budget:$20 million
July 2020
Fletch is making a comeback: Jon Hamm will star in and produce a new feature film about the brazen investigative reporter to be directed by Superbad‘s Greg Mottola and hail from Miramax.....
The new film adaptation will specifically be based on the second book in the Mcdonald series, Confess, Fletch. In a mysterious chain of wild events, Fletch finds himself in the middle of multiple murders — one of which pins him as a prime suspect. While on a quest to prove his innocence, Fletch is tasked with finding his fiancée’s stolen art collection, the only inheritance she’s acquired after her father goes...
Hamm is producing alongside manager Connie Tavel. David List, Mcdonald’s rep, will serve as an executive producer.
“We could not be more thrilled to see what 21st century twist these artists create,” says Miramax CEO Bill Block.
“Producing this film with Jon has been a longtime dream of mine and with Zev and Greg on board to write and direct, I really believe that this will be an exciting and modern reimagining of this beloved character,” says Tavel.
Hamm is repped by CAA, Forward Entertainment and attorney David Weber. Mottola is repped by UTA.
August 2020
...The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Hamm to discuss his participation, why he signed on to a new Fletch film, and what he’s learned about himself during quarantine.
That's great. Speaking of work, you’ve had some projects put on hold but also some big news, too. It was reported that you are producing and starring in a new Fletch film. He’s such an iconic character, why did you want to take on that role?
- Well, first of all, obviously, we're not re-doing it, in that sense. No one can touch Chevy's portrayal of that character. Because of how much I loved that movie, I investigated [the series] as a kid and discovered that there were nine other novels that Gregory Mcdonald wrote about Fletch. So, I was like, "Oh shit, I got to read these." I read all of them, and they're all really funny. It was my first lesson in how people adapt characters for the screen. But the character in the book is a lot different than Chevy's portrayal.
When Bill Block at Miramax came to me and said, "We own this and we think you'd be a good fit for this." I said, "I agree, but I don't want to imitate Chevy. I'm not interested in that." I don't think anybody else would be because we already have that version. Maybe there's a way to get a version that's more true to life for the book, that's a little more intellectual and a little more live in its sensibility.
To that end, we hired an amazing writer, Zev Borow, who is writing a script for us now. My friend, Greg Mottola, who I've worked with before, has such a deft hand with comedy and is so smart and such a great filmmaker. We put a team together that has a lot of potential. I'm very optimistic.
As soon as that information hit the world, I got [flooded with responses]. I've never woken up to like 50 texts before. I was like, "Who died?" But fortunately, no one did. I got messages from my friends on the St. Louis Cardinals and the Blues, from heads of studios. It was just such an outpouring of people saying, "Oh, I can't wait." I literally was just on the phone with — not to name drop — but Tom Cruise called me yesterday. I had just seen a cut of Top Gun: Maverick and we were talking and he's said, "By the way, I can't wait to see Fletch." I'm like, "What?" Okay, we have to get this thing together.
Hamm also talks to TODAY about working with Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” as well as plans for an upcoming remake of “Fletch.”
In keeping with the ‘80s theme—you just signed on for a reboot of Fletch. What made you think there’s new life to be had in that story ?
Well I was a huge fan of the movie. I can literally quote it from top to bottom, because it was so funny, and again, I was dead center in that target demo. The movie inspired me to check out the 11 Gregory Mcdonald novels. Chevy had his performance and he’s so good, and physical, and funny, and it’s very specific to him in that time. We’re obviously not remaking that movie—it’s perfect. We’re just extending the story about this character, and hopefully telling a deeper, little more nuanced story about why this guy does what he does. There’s a lot of fertile ground to plow.
Jon Hamm Updates On Fletch Movie
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what is your favorite crime movie?
JON HAMM: Out of Sight. That wasn't the first Soderbergh film I'd seen obviously, but it was the one where I really sat up, took notice, because of how great literally everyone was in it, from Cheadle to Albert Brooks to [George] Clooney, Jennifer Lopez. Everybody in it is great and established this sense of cool that I think many filmmakers are still attempting to reach. We are trying to reboot Fletch at the moment and that's going to be one of the hallmarks that I think Greg Mottola, the director, and myself are going to try and reach for, in a complete tonal shift from the original.
Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, Golden Globe winner Kyle MacLachlan and Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. are joining Jon Hamm in the Miramax movie Confess, Fletch, directed by Greg Mottola. Principal photography is set to start Monday, June 28.
The film is based on the original Gregory Mcdonald’s 1970s mystery novel series, and will stay true to the second novel Confess, Fletch. The story will follow Fletch, who finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, one in which he is pinned as the prime suspect. While on a quest to prove his innocence, Fletch is tasked with finding his fiancée’s stolen art collection, the only inheritance she’s acquired after her father goes missing and is presumed dead.
“The insouciant and sophisticated cocktail of Jon Hamm and Greg Mottola will be delivered to global audiences next year and promises to be very tasty,” said Miramax CEO, Bill Block.
“We look forward to bringing Fletch’s iconic character back to the big screen with a modern-day twist. While the original film has been hailed a cult classic with a strong fan base, we are showcasing Fletch through a new comedic and sophisticated lens, highlighting the nuances of his character and the intricacies of his career as an investigative journalist,” said producer Connie Tavel.
Block, Tavel, and Hamm serve as producers on the film, while Mottola, Mark Kamine and David List will executive produce. Zev Borow and Mottola penned the screenplay. Block produced the $315M-worldwide grossing Bad Moms franchise.
Wood Jr. will play the role of Detective Monroe. He suspects Fletch of being the murderer, and remains resistant to Fletch’s tips on the case. Harden and MacLachlan’s roles remain under wraps.
Connie Tavel, producer of “Confess, Fletch,” took a few minutes during the shoot to discuss the project with the Telegram & Gazette.
“Why Fletch? Because it’s one of mine and Jon Hamm’s favorite mystery series,” Tavel said. “We were having dinner eight years ago and we were talking about our favorite mysteries series and we both said, 'Fletch.' And Jon said, 'I want to play Fletch.' And I said, ‘You should be Fletch.’ And then we chased down the rights. And Miramax had them. And we went to Miramax and said, ‘Jon Hamm is Fletch.’ They said, ‘Great idea.’”
Tavel said it took two years to write the script. Filming began this week.
“Jon is so excited,” Tavel said. “He was born to play Fletch.”
Tavel said the intentions are that “Confess, Fletch” is the first in a series of Fletch films starring Hamm. And, in the bargain, “Confess, Fletch” has a chance to make hard-hitting, investigative journalism cool again, she said.
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“We followed the character in the book. The character in the “Fletch” books is the character Jon Hamm is playing. Chevy Chase took that and went in a totally different direction which is best for him because he’s brilliant in broad comedy. So his Fletch was perfect for him,” Tavel said. “Our Fletch is paying homage and is the character that Gregory Mcdonald wrote that Jon is so suited to play…We’re playing comedy but it’s sophisticated. It’s witty. It’s ironic. There will be a couple of fun big moments but it’s a real comedy. It’s not a broad comedy.”
Tavel said the authenticity of filming in a real newsroom is going to show in the movie.
“This is a real place where journalism occurs,” Tavel said about the Telegram & Gazette. “This is a newsroom. This is a writers’ room. And it will be reflected in the movie.”
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It was Hamm’s idea to cast Slattery, Tavel said. They are close friends, dating to the AMC series.
Tavel said: “And Jon Hamm called John Slattery and said, 'Will you play Frank in my movie?' And John Slattery said, ‘When and where do you need me?’”
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Tavel said “Confess, Fletch” will appeal to three different kinds of audiences - the people who remember Chevy Chase’s “Fletch” fondly, the people who never heard of “Fletch” but are looking for a great comedy, and the Jon Hamm fans.
video :
in the cast
Last year the world got to enjoy photos of you meeting a woman's dog in Boston. I don’t assume you and the dog are still in touch, but do you remember this happening ?
- I do remember that. We were in Boston, shooting [Confess, Fletch] down the street. I love dogs. I'll say it. I have an amazing one. But yeah, I got to bring my dog to Boston. I lived there for two months, and we shot a pretty significant portion of the film at this one location that was very dog-friendly. Five o’clock, everyone comes home from work and walks their dogs. So it was very cool. I got to say hi to a lot of dogs. And my dog got to say hi to a lot of dogs too.
