Hot off of his successful remake of
The Crazies, director
Breck Eisner is setting his sights on bringing back another classic, though this one dates back much further. In a recent interview with
AirlockAlpha, Eisner discussed his plans to bring
Flash Gordon back to the big screen in big way.
"The comic from 1930s was made into serials in the '50s and '70s, then the director’s version in the '80s. It was campy and the effects were not so good - this version is in no way a remake. Our version goes back to strips from '30s and we will update those and shoot the movie as if the strips were drawn today. It will be an action and adventure sci-fi."
Because of rights issues, nothing from the 1980 movie can be used in his updated movie--which is probably for the best--not even the awesome theme song by Queen.
"We haven't that option. Anything that was unique in the movie, we have to stay away from. Flash, the characters, races ... that's all from the comics so we can use all of that."
Eisner said that his plans are to turn
Flash Gordon into a superhero movie franchise.
"It’ll be a franchise for sure. It will be a standalone story, it definitely won't [be] left open for more, but the ultimate goal is to turn it into a franchise. It will be an origins story for Flash. He’s going to Mongo, he’s gonna save the planet and it will have a superhero buy in and will be unique. It is very much a superhero origins story."
What does Eisner think of the terrible
Flash Gordon series that aired on the Sci Fi Channel?
"It was crap, total crap. I watched one episode. I don’t want to look at something like that – it was a real disservice to Flash and nobody watched it. What it did was pollute the 'Flash Gordon' name. The series was only interested in doing it on the cheap and 'Flash Gordon' is not a cheap shadowy show in small, dark ships. It’s about Flash saving the whole planet."
Also visit me at EarthsMightiest.com for comic book and non-CBM movie news!