Matthew Vaughn, quickly becoming one of the more interesting directors in the comic-book movie universe with his takes on Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, is planning on bringing his particular style of action to a rebooted Flash Gordon.
Vaughn is currently in talks with Fox to helm a remake of the King Comics space opera, originally published as a comic strip in 1934. Flash Gordon has appeared on the silver screen several times already; he was first portrayed by Buster Crabbe in the serial film, Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon, which debuted at what was then called the picture show in 1936. Flash Gordon is arguably best remembered, however, from the 1980 film adaptation, with a plot loosely based on the first few years of the comic and featuring Playgirl centerfold Sam J. Jones alongside Max Von Sydow as Ming The Merciless. The movie was not successful upon its initial release, but has since garnered a cult following, thanks in part to its awesome theme song by Queen. (Ironically, while the 1980 film of Flash Gordon tried to capitalize on the success of Star Wars, George Lucas has often stated that Star Wars was originally conceived as a Flash Gordon remake, but the young filmmaker could not acquire the rights.)
The script for the newest iteration, written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McCay, will not stray far from the roots of the original comic strips. We can only assume that this new Flash Gordon movie is simply phase one of a connected universe involving other King Comics characters such as the Phantom and Mandrake The Magician, culminating in a big-screen adaptation of Defenders Of The Earth. Presumably, Woodrocket, producers of the recent porn parody Gnardians Of The Galaxy, will be fast tracking a gritty remake of 1974’s Flesh Gordon to coincide with the release.