If you have ever seen Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, it is easy to see that the director took a lot of inspiration from one of his favorite films from childhood: 1980’s Flash Gordon. From the panorama of vibrant colors to the over-the-top performances and action, it is clear there was a reason that Waititi had the crew watch Flash Gordon before filming began on Ragnarok.
While it has been discussed for years that Waititi had hoped to direct an animated version of the classic sci-fi hero, now comes word from producer John Davis that the plan is for Waititi to write and direct a live-action picture.
Davis (speaking to Collider about the new Jungle Cruise film) confirmed that Waititi is indeed writing the script and that “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.'”
Davis is confident that Waititi will direct the film in the near future, since “…when somebody writes a script that they’re going to direct, they’re obviously going to really like the script, right? So you get a big leg up, right? A lot of times, you go to a huge director with somebody else’s script and he’s got to reinvent it. They’ve got to make it their own. They’ve got to… whatever. This is going to be Taika-ready.”
Davis also says that while Waititi has great admiration for the Universal film, he is also hoping to surprise fans with his take on the space adventurer. Davis claims that Waititi’s vision “…harkens in a very interesting way to the original conception from the comics.”
While you wait, check out Alex Ross’ artwork for Flash Gordon’s 35th Anniversary below, and stay tuned to Conskipper for more information about the Flash Gordon film (hopefully coming to a galaxy near you soon).
