Fourth time's the charm?
The Hollywood Reporter has word that Warner Bros. is in talks with Andy Muschietti to direct The Flash solo movie, with star Ezra Miller still attached to reprise his role of The Flash/Barry Allen. His partner and sister, Barbara Muschietti, will produce the film along with Michael Disco.
Christina Hodson, the writer behind Bumblebee and upcoming DC Extended Universe movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), is reportedly being hired to handle the script, with the goal to be in prep by January 2020.
Muschietti, 45, is an Argentine director and screenwriter best known as the director of It and It Chapter Two, based on the novel It by Stephen King. He also directed and co-wrote the 2013 supernatural horror film Mama, based on his 2008 Argentine short film Mamá.
Muschietti will be the fourth director(s) to helm the project, after John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who wrote drafts of the script and were slated to direct a version of the DC Comics limited series Flashpoint, moved on. Tensions over creative differences slowed down the project, regarding what vision was the best fit for a Flash movie. Miller, who has played the character since in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, reportedly favored a darker approach, while Goldstein and Daley wanted the opposite. Director Rick Famuyiwa left the project in October 2016, citing "creative differences" as the reason. Famuyiwa had replaced Seth Grahame-Smith, who also left the project in April 2016 and also cited "creative differences" as his reason.
According to the article, Daley, Goldstein and Miller had been working on compromises since last year, but Miller took it upon himself to write his own script, enlisting the aid of former Flash comics writer Grant Morrison. That script was submitted to the studio in March. The studio rejected his approach by May, but decided that Miller should still remain as the Fastest Man Alive.