Producer John Davis has been dropping quite a few bombshells about his upcoming projects over the last few days. This week alone, he divulged the title of Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator prequel and later announced plans to bring Waterworld to TV. But it turns out that Davis wasn’t done sharing, because during his recent sit-down with Collider, he also offered a pretty significant update about Taika Waititi’s long-in-the-works Flash Gordon movie. The film, which was originally conceived as an animated project, is now being re-imagined for live-action.
Disney and 20th Century Studios originally hired Waititi to update Flash Gordon in 2019. Back then, it was reported that Waititi was only going to “crack” the film. However, Davis indicated that Waititi is writing the script and driving the project forward.
“Taika is writing it,” said Davis. “It was a movie that was a huge influence on him growing up. It is one of his favorite movies. He initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we got into it and started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better.'”
RELATED: Disney and Fox Hire Taika Waititi for an Animated Flash Gordon Movie
Several months before Waititi came aboard, 20th Century Studios enlisted Julius Avery to helm his own take on the 1930s pulp hero. Avery recently signed on to direct Universal’s Van Helsing reboot, so he probably isn’t heading to Mongo anytime soon. Regardless, Davis sounds excited about Waititi’s approach to the material.
“He has the most fantastically interesting vision for this movie,” added Davis. “And you can only know it is Taika. It is what he does. It is the way he looks at the world. He is the greatest guy in the world. He is the funniest guy in the world. And he thinks on a different plane. And this movie embraces everything that’s special about Taika, and his vision. It harkens in a very interesting way to the original conception from the comics.”
How do you feel about Waititi’s new plans for Flash Gordon? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Flash Gordon: On the Planet Mongo Vol. 1
