With the release of Confess, Fletch, Jon Hamm stars as Irwin Maurice “Fletch” Fletcher, a beloved pop culture figure who hasn’t graced the screen in over 30 years despite multiple attempts to get a new franchise off the ground. The movie has debuted to warm reviews, but only $260,000 at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend. A simultaneous Paramount+ release likely cut into that, but so has the film’s apparently near-total lack of promotion. Blackstone Audio, who have the rights to the audiobooks of the Fletch franchise, aren’t making the latter mistake, having tapped Hamm to appear in an ad to promote the series.
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Fletch starred in nine books from 1974 until 1994, and had supporting roles in two more that starred his illegitimate son. The character also spun off a series based on Francis Xavier Flynn, the quirky Boston cop who first appeared in Confess, Fletch.
“I was introduced to the character through the original film and then immediately was so taken by it that I wanted to find out everything that I could, and in a pre-internet era like the ’80s, you had to go do that kind of work at bookstores and libraries around town,” Hamm told ComicBook.com. “So that’s what I did, and not only did I learn that not only was that movie based on a book, it was based on a series of books, and there was 10 other novels that I could read, and I was very, very happy…to get to read even more adventures of I.M. Fletcher.”
You can see Hamm’s trailer for the series below.
Fletch was previously brought to life in live-action in two feature films starring Chevy Chase, 1985’s Fletch and 1989’s Fletch Lives. Previously, filmmaker Kevin Smith was attached to make a new movie with Jason Lee or Ben Affleck being eyed for the titular role. At another point, Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence and star Zach Braff were attached to a Fletch project.
Here’s the official synopsis for Confess, Fletch:
In this delightful comedy romp, Jon Hamm stars as the roguishly charming and endlessly troublesome Fletch, who becomes the prime suspect in a murder case while searching for a stolen art collection. The only way to prove his innocence? Find out which of the long list of suspects is the culprit – from the eccentric art dealer and a missing playboy to a crazy neighbor and Fletch’s Italian girlfriend. Crime, in fact, has never been this disorganized.
Confess, Fletch stars Jon Hamm, Roy Wood Jr., Annie Mumolo, Ayden Mayeri, Lorenzo Izzo, Kyle MacLachlan, Marcia Gay Harden, and John Slattery. The movie will be released in theaters and on Digital on September 16.
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