Popeye the Sailor Man
Released on May 2, 2008
Distributors
Universal Pictures (North America)
Paramount Pictures (International)
Production Companies
AEW Studios
King Features Syndicate
Directed by
Jon Favreau
Screenwriters
Ted Elliott
Terry Rossio
Based upon characters created by
EC Segar
"Popeye the Sailor Man" theme written by
Sammy Timberg
Sammy Lerner
Music by
Hans Zimmer
Main Cast
John Cena as Popeye
Linda Cardellini as Olive Oyl
Liev Schreiber as Bluto
Nick Frost as J. Wellington Wimpy
Harry Dean Stanton as Poopdeck Pappy
John C. Reilly as Castor Oyl
Jason Lee as Harold Hamgravy (aka Ham Gravy)
Mark Strong as Mr. Fadewell
Paul Goddard as Jack Snork
Jon Voight as Cole Oyl
Eric Bauza as the voice of Eugene the Jeep
Notes
The first act of
Popeye the Sailor Man utilizes the 1929 storyline from the
Thimble Theatre newspaper comic in which the Oyl family hire Popeye to captain a ship bound for Dice Island. The second and third acts focus on Popeye settling down in Sweethaven and the love triangle between himself, Bluto and Olive.
The theatrical trailer instantly went viral on YouTube, garnering more than 4 million hits upon its upload to Universal Pictures' official YouTube channel.
Turner Broadcasting System's United Artists subsidiary was the initial co-producer during principal photography. However, in late 2007, Turner merged with Microsoft's Paramount Communications subsidiary to form TBS-Paramount. Early trailers used the current United Artists logo, but the actual film would instead use the Paramount logo in tandem with Universal's.
The end credits are patterned after the "sliding door" titles from the 1930's Fleischer cartoons.
Popeye will return in Defenders of the Earth in 2012. In the meantime, look for
Mandrake the Magician,
Flash Gordon,
Lothar and
The Phantom in the coming years.