Tartakovsky's 'Popeye' Likely Cancelled

When the first teaser of Hotel Transylvania 2 premiered yesterday also came an interview between the director Genndy Tartakovski and Moviefone; and it brings bad tidings regarding the Popeye movie, which appears to be up in the air.

Asked about his next projects, here's what Tartakovsky had to say:

We definitely won't be talking about Hotel 3, with me at least. Popeye, at least, we put up a great screening, everybody really liked that sizzle, we got a positive reaction. I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don't know if they want to make the Popeye that I want to make. So they've got to make a decision. Right now, I'm off that project and moving on to the other one that we soft-announced, which is Can You Imagine? which is an original idea of my own and a very personal story. It was hard to let Popeye go, but that's the business. 

So there you have it. Sony Pictures Animation is probably not going to move forward with Popeye, at least not with Genndy Tartakovsky's vision for it; which is a shame given the excellent response the funny animation test got when it was showed last September. Furthermore, Popeye's very particular style seemed like a shoe-in for Tartakovsky's artistic sensibility.

That being said, fans of the talented filmmaker still have an original project to be excited about. Can You Imagine? was already teased last year with a concept art which you can see below.