Sony is bringing “Popeye” back to the big screen – fortunately/unfortunately (depending on what you were initially expecting to get out of Robert Altman’s legendary ’80 film) Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall and the songs of Harry Nilsson won’t be back.

This new “Popeye”, like the recent straight-to-disc offering of the same name, will be a CGI flick. Oh, and typically, it’ll be in 3D.

Variety says Comics magnate Avi Arad is producing, with Mike Jones in talks to write the screenplay.

Arad says Scott Sassa, a former Marvel employee who now clocks in at King Features Synidcate and Hearst Entertainment and Syndication, owners of “Popeye”, was the one who contacted him with the idea to bring spinach back to the masses.

“Scott called me and said, ‘I have something for you,’” said Arad, who grew up watching Popeye shorts in movie houses in his native Israel. “I literally started singing the famous Popeye song (after securing the rights). What always blew me away is the level of the animation. It was so beautiful and unbelievably detailed.”

Scribe Jones says he’s “an unabashed, lifelong Popeye fan. Introducing this squinty-eyed sailor to a new generation also means reintroducing him to those who, like me, grew up with him.”