Fletch and Top Gun are both beloved film franchises. What are your considerations before deciding whether to step into those worlds ?
- Well, with Top Gun, obviously, that's Tom's bailiwick, and it was a tremendous honor to be asked to be in that world. I jumped at the chance. I was literally having a conversation with my 15-year-old self and kvelling in every way, shape, and form. But with Fletch, it was more about, can we reboot this story, this franchise? Obviously I, like every white male my age, has a kind of trophy shelf of Fletch quotes and love, love, love Chevy's version, but we wanted to make a different version for the 21st century. I'm not doing a Chevy Chase impression and we're not trying to make that movie, but there are ten novels that Gregory McDonald wrote with this character, and I just thought, "Well, I think we can make a different version of it."
I hope that it resonates to a new generation, because obviously kids today don't know Fletch. They were not born in the '80s. They don't get it. There's a whole generation and a half that really hasn't seen that film. So hopefully we can tell another fun, quirky, funny whodunnit starring Fletch.
You’re playing Fletch in a new movie. When did you first encounter the character?
I saw the Chevy Chase movie, and it said in the credits it was based on a book. I went to Waldenbooks in the mall, and they had half a row of all the books in the series on a shelf. I just thought, “Oh, man, are you kidding me? I need eight of this!” I didn’t have any money, so I shoplifted them. I think the statute of limitations has run out, but I owe Waldenbooks $35 plus interest.
Lastly, what can you say about your new take on Fletch?
Well, we finished principal photography last summer in Rome. It’s a very good film. We’re not sure where it’s going to be distributed, so I can’t really speak on that. We’ve got a couple things happening, but I hope people get to see it in the coming year and I look forward to them enjoying it. It’s very different from the Chevy Chase version. So if you’re going in expecting me to be wearing a lot of funny wigs and doing a lot of voices, it’s probably not the movie for you. But we’re very excited about staying true to the books that Gregory Mcdonald wrote, and we have the option, hopefully, to make quite a few more. So the exciting thing for me is to get in on the ground floor and hopefully do a few more of these and produce them and make them in the way I find very funny.
the movie will have a limited theatrical release and debut on Premium Video-on-Demand Sept. 16 before premiering on Showtime Oct. 28, Paramount announced .
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August 26
CONFESS, FLETCH | Official Trailer | Paramount Movies
"I'd Love To See Chevy Do Don Draper" |
Jon Hamm On Taking Over For Chevy Chase in FLETCH Reboot
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Jon Hamm Headed To The MCU? X-men Rumors?! Full Confess, Fletch Cast Interview
Confess, Fletch starring Jon Hamm, John Slattery
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"Chevy's contribution to this franchise and to those first two movies are so particular to what he does, that had there been any attempt to do a Chevy Chase impression or anything like that, I would have almost felt like stealing," Hamm shared with ET ahead of the release of Confess, Fletch. "Like, I’m not going to steal those bits -- those are his bits... What we really wanted to do was bring these characters and bring these stories to a completely new generation."
"The one thing we did as a very significant nod to Chevy was keep the Lakers hat," he noted. "We thought that was very funny, that he's walking around Boston very proudly in a Lakers hat... That’s clearly our nod to Chevy."
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"I was first of all amazed by how many stories there were, and I was second amazed by how different the books are from the ['80s movies]," the actor shared. "I was like, 'Wait, so that’s what Chevy Chase brings to it'... and that’s awesome, but none of that stuff is in the books."
Hamm described his take on Fletch as "a sophisticated guy, he's funny, he loves life, he loves being in every room that he's in. He thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, but maybe he's top three, five... He thinks he’s right all the time and he’s not."
"That’s where the funny is," he continued. "For our purposes, it was less about wigs and teeth and all of the bits and slapstick '80s jokes, and more about telling a real, fun, compelling whodunit starring this guy at the middle of it."
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"Those were some of the first days we shot," Hamm said of his scenes with his former castmate. "That was a very exciting way to start this project, to kind of get something that feels very comfortable."
