‘Anchorman’ director Adam McKay to bring Archie Comics to Broadway

As Will Ferrell’s longtime creative partner, Adam McKay has a history in screen comedy, with directing credits on movies such as “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights” and a founding role in “Funny or Die.”

Two new mediums now will be in McKay’s sights: The filmmaker is teaming up with Archie Comics to bring the print exploits of Jughead, Betty and the rest of the Riverdale crew to Broadway.

The production, which does not have an opening date or a log line, will be a musical, organizers said. McKay will write the book and partner with others on the music; Archie Comics COO (and “Glee” and Marvel veteran) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will oversee the production from the comics side.

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The new “Archie” musical continues the vogue for importing entities from unlikely media on to the stage, including current commercial hit “Finding Neverland,” based on the art-house films, and “Fun Home,” based on a graphic novel.

One question, though, is how the material, which is known for its midcentury soda-shop wholesomeness, will be handled tonally. For every irreverent musical piece such as “Book of Mormon” on Broadway, there are many more traditional productions a la an “On The Town” or “The King and I.”

There was little detail in Wednesday’s announcement on how the classic comic will be approached. McKay’s sensibility, however, is decidedly ironic.

In a statement, the creator noted that “Archie represents a bygone era of America. And like all bygone eras, there are elements we miss and elements that should be bygone. This will be a musical that deals with both those realities in a bright, colorful and slightly demented way.”

The news follows other Archie developments, including the print comic moving in a new zombie-ish direction under Aguirre-Sacasa, and a planned movie that will not feature the flesh-eaters.

Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT