Another Breck Eisner Remake, This Time It’s Flash Gordon

Posted by Nathan Deen (nathan@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 22, 2008

Some of you may not realize this, but if it were not for a 1930’s comic strip called Flash Gordon, there’s a possibilty that the genius and legacy that is Star Wars wouldn’t exist today. George Lucas has said in several interviews that it was Flash Gordon that inspired him to create his own universe. So in a way, Flash Gordon is responsible for arguably the most beloved saga of all time. So with that in mind, is there any reason why this character doesn’t deserve a second chance (there was a 1980’s adaptation) at the big screen?

Well it might get it because Columbia Pictures is currently in the works to acquire the film rights for a remake. The project already has two big names attached to it. The first is producer Neal H. Moritz and the second is Captain Remake himself, director Breck Eisner, who I recently reported was involved with a remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon as well as the 1973 George A. Romero horror film Crazies. As of now, no writers have signed on to adapt a script.

Flash Gordon was a popular newspaper comic strip in the 1930’s and was created by Alex Raymond. Flash was an athlete who traveled to the planet Mongo with his lady love Dale Arden and mad scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. There, they discovered a world ruled by Ming the Merciless and meet strange inhabitants such as the Hawkmen and the Sharkmen.

The not-so-memorable 1980 production starred Sam Jones and was directed by Mike Hodges. Recently, Flash was seen in a Sci-Fi channel miniseries, which became both a critical and ratings disaster.

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