"Those two characters, they're meant to have had a long history," he added. "That kind of sensibility was easy to play with someone like John, who I do have over a decade of history with, and so it was very easy and it was very fun and I think that does kind of come off the screen -- I think people really do respond to that."
Confess, Fletch is set to be released with a limited theatrical run and on demand on Sept. 16, followed by a Showtime premiere on Oct. 28.
Moviefone: To begin with, in addition to an actor you are also a producer on this project. Jon, what was it about this series of novels and playing this character that really appealed to you ?
Jon Hamm: Well, like a lot of people I was introduced to this character through the 1980’s Chevy Chase film, and immediately fell in love with not only Chevy’s interpretation of it, but that whole kind of style of comedy. It was very funny and fun.
Then I was turned onto the books and realized that there were 10 or 11 other stories in this chain of stories with this character. Then I also realized upon reading all of the books that the character in the book was significantly different from what Chevy brought to it. I thought over the course of my becoming a bankable actor, that there would be an opportunity maybe to redefine it a little bit for a new generation and get back maybe to some of the original takes on it.
Taking nothing away, obviously, from what Chevy has done, which is obviously beloved and very funny. But we saw an opportunity to actually kind of reconfigure this a little bit, and in success we have the rest of the series of novels to hopefully make. We’re excited that this might be the first step down the path of reimagining ‘Fletch’ for a new audience and a new generation.
MF: Jon, how would you describe your version of Fletch?
JH: I think he’s pretty comfortable in his own skin. I think he is a great student of the human condition and of whatever environment he is in. He is intrinsically aware of it, which doesn’t mean he’s always right. I think one of the funny parts of this character is that he’s often wrong.
He’s coming at it from what he thinks is the absolute certainty of his opinions and convictions, and yet he’s wrong. That shows up on several occasions in the movie, but it doesn’t bother him. It’s part of the process, it’s part of the discovery and that’s what makes life worth living. I think that is what is ending to the audience to getting to know Fletch. He definitely knows how to withhold some things for sure.
Moviefone
Confess, Fletch Interviews: We sit down with Jon Hamm and more!
Interview With Jon Hamm & Director Greg Mottola for Confess, Fletch
Confess, Fletch: Jon Hamm & Greg Mottola
Jon Hamm from Confess, Fletch
There’s very much some shared DNA there, for sure. It’s a series of stories. He’s sort of placed in different environments and conundrums and finds himself constantly on the wrong side of the law sometimes and has to use his wits and his wilds to get out. He doesn’t have the budget that maybe James Bond has for gadgets, but he does have his wits and his incredible ability to read a room,” Hamm said during a recent interview with IndieWire.
He added winkingly, “And while we’re at it, sure. I’d love to play James Bond. Thank you for asking.”
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“I started reading the books as a little kid. I mean, like a teenager, like a very young kid. So it’s an exciting opportunity to get the chance to really reintroduce a character to a brand new generation,” said Hamm
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“[‘Knives Out’] kind of sparked this renaissance of the mystery and the whodunit,” said Hamm. “Our film is a beneficiary of that as well, but you see it in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and ‘Death on the Nile,’ and all of this kind of revisiting of these mysteries that are truly compelling because they’re really satisfying to watch.”
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“If I’m going into the cultural analysis of it, we live in a time where a lot of people don’t necessarily have to pay for their misdeeds,” he said. “It’s nice to actually watch a story where the bad guy gets it in the end or somebody that deserves a happy ending gets it. We’re inundated in real life with stories where the bad guy gets away with it, or there’s no consequences for attacking The Capitol, for example, without putting too fine a point on it, but these are fun escapist stories that people can actually lean into.”
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“Whenever you have people on screen that have a history that’s longer than a few years, that have some depth to their relationship, that comes across,” he said. “I think it certainly comes across with us. It was very easy to get back into a rhythm. It was very fun to play two very different characters than Don and Roger also.”
“It’s a very difficult line to walk these days when we talk about alternative facts and that sort of thing that the idea of an objective truth is a very hard thing to get the majority of people to believe,” Hamm said about today's state of investigative journalism during a video chat with the Telegram & Gazette last week. “You don’t have to look very far into the current political and journalistic landscape to see the fractalization of that kind of idea has really cost, I think, people a lot of stability in what to believe and what to understand and how to process information.”
