Warner Bros. Is Close to Hiring a Flashpoint Director

CBR

Flashpoint: Warner Bros. 'Close to Hiring a Director'

By Kevin Melrose

Published Nov 7, 2017

Ahead of the release of Justice League, Warner Bros. is reportedly zeroing in on a director for its troubled Flashpoint film.

With Ezra Miller's Flash already emerging as the breakout character of Justice League, Warner Bros. is making production of Flashpoint a priority.

That tidbit, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures chief Toby Emmerich, is revealed in a larger Wall Street Journal article about Justice League and the studio's plans for the so-called DC Extended Universe. Reporter Ben Fritz added on Twitter that the executive also said they're "close to hiring a director" for Flashpoint, which he hopes to greenlight soon.

That would signal a significant leap forward for the delayed project, whose fate was reported just last week to hinge on the success of Justice League.

Announced in 2014 as part of Warner Bros. ambitious slate of DC Comics-based features, the Flash film has repeatedly stumbled throughout its development. Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie), who wrote the original story treatment, were courted to direct, only to decline. They were succeeded by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, who was set to make his feature directorial debut on The Flash, only to split with the studio over "creative differences." He was followed by Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), who likewise departed in October 2016. Although several prominent names were floated as potential successors -- Sam Raimi and Robert Zemeckis among them -- more than a year later, the film is still without a director.

Oh, yeah, and amid that behind-the-scenes upheaval, the feature underwent a title change, from The Flash to Flashpoint, and a shift in focus, from a solo project to a story presumably based on the 2011 DC Comics crossover of the same name. In it, Barry Allen's journey into the past to save his mother's life triggers dramatic changes in the timeline.

Flashpoint stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Billy Crudup as Henry Allen, Ray Fisher as Cyborg and possibly Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Originally intended to hit theaters on March 16, 2018, when it was titled simply The Flash, the film currently has no release date.