At a July 1 press conference for The Dark Knight, producer Charles Roven discussed the long-delayed film adaptation of The Flash with iF Magazine. David Dobkin (The Wedding Crashers) is still director, but there isn’t much more to say, since they’re “not even writing it yet.”
Back in December 2004, the project was first announced with Batman Begins’ David Goyer as writer/director. His version would have “showcase[d] the legacy aspect of the hero” and played up the sci-fi elements, “playing with relativity, Doppler effects and all kinds of things like that.” Goyer actually wrote and finished a script.
By February 2007, DC had decided to abandon Goyer’s draft, hired Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum), and re-positioned it to be a spin-off of the planned Justice League movie. Just 8 months later, they’d handed the film to Dobkin.
Last Year’s Writers Guild of America strike put both films on hold. And with continuing delays on Justice League: Mortal (currently scheduled for 2011), it’s unclear whether The Flash will still have to wait its turn, or if it’ll run out of the gate first.
Personally, I’ve dreamed of a Flash film for years, and I was really excited about Goyer’s approach. It sucks that the film has entered development hell, but at least the potential is still there.
After this story broke there was word that WB execs and DC staff have gotten together to plan the future of DC properties and their evolution into other media beyond the comics. Hopefully that will mean good news for the Flash movie in the not too distant future.