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“It was great. It was beautiful. Worcester’s gorgeous. Go WooSox, I probably should say,” Hamm said. “Thank you by the way to you and your compatriots for allowing us to descend upon your office space but, yeah, it’s an exciting place to be. That’s where the news come from and that’s a fun environment to be involved in.”
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For “Confess, Fletch,” Hamm, who serves as one of the film’s producers, was instrumental in Slattery getting the part.
“I really wanted John to play that part. I knew that, if we were successful, he would be coming back and we could have a lot more scenes together,” Hamm said. “I love working with him and I think our relationship blends our scenes together (with) a depth and a richness that you really only get when you’ve known somebody for a long time.”
“It’s all scripted but we do have a very closed relationship and very close banter in the shorthand so that’s value added when you have friends in a scene that are very comfortable with each other,” Hamm said. “It doesn’t seem like work. It seems more like play, which is where you want to be.”
It was fun. I shot a few scenes in 'The Town' in a bar out in Lynn, Massachusetts. That was very local and very fun to do,” Hamm said. “It’s the second movie I shot with (director) Greg (Mottola) in Boston (the other film is 2016’s “Keeping Up with the Joneses”) and the third movie that I shot in Boston.
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“So it was fun to get back there and it was obviously very fun to explore Worcester, which I hadn’t seen much of in the first two times that I was there.”
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When working at a police station, Hamm said you try not to get in the way of the real business at hand.
“You are very respectful whenever you go into any active location, whether it’s a police department or a hospital or a working office or anything,” Hamm said. “When it’s something like law enforcement, there’s other things to be cognizant of. So we were trying to keep our footprint there very small. And fortunately, nothing crazy happened when we were there. And we were able to get in and out without much fanfare.”
Hamm said he was a big fan of the original films, as well as the source material.
“I thought, 'Wow, this is so cool. I hope they make more and more of these,' and they never did,” Hamm said. “Over the course of the ‘90s and early 2000s, there were various people that were attached and fell off of the project, and lo and behold a few years ago my name got added to that list and we were able to push it across the finish line and make a new 'Fletch' for a new generation.”
Hamm insists “Confess, Fletch” is not a remake. It’s more of a reimagining of the character closely based on the series of books written by former Boston Globe reporter and Shrewsbury native Gregory Mcdonald, Hamm said.
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“We decided we would take the movie in a direction that is a little bit closer to the tone and the tenor and the character of the book,” Hamm said. “And, fortunately, there are about 10 more books that Gregory Mcdonald wrote throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. So, in success, we will be able to do a few more of these.”
“I think the original impetus of Gregory Mcdonald creating this character of a hero who is an investigative reporter probably came out of the Watergate era, like Woodward and Bernstein, and that kind of idea that these guys were heroes that they were bringing the truth to people that people were trying to keep down,” Hamm said. “I think people really do yearn for something that is real and truthful and meaningful. I just think that it’s clouded by noise and distraction that it’s harder to get that through-line through. But you guys (reporters) out there are fighting the good fight. You’re still doing it.”
“Greg talked about having these real mysteries with real stakes that are genuinely scary and people might lose their lives but they are also very funny,” Hamm said. “And so you look back at movies like 'The Thin Man' or 'The Maltese Falcon' and the crazy characters that exist in that from Peter Lorre to Sydney Greenstreet. Even something like 'The Big Lebowski' these days, that’s a little closer at home. There are examples out there that have a serious mystery involved with some wacky characters.”
“Our version of this story is a wonderful mystery,” Hamm said. “It’s such an interesting and complicated mystery that the lead character, myself, gets it wrong. That’s how difficult it is to figure it out.”
When asked which character is the closest to him in real life, Hamm said, “I would imagine the Progressive guy probably would be the closest to me in real life, given that that’s my name. It’s a slightly heightened version of myself. The fun fact of those ads is that Stephanie Courtney, who plays Flo, was actually in the pilot of 'Mad Men.' She played one of the switchboard operators. So it’s nice to kind of go full circle, to get to work with her again.”
