Wednesday, July 3, 2019

WARNER BROS. Gets Another HORROR Director for DCEU’s “THE FLASH”



During the holidays last year, Warner Bros. Pictures premiered the DC Extended Universe film “Aquaman” starring Jason Momoa. It would go on to surpass 2017’s DCEU installment “Wonder Woman” as the highest-earning part of the franchise in the global box office thanks to its awesome action scenes that sold a half-Atlantean hybrid that can talk to fish as a powerful hero and member of the Justice League. The incredible part is that the director for “Aquaman,” James Wan, is well known as a horror filmmaker, from the first “Saw” to two “Conjuring” films. But Warner-DC thinks a veteran of the genre might be the right fit for the DCEU, so they hired another horror director.

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Warner Bros. and DC is in discussion with Andy Muschietti to have him direct the solo film of “The Flash” starring Ezra Miller, who originated the role via cameo in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. Muschietti would be familiar to fans of Stephen King films because he was at the helm of the 2017 remake of “It” along with the immediate sequel “It Chapter Two” scheduled to release this September. It helps that this franchise remake was under Warner Bros. as well.

In addition to Muschietti, possible directorial slot on “The Flash,” his sister and production partner Barbara Muschietti is also being considered as a producer alongside Michael Disco. Following the departure of no less than two earlier writing teams for the project, including one co-developed by comic book writer Grant Morrison, the studio is now relying on Christina Hodson to finish the script. Hodson wrote last year’s “Transformers” spinoff prequel “Bumblebee,” credited with potentially reviving the toy-based robot sci-fi film series. She is also already assigned to script “Birds of Prey,” another DCEU film that is still in the planning stages.

Ezra Miller is set to reprise his role as the DCEU version of Barry Allen (separate from Grant Gustin’s “Arrow-verse” iteration on The CW), initially portrayed since “Justice League” in 2017 as a slacker and hacker looking to find work in the police to prove the innocence of his incarcerated father. While characterized as somewhat humorous in that movie, Miller has proposed taking Barry/Flash in a more serious direction for his standalone DCEU film. He actually collaborated with Morrison on an earlier script that the studio rejected. It is possible he might get still his wish with Andy Muschietti directing.

In addition to Muschietti and James Wan, “Annabelle: Creation” director David Sandberg was the one behind the most recent DC Extended Universe film, April’s “Shazam!” starring Zachary Levi. He and Wan, both horror specialists, took different paths in making their respective DC superhero movies. Time will tell how Muschietti will handle “The Flash,” which has yet to be given a filming schedule or release date.

Image courtesy of MovieWeb

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