Flash Gordon's alive! The last we heard of the titular science-fiction hero returning to the big-screen was several years ago when Paramount Pictures was courting Matthew Vaughn (KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE) to direct the project, but now Deadline has reported that Julius Avery is their man.
The outlet has said that the OVERLORD director has been tapped to write and direct the new FLASH GORDON with Matthew Vaughn onboard as a producer. It's been said that Julius Avery grew up loving the Flash Gordon comics, and when he pitched his take on the project to the studio, they immediately sparked to it and signed him up. The film will be an adaptation of the comic-strip which originated back in 1934 and followed Flash Gordon, a young Yale University graduate who, along with his companions Dale and Dr. Zarkov, travel to the planet Mongo via rocket ship and come into conflict with Ming the Merciless. In addition to the comic-strip, Flash Gordon has been adapted into TV shows and film serials, but most of us probably know of the character thanks to the campy 1980 film which starred Sam J. Jones in the title role. Can we still get Brian Blessed to appear in the new film? DIIIIIIIVE!
Julius Avery's next film, OVERLORD, takes place in Nazi-occupied France as a team of American paratroopers drop in to carry out a mission crucial to the success of D-Day. Tasked with destroying a radio transmitter atop a fortified church, the desperate soldiers join forces with a young French villager to penetrate the walls and take down the tower. But, in a mysterious Nazi lab beneath the church, the outnumbered G.I.s come face-to-face with enemies unlike any the world has ever seen. OVERLORD is set for a November 9, 2018 release.