“Well, I was 14 when ‘Fletch’ came out. I didn’t think I would be involved in either one of those projects but here I am, the better part of 30-plus years later and I’m involved in both of them,” Hamm said. “I remember very much seeing both of these films in the movie theater as a teenager and really enjoying them. And to be able to be a part of the continuing tradition of both of those franchises is a real dream come true.”
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As for anything he can tell us about “Fargo” Season Five, which will be starring Hamm opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Juno Temple, the actor joked, “I think if I tell you anything about it, there will be a little man from FX that will come out and hit me with a wrench in the back of my head. So I better keep it to myself.”
“It’s an exciting whodunit. It’s a fun story to be around. It’s funny people and talented actors telling a very compelling story. So I hope people just come along for the ride,” he said. “If Worcester does its job and gets enough people out to the theater, then we’ll have an opportunity to do more.”
You know we actually didn’t take that long once we started our project. Jon came to me and said Miramax owns the rights to all the books. I hadn’t read the books, I read them…I loved them. He had me at Fletch, the combination of Jon and this character was thrilling to me.”
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“We wanted to make this for a new generation. The thing I think if you’re trying to remake a movie or song or anything is a trap that you can fall into is trying to imitate rather than trying to innovate. I think that’s what we expressly did not want to do.”
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“We did have a lot of very funny creative people like Roy Wood Jr., Marcia Gay (Harden), Ayden Mayeri, and Eugene Mirman. We had so much doing it and telling this story, we are very excited for people to get to see it.”
Jon Hamm explains why he wanted John Slattery to be in his new movie, 'Confess, Fletc
Greg Mottola and Jon Hamm Talk Their Vision for Confess, Fletch
“I remember hearing Jason Sudekis was going to do it and Ryan Reynolds – fill in the blank, Kevin Smith and that whole crowd,” Hamm said. “I think the problem that people ran into was the 800-pound gorilla in the room of the original film. The idea of rebooting didn’t exist, either – until relatively recently. And when you were talking about releasing a film in only a theatrical release, other factors had to be understood and worked into the equation. So, all those things that business people think about, but I don’t think the creatives necessarily conspire to hinder the process, to my great amusement and happiness. Because none of them ever got made, and a couple of years ago, Bill Block at Miramax was like, ‘You know, we have the rights to all of the “Fletch” books. We think you’d be great for it.’ And I said, ‘I think you are a very smart man!”
"We're not trying to make an imitation of the original film," said Hamm. "We really wanted to expand it and get back closer to what the original story was from the books and kind of tell a new story for a new generation."
"We made it a little more comedy of manners a little, very dialogue-driven, little old-fashioned," said director Greg Mottola. "I actually knew Jon had the ability to play this film, and I think surprise audiences, and in the most delightful way. So it was a joy."And it was a joy for Hamm to work with John Slattery, one of his old cast mates from the Emmy winning television series, "Mad Men."
"I was very pleased when John said yes to being in this film with us, just because I knew it would be a real fun thing for the audience to see," said Hamm.Hamm said from the start he knew they had a great script."We were very excited to make it and we knew as soon as we got it on its feet and we got real people saying these lines that would--that it was only going to get better," he said.
"Jon approached me and asked me if it wold interest me," Mottola tells EW of how he got involved in the film. "I knew of the books, I hadn't read them. I of course knew the movies. I love detective stories, it's one of my favorite genres. And I knew that Fletch was Gregory MacDonald's idea of a, at the time, modernized detective. And so I went and read a bunch of the books and loved them, and I really liked Confess, Fletch, which is the one Jon thought should be adapted."
When Jon approached me about this, I did a little due diligence because I was aware, over the years, other people have attempted to revive Fletch," he says. "I was trying to think about what went wrong."
So how did he and Hamm succeed in overcoming the curse of Fletch?
"Our version [of the curse] was that basically Miramax said you have to do this on a budget that was a lot less than we thought we could do it for, which is just kind of the sign of the times," Mottola says. "And Jon and I were just like, 'F--- it, we're not going to let that stop us, we're going to follow this through as foolish as it might be. We're going to break the Fletch curse!"
