Ezra Miller’s long-in-development The Flash movie is getting an upgrade.
It director Andy Muschietti is in talks to helm the Warner Bros. movie, with Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, Bumblebee) writing the script. Joining Muschietti as a producer on the film will be his sister and producing partner, Barbara. The Hollywood Reporter had the exclusive Tuesday.
Deals have yet to start in earnest, THR reports, but offers will be going out soon.
Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who wrote drafts of the script and were planning on directing The Flash movie, are no longer attached, obviously. And even though the studio has decided not to move forward with the script Miller co-wrote with legendary comics scribe Grant Morrison, Miller is still set to star as the Scarlet Speedster.
The Flash movie was one of the first post-Justice League DC projects to end up in limbo after that 2017 release’s disappointing box office and critical/fan response. Once Zack Snyder’s movie was released and he was forced out of the DC Extended Universe, the DCEU was set into instant turmoil and redevelopment. (The Cyborg is very unlikely to be happening.)
Goldstein and Daley’s exit was voluntary, according to THR sources. The Game Night duo had been working on the film since January 2018; they wanted a lighter tone for the movie — and so did DC and WB, given that they hired the Homecoming writers in light of DC wanting to Marvel-ize the tone of their dark AF slate. But Miller wanted to go dark with it.
The two sides were working on finding compromises for most of last year, gearing up for a late 2019 start date. Then Miller made the unusual move to co-write his own script with Morrison – a script the studio received in March 2019 but rejected in May. Ultimately, Goldstein and Daley decided to part ways over that ol’ chestnut of “creative differences.”
Warner Bros. is a studio with a reputation for wanting to keep its successful filmmakers “in the family” (think Chris Nolan), and Muschietti is definitely one of the studio’s rising stars, thanks to his 2017 hit adaptation of Stephen King’s novel IT grossing $700 million worldwide. Hodson’s work on the upcoming Birds of Prey reportedly was next-level good, and it’s a no-brainer for why Warner would want to keep her talents in-house, too, and apply them to this struggling movie.
Since It‘s success, the Mama director has lined up a considerable amount of projects, including a live-action adaptation of the popular anime Attack on Titan. With the goal being to have The Flash movie in pre-production by January 2020, it seems that whatever is on his slate will fall in line behind The Flash.
Should Muschietti close a deal, he will be another horror movie director to crossover into DC comic book movies. James Wan (The Conjuring) found a billion dollar success with 2018s Aquaman and earlier this year, David Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation) directed the DC hit, Shazam!
Muschietti’s much-anticipated It: Chapter Two opens September 6.
