Age of The Nerd
After multiple false starts, it seems that the ‘Flashpoint‘ movie is finally found it’s legs. Variety is reporting that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the directors behind ‘Vacation‘ reboot, are in negotiations to helm The Flash’s first standalone film. Although Warner Bros. has declined to comment, the success of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘–which the duo wrote–along with their upcoming directorial effort, ‘Game Night‘, the move makes sense from the studio’s perspective. By tapping the Daley and Goldstein, the studio is essentially saying that they are looking for a more comedic tone for the ‘Flashpoint‘ movie that is akin to what we saw in ‘Justice League’.
The film has had quite the rocky road to the screen thus far. Seth Grahame-Smith was originally tapped to direct, but ended up having creative differences with the studio. Upon his departure, director Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) stepped into the director’s chair, but eventually left for the same reason. Since then, a handful of directors like Sam Rami and Robert Zemeckis have been tossed around, but those turned out to only be rumors. Beyond this, it’s been over a year since we’ve heard any substantial news about the ‘Flashpoint‘ movie. Especially in the wake of ‘Justice League‘s critical and financial failure, this move seems to be a good sign for the DCEU as a whole moving forward.
Part of the reason why executives took their time in making the decision was due to the fact that Ezra Miller, who stars as the titular character, was busy prepping for his role in the ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald‘, also produced by Warner Bros. The other part of this reason was the fact that the DCEU did some reshuffling, with Walter Hamada being appointed to oversee the production of all future DC films. It was during this time that the film’s script got a page one re-write from Joby Harold (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), so WB is basically working with a brand new script at this point.
It has long been rumored that ‘Flashpoint‘ would be the jumping-off point for a “soft reboot” of the DCEU, but all of these moves seem to indicate that the studio is heading in that direction. The ‘Flashpoint’ storyline was originally adapted into a 2013 animated film titled ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox’, although it was a loos adaptation. Here’s the synopsis of that film’s storyline to give you an idea of the potential plotline(s):
The Flash causes a temporal ripple that creates a fractured reality where the Justice league has never formed, Superman does not exist and a war rages between Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Flash teams with Batman and Cyborg to restore the timeline.
Only time will tell if this is the direction that the filmmakers will take, as the film is currently set to be released sometime in 2020.
