Archie brings comic properties closer to home with its new production unit

After 60 years, New York's Archie Comic Publications, the company that created the Riverdale crew, Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, has decided to bring property development in-house by forming entertainment arm Archie Entertainment. The problem hasn't necessarily been the success of the properties themselves, but the breadth of categories that can be explored and the company's ability to control development. 'Josie and the Pussycats [which only racked up US$14.3 million in its 40-day run in the U.S.] didn't do as well as it could have because of its PG-13 rating,' explains Michael Silberkleit, who will be heading up the new division with Richard Goldwater. Silberkleit argues that most fans of any Archie brand are under the age of 13, but Universal, which put up the money for the project, was in charge of the production and wanted to target an older demo.