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budget:$20 million
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There’s also “Confess, Fletch,” a new adaptation of Gregory Mcdonald’s mystery novel series that stars Jon Hamm. After “Orphan: First Kill,” “Fletch” marks another hybrid release experiment for Paramount, which has debuted the whodunnit on video-on-demand while also bowing it in 516 locations. Though the studio hasn’t released home entertainment numbers, the theatrical results weren’t pretty. The film grossed $96,000 on its opening day, marking a rough $186 per location average.
Director Greg Mottola revealed that the “Mad Men” Emmy winner gave back 60 percent of his salary to help finance three extra days of filming on the indie project. Mottola also gave up a portion of his own salary to extend the shoot.
According to Mottola, the money that Miramax executive Bill Block was able to put up for the film only covered 27 days of shooting. When Mottola and Hamm went out to find extra funding to bring the shoot to 30 days, they were rejected by every financier.
“Everyone said, ‘I don’t know that this kind of comedy works in this day and age,'” Mottola said. “They just had a kind of like, ‘Who’s Fletch? I don’t think anyone cares anymore.’
So, basically, what we did is Jon gave back 60 percent of his salary to the budget,” the director continued. “I gave back some of my salary, not as much as Jon because he’s richer than me and I’ve got three kids. And we bought three more days of shooting. We got it up to 30 days in Boston and one day in Rome. And we said, fuck it, we’re insane, we’re dumb. We’re going to make this movie. And then Miramax really supported us, creatively. They didn’t fight us on people we wanted to cast.”
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cinematographer Sam Levy
BTL: How long was the shoot?
Levy: Principal photography was about 30 days, I think. Because of COVID reasons — which a lot of people have to contend with — technically, it was a little longer. I think it was like 33 days or something like that, but the [original] plan was 30 in Boston, and then we shot for a handful more days in Rome. Let’s say it was about 35.
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BTL: Were there any difficulties during the shoot or sequences that were challenging to shoot?
Levy: There were two tricky sequences to shoot. One of them [is] where Jon Hamm is sneaking around a gigantic yacht club at night and planting explosives. From the moment I took this job, I started thinking about and planning the sequence because it takes place over an enormous area on the water at night. Jon Hamm goes on a boat and sneaks onto another boat and breaks in, and then there are explosives that had to be planted. And we had to think about the trajectory of explosives and pointing them at a boat, all that kind of thing. So we really had to work out on the water where the camera had to go on a camera boat, [and where] lights had to go on lighting boats, and that kind of thing. It’s just super intricate.
Stars with host Jessica Shaw at SiriusXM Studios in New York City
budget:$20 million
budget:$20 million
SO YOU MAY have heard that there’s a new Fletch movie out....
Hahahaha, we’re totally kidding. Of course you have not heard there’s a new Fletch movie out. You have not been inundated with billboards, surrounded by full-page ads, beset by TV spots and trailers galore. You did not know that not only has this film been out in theaters — possibly one or two near you! — since Sept. 16, but it can also be rented digitally and/or online as well. Maybe you caught Jon Hamm doing his patented Jon Hamm thing on a late-night talk show (or, more likely, saw clips on YouTube of Jon Hamm showing up on a late-night talk show) but weren’t exactly sure about the 411 of what he was promoting. What is this? When is it out? What’s he confessing to, or about? Is this a religious movie?
There is a poster, and a trailer, and the movie did get a Los Angeles premiere that allowed Hamm, director Greg Mottola, and several other cast members to walk a red carpet — we know this only because we’ve seen photographic evidence, although we’re not quite convinced this isn’t a false-flag gala event. Some reviews trickled in; the majority of them were extremely positive. But in terms of actually getting the word out that the movie exists in the first place? There’s been nada. A movie like this should not automatically fall through the cracks. That said, how do you sell something like Confess, Fletch — i.e. a comedy not featuring Will Ferrell or Ryan Reynolds, in which no Marvel heroes or Jedis or people named Harry Styles show up, and involving a film franchise that dropped its last entry prior to the first Gulf War — in the Year of Our Lord 2022?
