Just when you thought “Flash Gordon” was down for the count — somebody pulls it up from the mat and resuscitates it with a round of CPR.
Sony Pictures announced at this year’s Cannes Film Festival that they will be reviving the famous hero and have already chosen Breck Eisner (“Sahara”) to direct. Eisner is currently in pre-production with the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” remake and will soon center seat “The Crazies,” a SF film about the military’s attempt to contain a killer man-made virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected.
This new “Flash Gordon” will be a live-action feature film.
“Flash Gordon” has seen several incarnations since it was first introduced in the 1930’s as a comicstrip character. In the early days of film shorts the late Buster Crabbe starred as Flash in those cult classic black and white serials. Flash returned in 1980 with Sam Jones playing the role of ex-football star turned inter-galactic savior.
We are all too familiar with the most recent attempt at updating Flash Gordon on the small screen with the SCI FI Channel’s disasterous weekly series.
The news comes just a few weeks after an announcement from Nu Image and Millennium Films that they would be bringing “Buck Rogers” as a live-action feature to the big screen.
Flash has been everything from a track star to a football player, but in the original 1934 comicstrip version from creator Alex Raymond, Flash was a handsome polo player who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo. He is pitted against an evil ruler named Ming the Merciless.
No word yet from Eisner if he plans on keeping true to Raymond’s original vision of the character or going in a more contemporary direction. Don’t expect to see “Flash Gordon” saving the universe until sometime after “The Crazies” hits theaters in 2010. Stay tuned to Slice of SciFi for updates.
I think the main reason the Sci-Fi Channel series was so “disasterous” was because it was cheap.
Hopefully, this movie won’t be cheap. I’m expecting dazzling special FX and lots of action.
And he will be a Rugby Player.
Hollywood still recycling golden-age sci-fi, big surprise. So many good books to draw from, but all they do is go back to the same crap.
Hollywood recycle tried and true stories because of the fear of trying something new. The cost of production compells them to use the same old formula. This is true with other large industry like video games where the resouces and expenses causes the “same old” to be reused but with prettier effects. Innovation and fresh ideas comes from the small independent studios.
Oh man, I can’t wait for this! Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, AND Creature from the Black Lagoon! Now excuse me while I go URLnate.