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The CW's Riverdale star KJ Apa has his first big post-Archie role: playing the real-life OG movie star James Stewart

The Jimmy Stewart biopic will chronicle the actor's journey from Pennsylvania, to Hollywood, to World War II, and back.

Riverdale season 6 still - KJ Apa as Archie on the left and Lili Reinhart as Betty on the right
Image credit: The CW

KJ Apa is ditching Riverdale to play Jimmy Stewart in a new biopic. 

As Variety reports, the film, entitled Jimmy, will chronicle Stewart's rise to fame in Hollywood. Naturally, given Stewart's place in Hollywood, the cast of the film Jimmy includes Jason Alexander playing film producer Louis B. Mayer, Max Casella as director Frank Capra, and Sarah Drew as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. 

Though the film will be following Stewart’s journey from Pennsylvania to Hollywood, the film will be shooting in West Cork, Ireland next month. It will also dive into Stewart’s military service during WWII as a pilot for the US Army Air Corps. Shortly after returning home from the war, Stewart acted in Capra’s film, It’s A Wonderful Life, arguably his best known role.

Jimmy will be directed and produced by Aaron Burns. The film is written by Justin Strawhand, who wrote Birthright Outlaw, a film that Burns produced. The film is eying a release date of November 2026.


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Jules Chin Greene

Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, Multiverse of Color, and Screen Rant.

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