With a solid history behind it since its introduction eighty years ago, it’s no surprise that someone is going to try Flash Gordon again, even with the lackluster TV series of a few years ago and the way John Carter ended up being handled since you can see some similarities between the two. Fox has secured the rights to bring out a new incarnation of the property in theatrical form with a treatment that was done up by George Nolfi recently. The feature is set to be produced by John Davis, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
With the look back to older properties to mine and the turn towards science fiction in the last few years, Flash Gordon certainly makes sense if can be updated properly without losing the space opera charm of it all. The danger runs in taking away too many of the rich elements that makes it unique and harkens back to its origins as the comic strip that Alex Raymond created and instead having a bland and by the numbers piece that’s interchangeable with any number of other properties.
Check out the trailer from the most well known modern incarnation of it with the 1980 film.
Original concept: The comic strip follows the adventures of Flash Gordon, a handsome polo player and Yale University graduate, and his companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov. The story begins with Earth bombarded by fiery meteors. Dr. Zarkov invents a rocket ship to locate their place of origin in outer space. Half mad, he kidnaps Flash and Dale, whose plane has crashed in the area, and the three travel to the planet Mongo, where they discover the meteors are weapons devised by Ming the Merciless, evil ruler of Mongo.
