'Fletch Won' Pairs 'Scrubs' Two

Zap2It.com | July 26, 2006

Bill Lawrence

Comedy-mystery would begin production next spring

"Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence is in place to adapt and direct "Fletch Won," a project that would likely reunite him with series star Zach Braff.

This would be the first feature film project for Lawrence. The Weinstein Company hopes to have "Fletch Won" in production by April 2007 when "Scrubs" goes on summer vacation.

Based on the book by Gregory McDonald, "Fletch Won" is a prequel to the first seven books in the mystery-comedy series and the movie would be treated as a prequel to Chevy Chase's two "Fletch" films from the '80s.

"This is an important franchise for our company and we can't think of a better person than Bill to take the 'Fletch' story all the way back to the beginning," says Michael Cole, co-president of production for the Weinstein Co. "His work on 'Scrubs' speaks for itself and his ideas for adapting 'Fletch Won' are hilarious and incredibly smart."

The book focuses on Irwin Fletcher's early days as an intrepid reporter, making the project intriguing for Lawrence.

"The coolest thing about the 'Fletch Won' book is that it's an origin story," Lawrence notes. "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."

Although he hasn't officially signed on, Braff has been associated with the long-gestating "Fletch" reboot for some time, dating back to the departure of Kevin Smith, who had hoped to rejuvenate the franchise with frequent star Jason Lee.

Other credits for Lawrence, who also co-created "Spin City," include "Friends" and the pilot for "Nobody's Watching," which was originally developed by The WB, but recently gained new life for NBC thanks to Internet-generated buzz.