Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures has secured the rights to bring classic pulp hero Flash Gordon back to the big screen in the hopes of launching a new summer blockbuster franchise.
OK, I may be cheating a bit by claiming Flash Gordon as a relic of the 1980s. Alex Raymond created the original adventure comic strip back in 1934 and Flash and his friends made the transition to celluloid soon after in a series of 3 serial adventures starring Buster Crabbe. But I think it is the 1980 film that remains first and foremost in everyone’s minds when one mentions Flash. For good reason, too, as it successfully mixes elements from Raymond’s original comic strip with just a dash of camp to make for a delightfully fun film.
Although no screenwriters have been hired, the project will be directed by Sahara helmer Breck Eisner, who is also developing remakes of The Creature From The Black Lagoon and George Romero’s 1973 horror film Crazies.
The good news is that it gives us confirmation that the deal for director Stephen Sommers, he who gave us the wretched excess of Van Helsing a few years back, to make a Flash Gordon film for Universal has expired. Now let’s hope that if Eisner’s version goes forward, it will wash out the exceedingly bad taste left in one’s mouth by the recent television version that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Via Variety.
