Director Breck Eisner said it himself, Flash Gordon is a project he has “been pursuing for years to try and get made.” It sounds as though his persistence and hard work is paying off because story development is progressing. During a chat with Eisner about his upcoming horror thriller The Crazies, he took a moment to provide a brief update on the status of Flash Gordon.
“Well, production definitely won’t begin soon.” Eisner continued, “We’ve been breaking story for a while with the writers; it’s a very complicated story, but we’ve been having a really excellent time actually creating the story there. Off and writing now, we’ll have a script into the studio in a couple months.” In terms of inspiration, Eisner is adamant about sticking closer to the framing strips of the 30s and 40s rather than the adventure film of the 80s so as to avoid creating a campy adaptation. He explained, “It’ll be exciting and active and actiony and it’ll be intense and dramatic with a really strong lead character.”
You don’t need ESP to figure out that my next question focused on casting rumors. Eisner quickly quashed the rumor that Sam Worthington was up for the part and insisted that they are nowhere near the casting stage in the process yet. He admitted, “I have ideas in my head who I’d like but we’re not even near that.”
So, no big news to report, but at least we have a solid understanding of the project’s development. Eisner certainly has the drive and passion to make Flash Gordon a reality sooner than later, so once they get the script squared away and the studio’s OK, things could move along rather smoothly. But, of course, smoothly will likely include additional heaps of false rumors.
