It still feels a little surreal that the duo behind THE LEGO MOVIE and 21 JUMP STREET are playing in a big part in bringing not only one, but two major superheroes to the big screen. Both Phil Lord and Chris Miller are developing the story for THE FLASH for Warner Bros. and DC, as well as writing and producing an animated Spider-Man film for Sony. Busy guys.
Phil Lord recently appeared on a podcast known as Hippojuice where he spoke about where he and Miller are at with the development of THE FLASH:
We’re trying to break a story. It’s interesting, because there’s a really popular TV show out there, and we’re trying to carve out space for the movie that’s apart from that. I think we’re doing alright. … I believe [our Flash] is going to be Barry Allen. … It’s going to be it’s own [thing, apart from the TV show] — we’re more trying to stick with the cinematic universe… it really is its own thing, and kind of a stand-alone movie. We’re just trying to think of the best story. I think you guys will like it, it’s kind of a different take on superhero stuff.
CW's The Flash is set to wrap up its first season and has been enjoying great popularity, something which may make it slightly more difficult for another version of the character to take off; however THE FLASH isn't scheduled to be released until 2018, by which time it's possible that audiences may be hungry for a new take on the character.
Phil Lord then briefly touched on the animated Spider-Man film that he and Chris Miller are working on in addition to THE FLASH:
We’re sort of juggling superheroes with the color red in them, that’s all we do. [laughter] We’re trying not to confuse their powers or anything, but it does get tricky. But it’s the same thing, is there a way to do one of these movies in a new way? That’s the exciting thing about it being animated, is it opens up a lot of different possibilities.
Chris and I like to carve out spaces where people will let us do what we want. So much of our careers are like “oh, no one will bother us while we try to make a 21 Jump Street movie, because it’s such a crazy idea, no one’s going to know what to do with it.” So we’re doing these things kind of like that. They’re part of these huge franchises, but kind of are off a little bit to the side, and that gives us a lot of creative freedom, and that’s the thing we love. Hopefully we won’t waste that!
When you hire Phil Lord and Chris Miller it's because you want their unique creativity (or their stash of LEGO's), so it's refreshing to hear that their creative freedom will be unencumbered despite working on two huge superhero franchises. Neither film has the duo attached to direct but I'd imagine that each studio will try to get Miller and Lord to take the helm of their respective pictures. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are also developing their 21 JUMP STREET/MEN IN BLACK crossover (yes, that's really happening) so it's possible they may be too busy to take out their director's chairs anytime soon.
The animated Spider-Man film is scheduled for a July 20, 2018 release with THE FLASH set to premiere on March 23, 2018.