Flash Gordon is back where he belongs – at the cinema. I’m a big Flash Gordon fan. Well not that big (about 5’9″), but I am a fan of the character – be it the old serials or the Mike Hodges camp epic from 1980.
Let’s just skip over the recent Sci-Fi channel series that should have taken Flash back to his roots – I don’t even want to go there.
Neil Moritz, producer of XXX, The Fast and the Furious and Stealth has acquired the rights with the help of Sony – and Sahara director Breck Eisner will take the reins of this Sci-Fi film that could be a franchise starter.
Who would make a good Flash?
I’d call Matthew McConaughey.
After all he is an “All-American” actor and he has blond hair – a must for Flash.
Or Matt Damon or Thomas Jane.
After that I’m out of guesses!
The story of Flash Gordon follows the titular sports hero transported to the planet Mong along with friends Dale Arden and Doctor Zarkov. There they must fight Ming the Merciless, the evil ruler of Mongo.
Alex Raymond’s character was originally unleashed on the big screen to compete with Buck Rogers ( the rights were recently bought by Nu Image/Millennium Films), and he was first played by Buster Crabbe and then by Sam Jones in Hodges’ film.
George Lucas originally wanted to make Flash Gordon in the 1970’s, but when he couldn’t get the rights he created his own blond haired Sci-Fi character. That film was a minor success.
I’ll keep you posted on more Flash Gordon news as it becomes available.
