A New Flash Gordon Movie Is In The Works

Twentieth Century Fox has acquired the film rights to pulp comic icon Flash Gordon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The studios is working to bring the character to the big screen for a new film produced by John Davis and written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, co-writers of Star Trek 3. The deal has been in the works for some time with Davis, who produced Chronicle, steering it to completion. Davis hired George Nolfi, writer of The Bourne Ultimatum, to write a treatment. Nolfi will now be a co-producer on the film. Flash Gordon was created in 1934 by Alex Raymond. The character is a hero who battles the forces of Ming the Merciless on the planet Mongo. The character was previously adapted for the screen in the 1980 Flash Gordon film, a cult favorite that starred Sam Jones, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, and Chaim Topol and featured a soundtrack by Queen. There have been plans to try to turn Flash Gordon into a larger film franchise, but attempts have continually stalled out and the rights to the character have transferred from studio to studio over the years. Flash Gordon has recently been revitalized in comics with a new series published by Dynamite, written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Evan "Doc" Shaner.