The Saint May Return To The Silver Screen

The Saint is one of those perennial franchises that always seems like it could make a decent TV series or film, and as a result every so often someone tries to reboot it. The latest to do so is RKO Pictures (which does still exist, despite the fact it ostensibly stopped making movies in the 1950s), which owns the rights to several of the origins Saint movies, starting with The Saint In New York in 1938 and running through eight more movies in the late 30s and early 40s (the character originated in Leslie Charteris’ books in the 30s).

Now Variety reports that RKO has hired Travis Wright to write a new script based on the character, in the hope of creating a new film franchise. The Saint is, of course, Simon Templar, a suave, Robin Hood-type thief, who uses his nefarious skills to fight the good fight and bring down corrupt politicians and businessmen.

The character is perhaps best known from the 1960s TV series starring Roger Moore, which then led to the Return Of The Saint series in the late 70s, starring Ian Ogilvy. In 1997 the character was brought to the big screen with Val Kilmer in the title role, but that film failed to find an audience.

Whether this new movie will ever get made remains to be seen, but The Saint is a strong character so it’s worth trying.