If you’re old enough to remember the 1997 Val Kilmer movie The Saint, it might not necessarily strike you as a property being worthy of a reboot. But if you’re old enough to remember even earlier incarnations of the character, you probably know that he has been around since the 1920s, originating in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris and eventually featuring in over a dozen movies, a radio drama and a popular ’60s TV series starring Roger Moore (among others). Simon Templar is a gentleman thief / spy / anti-hero figure, and although the Val Kilmer version strayed from the source material in certain ways, Paramount is now looking to give the character another shot at a big budget movie franchise. Hit the jump for more details.

According to Variety, Dexter Fletcher will direct The Saint for Paramount Pictures. The studio reportedly pursued him specifically for this project after the success of Rocketman, which earned $195 million worldwide. Fletcher also previously directed Eddie the Eagle and took over for Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody but he is attached to a handful of other upcoming projects including Sherlock Holmes 3 for Warner Brothers and Universal’s Renfield.

The script for the new version of The Saint was written by Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and it will be produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Transformers), Brad Krevoy (Kingpin) and the late Robert Evans. Krevoy also executive produced the most recent version of The Saint, a failed 2017 pilot starring Adam Rayner and Eliza Dushku that was released as a TV movie. Are you looking forward to a new version of The Saint on the big screen?