Warner Bros. may have finally settled on a new director for The Flash. The Batman v Superman & Justice League spin-off has had very trouble pre-production to date, having already lost two directors in Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Rick Famuyiwa (Dope). Who do the Brothers Warner want? According to , the man at the top of their wish list is Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?).
The outlet is reporting that Zemeckis is already in talks to helm the feature, which was previously set for a 2018 release. That date has since become unattainable, with a 2019 debut more likely at this point. It should be noted that that talks are still in the early stages, so there’s no guarantee that the filmmaker will sign on to direct the speedster feature.
After spending almost a decade directing motion capture animated films, Robert Zemeckis returned to live action filmmaking with 2012’s Flight. He has since helmed two further features: The Walk (2015) and Allied (2016). The filmmaker was slated to direct The Women of Marwen next, but should this deal go forward, expect that project to be placed on hold.
Conceptually, Zemeckis is a great fit for this property. He has decades of experience with blockbuster and special effects filmmaking, as well as the right pulp sensibilities to pull off a comic book movie. Furthermore, given that The Flash often utilizes time travel in his adventures, who better to tackle such a tale than the director of the Back to the Future trilogy? Unlike some, I’ve actually really enjoyed his more recent work, so this is good news in terms of talent finding the right project.
There are downsides, of course. For one, Warner Bros. seems to have no clue what they want to do with this film. They tossed out two completed scripts before Famuyiwa even came on the project and have since tossed the version that he worked on as well. Rightfully so, I might add. Word was that they were angling to use the death of Barry’s mother as a central plot point and the likes of Reverse-Flash and Captain Cold as the villains. Anyone who watches the DC shows over on The CW knows that such a direction would amount to them completely rehashing the first season of the still-running TV show. To call that a bad idea would be an understatement.
There’s also the fact that WB is replacing a non-white director with a white one. The lack of minority directors being hired for films with non-minority leads is an on-going discussion in and about the industry. Many praised their hiring of Rick Famuyiwa to direct a superhero film where the titular character was white. If they end up refilling that position with a Caucasian filmmaker, WB will be starring down the barrel of a potential backlash.
Joby Harold (Edge of Tomorrow) was brought on board back in January to start from scratch on the project. Zemeckis or not, whoever comes on board to direct this film will be working alongside him, as well as producer Geoff Johns, to shape the film. They will also be inheriting at least three cast members in Ezra Miller as ‘Barry Allen/The Flash’, Kiersey Clemons as ‘Iris West’, and Billy Crudup as ‘Dr. Henry Allen’.
