same year. The popular characters have been adapted in several films, TV series, and video games.