Read this interview with Mottola, and you’ll see your worst fears are more or less confirmed. In short: A star’s pet project became a joint labor of love with the director of Superbad, they were told they could make it for a certain budget, tons of potential backers passed, and no one had any clue how to market it. To quote a wise man, “That’s what the money is for!” Yet rather than throw more moolah at what couldn’t be considered a 100-percent sure thing, shoulders were shrugged. The film was released in what might be described as just north of “stealth mode,” with an equally quiet campaign for a simultaneous on-demand run. Skim the piece too quickly, and you might even miss the fact that it will end up on Showtime some time in the near future. A movie like this might have eventually found its audience on DVD, which might lead some folks to ask: What are DVDs, again?
What is a tragedy is that a worthy movie like Confess, Fletch — — no longer has a chance to find an audience at all, much less one that would respond to it. Frankly, it’s a minor miracle this exists at all. A complete unwillingness to creatively bring this to market and get it in front of people dooms not only this movie but every one just like it.
Speaking to Empire for our new Review Of The Year issue, Hamm sheepishly admits that, as a 14-year-old, over the course of a 1985 summer in Florissant, Missouri, he collected the entire set of Gregory McDonald’s novels from his local bookstore – and he was not a paying customer. “Look, I couldn’t afford them,” he confesses (how apt). “But I was radically interested in reading them, and the idea of going to a library never occurred, so…”
Those books, and specifically the second in the series, form the basis of Confess, Fletch, director Greg Motttola’s reboot in which Hamm steps into the shoes of the journalist and investigator. They're big shoes to fill, but Hamm wasn't interested in trying to directly replicate the previous screen version. “You look back at the [1985] movie,” Hamm explains, “and it almost feels like a series of character sketches. Chevy has so many great ‘bits’ in it, but they probably weren’t in the script: they were things he pitched or improvised. I didn’t just want to do a Chevy Chase impression – I’ve been doing that with my friends for 30 years. I wanted the opportunity, as an actor and producer, to reboot this franchise for a whole new generation… [and] tell a really good, compelling mystery – which is what the books do.” We must confess, we're pretty excited to see it.
Read Empire's full Confess, Fletch feature – speaking to both Hamm and Mottola about their new adaptation – in the Review Of The Year issue.
Confess, Fletch is in UK cinemas from 18 November.
Firstly I’ll say that I saw ‘Confess, Fletch’ recently and I really enjoyed the film. How did you get involved in the film?
- I got a call from my pal Jon Hamm. I was sent the script through my agent. I knew that Jon was trying to get the movie made and that Greg Mottola was going to be directing. I directed a film, that hasn’t come out yet, that Hamm is the star of and I knew it was going to affect (the schedule) one way or the other. I knew that it was happening, I just wasn’t sure when. I didn’t know that I was going to be asked to be involved and then they asked me to play Frank and I was happy to do it. It was only a couple of scenes and but it was great fun. I’m a big fan of Greg Mottola and I’m good friends with Hamm.
For fans of ‘Fletch’ it’s such a treat to have a new film because it’s been a long time since the last one with Chevy Chase. Why do you think the character resonated so strongly and why is now the time for the character to return to the big screen?
- I think it’s the initial success of Chevy and his take on it, and how great and charming and funny and original that was. I think the difficulty was acknowledging that that’s a unique tone that you can’t recreate, and nobody can do Chevy Chase. Does the material work and does the tone work with someone else? There have been numerous false starts or starts and stops; there’s so many reasons why movies don’t happen. This was a good meeting of actor and material, and Jon was a big fan of the books growing up. He and Greg are friends and have worked together before, and Greg’s obviously a great comedic talent as well. I guess the stars aligned and they got it done.
‘Confess, Fletch’ sets up the franchise to continue. Would you be interested in reprising the role of Frank again?
- Yeah I would, absolutely! I think they’ve made three now. Chevy made two and this is the third. I think there were 11 so there’s eight more (to make) but that’s not to say that you couldn’t remake any of the other ones. I really had a good time. It wasn’t hugely taxing on my end. Jon was there all day every day, as was Greg of course. It was a lark for me. Yeah, I’d love to do it again.
Dec 2022
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