There's Going To Be An Archie Bollywood Movie & Fans Are So Excited

Archie Comics is finally getting the Bollywood-style treatment they deserves after signing an exciting deal with Graphics India.

According to Variety, plans are in the works to bring the Archie Comics characters out of The Chock'lit Shoppe and into the glamorous world of Bollywood for a live-action film featuring notable characters like Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica. And, yes, you can expect the characters to be played by Indian actors. (YAY!)

The film, Variety notes, will mark the first time an American comic book has ever been adapted for the big screen in India. This is shocking, considering just how well movies based on comic books do in the country. In 2016, Business Standard reported that the popularity of Marvel movies was increasing in the country, drawing at least 100 million people to the box office in recent years. While there's undoubtedly value in American-made cinema overseas, it's important to note that India has been creating its own popular comic series for nearly a century, releasing favorites like comic series Chandama and graphic novel River of Stories.

Though it may be hard to imagine Archie's All-American, malt-shake guzzling gang of high schoolers singing and dancing Bollywood-style, Graphics India CEO Sharad Devarajan believes the transformation makes perfect sense.

"Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead have been the source of inspiration for numerous Bollywood films over the years, and now it's time to take them fully into Bollywood in an exciting new twist of a story that we have planned," Devarajan said, according to Variety. "These characters have held a special place in the hearts of Indians for decades and we have no doubt that the new Indian cast of Archie and the gang will be an exciting moment for the country."

Hey, no one knew Archie Comics could be turned into a dark murder mystery á la Riverdale, and that's working out pretty great.

Fans, too, seem excited about the Bollywood prospect.

Some people have even called for Priyanka Chopra's casting. In order for that to happen, however, Chopra may require that the film toss the use of the word "Bollywood" in promotion. She explained her disdain for the "stereotype" in an interview with InStyle.

"I don't like the word, because we're not a miniature Hollywood," she said. "We are the Indian film industry, one of the most prolific producers in the world...It's a ginormous business...WE are artists, people who know our jobs. You can put me in front of a camera anywhere in the world and I'll hit my mark and say my lines and give the director what he wants...I can break out into song and dance, as well. I'm kick-ass at that, too. That makes me a triple-threat, not a stereotype."

We couldn't agree more. Also, she'd be just as kick-ass of a Betty (just sayin').

Hopefully, this is the first of many culture-crossovers to come.