Dexter Fletcher Will Direct Paramount’s Reboot Of THE SAINT

Before we get to the news, I just want to make sure we're all on the same page with the following: Phillip Noyce's The Saint (1997), starring Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and the great Rade Šerbedžija, rules extremely hard. Yes, it's a perfectly enjoyable action thriller featuring Kilmer in a variety of disguises, a gorgeously chilly color palette, and a delightfully bonkers plotline involving cold fusion, but as a '90s time capsule The Saint is a goddamn treasure trove (especially given that soundtrack). If you've never seen it, I highly recommend checking it out. 

Alright, with that out of the way, here's what's happening: according to Deadline, Paramount has hired Rocketman's Dexter Fletcher to direct their long-gestating reboot of The Saint (a property which, it should be noted, started out as a series of novels before being adapted into a radio series and two different TV shows), from a script written by Seth Grahame-Smith. 

As of this writing there's no word on who might headline this new version of The Saint, but reports from 2018 indicated that Paramount was looking at Chris Pratt to star. We're not sure if those negotiations are ongoing two years later, but we're gonna go ahead and assume that Fletcher's version will be starting over from scratch. If we could make a suggestion, Fletcher's Rocketman star, Taron Egerton, would make for an excellent Simon Templar (added bonus: dude's already got experience in the genre thanks to his work in the Kingsman movies; let's make this happen, Hollywood). 

Nothing further to report at this time, but we love the pairing of Fletcher with this franchise and are eager to see what he does with it. Stay tuned for further updates on The Saint as they roll in.