Sunday, October 11

• Is The Flash Movie in Trouble?

  Since Warner Bros. created new division DC Entertainment to better foster its comic book properties, the entity has seemingly stopped more projects than it has jump started, immediately pulling back on a Wonder Woman movie and putting all Superman rumors to rest by claiming that they have "no current plans" for a Superman movie. Early last week, The Dark Knight producer Charles Roven told IGN that progress on a Flash movie is also slowing down while Warners looks for "a different kind of approach."

  I was involved at one point with The Flash. And Warner Bros. came to me and said, "The work that you've been doing hasn't yet resulted in something that any of us, including the filmmaking team, feel could be greenlit as a movie. We're trying to accomplish something that takes into account the entire, rich DC character world, and we'd like to pull it back. That doesn't mean that you aren't going to be a part of it. We just want to take a different kind of approach. Do you mind if we try that? If we had something that was really working..."

  Like, for example, they had something that was more or less working for them on Green Lantern, and now you have Martin Campbell directing it.... But we didn't. The David Goyer screenplay, that didn't work. Goyer left the project. We then embarked with David Dobkin, trying to come up with another approach. We hadn't even hired a writer at that point. So for us, we completely understood. I've been making movies with Warner Bros. for 15 years, so that was fine, but I hope one day there's a way for me to get re-involved in the project.

  The current screenwriter for The Flash, Dan Mazeau, immediately responded.

  The Flash has not been hobbled. Everything is moving forward as planned. I'm still writing the script. Geoff Johns is still consulting. Flash fans have no cause for concern, and — IMO — lots to be excited about.

  Johns spoke about The Flash in July, claiming the movie would concern "a world that's obsessed with speed." How about that for a twist for the world's fastest hero? That's quite a new "approach" DC Entertainment is taking.

  
  

  Posted 10/11/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Charles Roven | Dan Mazeau | The Flash

Friday, July 24

• The Flash and Aquaman Movies Moving Forward

  

  DC is finally taking steps to make movies about their Justice League characters the way Marvel has been making ones about its Avengers. THR reports that DC partner Warner Bros. has brought in three DC comics writers to help consult on several titles, notably Geoff Johns, who has written both The Flash and Green Lantern comics. He's prepared a treatment to guide screenwriter Dan Mazeau's use of the characters. Johns will also produce the movie, which still has no director attached.

  Johns spoke about the movie adaptation at the San Diego Comic-Con, though his words were brief. The movie is apparently about, well, speed:

  We're caught up in a world that's obsessed with speed these days. Texting, faster downloading… We're always looking for ways to speed things up, it can be hard to slow ourselves down.

  As a very popular Green Lantern writer, Johns was happy to give the Ryan Reynolds casting his seal of approval:

  It's great, he's got the swagger for early Hal [Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern], definitely. And Martin Campbell directing ... I'm psyched about it.

  With Reynolds' current zeal for superhero roles, and the fact that he was cast in the part in 2005, he could take the role of Flash as well.

  Aquaman has less development to report, but, considering the superhero's usual exclusion when discussing DC movies, was a happy surprise. Thus far, the closest thing to an Aquaman movie has been the brief, fictional Aquaman "movie" scenes shot for HBO's Entourage series, but with Warners searching for a good aqua-story and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company working on it, signs are positive that a real Aquaman will be made.

  While DC's progress is hardly in line with Marvel's definitive slate of Avengers movies, it is a step in the right direction. Until they arrive in theaters, however, comic fans can only dream of a day when both Justice League and Avengers movies battle for box office dominance.

  
  

  Posted 07/24/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Martin Campbell | Ryan Reynolds | Dan Mazeau | The Flash | Green Lantern | Justice League: Mortal

Friday, January 30

• Mazeau May Be Scripting The Flash Movie

  You may remember an earlier report saying that Warner Brothers was putting all their DC Comics movies on hold. Well things are constantly in flux in Hollywood and now, the news source that broke the above story, IESB says that up-and-coming screenwriter Dan Mazeau is currently working on a movie script for The Flash.

  Producer Chuck Roven, rumored to be on the project, wouldn't confirm or deny this news, but did give this interesting tidbit:

  The Flash that was the policeman and Kid Flash, Wally, and his uncle. Those are the two Flashes that I grew up with, so I was excited to have the opportunity to try and see if I could actually translate those characters to the screen.

  This is welcome news for comic book movie fans who have The Flash up there on their list of beloved comics characters who NEED their own movie.

  
  

  Posted 01/30/2009 by Jim

  Related: Charles Roven | Dan Mazeau | The Flash