Warner Bros. is still trying to getThe Flashmovie going, after suffering major setbacks, including losing several directors and rewriting the script. It looks like things may finally be coming together, though, as the studio has reportedly narrowed their director search, and it is now a two-horse-race, with both names being rather big. It looks like the studio’s top two choices areBack to the FuturehelmerRobert Zemeckis, andKingsmandirector Matthew Vaughn.
This is not just hearsay, mind you.Varietyis reporting that Warner Bros. has been considering both directors forThe Flashfor a while now, with The Wrap corroborating the Robert Zemeckis news, saying he is the studio’s top choice for the job. However, Variety notes that his schedule is an issue, as he is scheduled to shoot an untitled movie with Steve Carrell this August, and Warner Bros. hopes to getThe Flash"off the ground" by the end of the year. Should Zemeckis' schedule ultimately become too much to work around, the studio could offer the job to Vaughn, but that isn’t a guarantee either.
The report also points out that Matthew Vaughn is busy finishing work onKingsman: The Golden Circlefor Fox. If that goes well, and all indications are that it will, the director wants to do a thirdKingsmanmovie. There is little or no chance that Fox would want to wait for Matthew Vaughn to finish making another huge superhero movie for a rival studio before pulling the trigger onKingsman 3, so that could definitely get in the way. But despite some hurdles, these are the guys that could wind up bringingThe Flash solo movieto the big screen.
Robert Zemeckis' name came up recently forThe Flash, but at the time it was only being regarded as a rumor. Now it looks like, if the scheduling works out, he will be the guy. Either way, be it Zemeckis or Vaughn, they are both great directors with their own style that would lend some serious credibility to the project. Though, they are both very different directors, so we could be looking at two pretty different movies here, depending on who winds up with the gig. That said, no offers have been made, so it could come to pass that neither director gets the job and the search will continue.
The DCEU has been riddled with problems, butThe Flashhas been one of the most problematic projects thus far.DopedirectorRick Famuyiwawas most recently attached to direct the movie, with him doing some work on the script as well. However, he departed over creative differences. Before him, it wasThe LEGO Movieand21 Jump Streetdirectors Phil Lord and Chris Miller who, after spending a good chunk of time developingThe Flashmovie, moved on to direct theHan Solomovie for Disney and Lucasfilm instead. Warner Bros. then decided to hire Joby Harold to do a “page-one” rewrite of the script earlier this year. Prior to that, the movie had been slotted for a July 29, 2025, release date. That is no longer happening, but Warner Bros. still wants to get the movie going as soon as they can.
Ezra Milleris still set to play Barry Allen/Flash in the movie, after first playing the character inJustice League, which hits theaters on November 17. He will first filmFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2, which will give Warner Bros. some time toget things sorted out. Namely, hiring a director. And, hopefully, one that actually sticks around this time. It sounds like they have a couple of outstanding candidates, we’ll just have to wait and see if they can make it work logistically.
