Will Archer Hamm it up?
[dropcap size=small]T[/dropcap]he seventh season of the highly entertaining animated series Archer has just come to a close, and with no word yet in regard to it’s renewal on the FX network for another series, talk has now turned to other possibilities for the spy comedy.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Archer producers Matthew Thompson and Casey Willis revealed there has been talk surrounding the idea of making a feature length, live-action movie adaptation of the animated show.
Thompson explained that the idea of live-action film adaptation had already been discussed in the past with the show creator himself, Adam Reed:
“It’s all up to whatever Adam [Reed] wants to do, but he and I have definitely talked about it. I think we talk about it once every two years. We vacillate between if you do it, why are you doing the TV show? And should it be live-action, or should it be cartoon? The talk is there, we just still haven’t decided. I don’t think there will be a movie before the last episode of Archer airs on TV. I don’t think we’ll make a movie before the series finishes.”
If the show does get renewed, it may still be a while before any film comes to fruition, but what counts is that the potential for one to come our way in future is clearly there. With Reed penning every episode, Archer is very much his baby, so the ball will remain firmly in Reed’s court as to whether a film will get made.
Naturally, with the news of a hypothetical feature film, talk quickly turned to who they’d cast to play leading man, Sterling Archer. Thompson was quick to respond, and revealed they have their sights set firmly on Mad Men actor, Jon Hamm:
“If Archer goes live-action, I do believe it will be Jon Hamm. Maybe you could do it with Jon Benjamin’s voice coming out of him? I don’t know. Adam is always like, ‘I don’t know if I want the movie to be live-action because I want it to be Jon Benjamin!’ But if it is live-action—and if it is not Jon Benjamin—it is our greatest hope that it would be Jon Hamm. I can say that with confidence.”
Voice actor Jon Benjamin really made the role his own, and fans are very much in agreement that Benjamin makes the character of Archer. Having said that, Hamm is a great actor with the right look to fit into the Archer role – we could certainly see him donning a tactical turtle-neck, or a tactleneck, if you will.
The certainty of a live-action feature film adaptation for the series is still up in the air for the time being. However, the fact that they’re discussing it means we could very well be seeing Sterling Archer grace our big screens sometime in the future, and he could quite possibly come in the shape of Jon Hamm.
If we do get a movie, Aisha Tyler should definitely reprise her role as Lana. It would nonsensical for her not to.
