David Goyer off of the Flash movie

[Agent]

"I am sad to say that my version of 'The Flash' is dead at WB," Goyer wrote. "The God's honest truth is that WB and myself simply couldn't agree on what would make for a cool Flash film. I'm quite proud of the screenplay I turned in. I threw my heart into it, and I genuinely think it would've been the basis of a groundbreaking film. But as of now, the studio is heading off in a completely different direction."

Sources said that Levy, who before "[Night at the] Museum" had been known for such comedies as "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "The Pink Panther," has no intention of making "Flash" a comedy but is aiming for a lighter movie than previous Warners comic book adaptations, such as "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns." Goyer's "Flash" also had been dark-themed.

Levy will oversee the writing of the new draft, and it is believed elements of Goyer's script will be used in the development process.

Source

To be honest, when WB first approached me about doing The Flash, it seemed a little too good to be true. A part of me thought they'd never really make a movie like that. For the record, the script did involve both Barry and Wally as The Flash. I wanted to showcase the legacy aspect of the hero -- as that was something that hadn't been explored yet in film. Like Batman Begins, the script drew on some seminal comicbook runs (Mike Baron, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns).

Source

This is definitely a "hope for the best but prepare for the worst" situation.

[BentonGrey]

Both Barry AND Wally?  Hmm....well, I certainly won't presume to make any predictions yet, but I am confused about how they would use both of them in one film.  I am a much bigger fan of Wally than I used to be after JLU, but I still love 'ol Barry. 

[bredon7777]

"Night at the Museum" wasn't terrible, but the other two films named inspire no confidence whatsoever.

The thing is, we shot ourselves in the foot with "Fantastic Four".  Now don't get me worng- I don't think it was a BAD movie(though the comedic aspects shouldve been toned down considerably)- but we went because it was a comic book movie and of course the studios complteley misinterpreted that as "Well heck!  We played the FF for comedy and it made tons of money! Why, obviously the masses must want their superheroes played for laughs."

[BentonGrey]

But that logic doesn't hold, even in the loose sense of the word applied in Hollywood.  Batman and (ugh) Superman both were MUCH more profitable.  I think that FF, while it did well, didn't do nearly as well as the more serious movies.

Then again, I think they are more into applying their exisiting experience.  In movie terms, comidies are easier to make and generally have more mass appeal.  You also have an entire generation that still remembers the goofy, campy Super Friends.

[the_ultimate_evil]

Both Barry AND Wally?  Hmm....well, I certainly won't presume to make any predictions yet, but I am confused about how they would use both of them in one film.  I am a much bigger fan of Wally than I used to be after JLU, but I still love 'ol Barry. 

think of the idea behind the legand of zorro flims, the movie would have played on the idea behind the flash legacy with barry retiring and wally taking up the mantle, personally i love this idea

[BentonGrey]

Well, I'd prefer a just Barry movie, but I wouldn't hate this.

[Talavar]

I've got nothing against the idea of a lighter-hearted super-hero movie, but this new guy's track record doesn't inspire confidence, in fact it inspires the opposite. 

As to profitability, Batman Begins and Superman Returns both made more money than F4, but Superman at least also cost a lot more to make, and barely broke even.

[BentonGrey]

Hmm, that makes sense Talavar, and it really was a pretty mediocre movie, so I can't say I'm surprised by less than inspiring returns.  Ha....unintentional pun.

[lugaru]

My view on the whole "light hearted" thing is that the Fantastic Four has nothing to do with it. Most hollywood producers think Adam West batman while most fans think Frank Miller batman. They want fun superhero movies, we want inspiring ones. Oddly enough the more they camp it up the more it fails, so hopefully Warner will one day figure this out.

[BentonGrey]

Hopefully.......

[thalaw2]

Why is it that Warner can make kick..butt superhero cartoons but can't get their act togehter for a superhero movie. 
Marvel has the opposite problem, lately.

[Talavar]

Why is it that Warner can make kick..butt superhero cartoons but can't get their act togehter for a superhero movie. 
Marvel has the opposite problem, lately.

I actually read an interesting article online about how the failure of Batman & Robin is what actually allowed DC to have great superhero cartoons.  No one high up considered those characters or superheros in general very profitable, so the cartoons flew largely under the corporate radar.  This allowed them greater freedom, and less interference from corporate overlords.  When it comes to movies though, now, each one is expensive, and designed to be a big hit, so you get movies by corporate management. 

I do slightly dispute the original statement though; I really like Batman Begins, and I like Superman Returns with reservations.  And the current crop of DC cartoons don't do much for me (THE Batman, I'm looking in your direction).

[BentonGrey]

I do slightly dispute the original statement though; I really like Batman Begins, and I like Superman Returns with reservations.  And the current crop of DC cartoons don't do much for me (THE Batman, I'm looking in your direction).

Yeah, well, the Timmverse cartoons are the only ones I really acknowledge.  As a matter of fact, I regard them as cannon and the comics as just so much elseworlds non-sense :D  Still, even The Batman is better than that HORRIBLE 90's Avengers cartoon.......

[Dartman X]

Ironically enough, I've just been watching 'The Flash' 1990 TV series created by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, starring John Wesley Shipp (I bought the boxed set of the series a while back, and have only gotten around to really watching it now).  It is definately dark and serious (complete with Danny Elfman soundtrack) but strove to be a bit more realistic (Barry was always fighting gangsters or ninjas or somesuch, at least early in the series), and probably similar to the tone that Goyer was looking for, but a tad tongue-in-cheek as well (can't wait to get to Mark Hamill as the Trickster!). 
  Since the series lasted only about a year, perhaps that's another reason why WB got cold feet, although I doubt that studio executives have memories that are that long (or work in one place for that long either).  Most properties that Goyer is attached to seem to work out well (I never got to see the 'Blade' TV series, but I hear that was pretty cool too), so it's kind of a disappointment to see he's no longer involved.

As long as we don't see Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson playing Barry and Wally, it might turn out alright - not great - just alright.

[Panther_Gunn]

Since the series lasted only about a year, perhaps that's another reason why WB got cold feet

Probably the main reason it only lasted one season was because CBS put it in a disadvantagous time slot (against the Simpsons, I think, at least at one point), and kept moving it around in the weekly schedule.  That pretty much helped kill the ratings.  Boneheads. :thumbdown:

[BentonGrey]

Well, networks do that with shows they don't understand or don't want to succeed.  They killed Futurama that way.

[bredon7777]

Actually, I heard the ratings were respectable, but the episode costs were too high; in the eneighborhood of 1 -2 million dollars per.

Of course, less than a decade later, a show that was half as long wound up costing over double that per episode - and it was no big deal.

Sadly, the Flash was ahead of his time.

However, I will agree that the tone of the Tv show is about the tone Id try for in a movie.