Night
At The Flash Museum
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What,
me worry about Shaun Levy?
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On
the heels of David S. Goyer posting on his MySpace that he
was no longer writing and directing The Flash for
Warner Brothers, the Hollywood Reporter announced his replacement.
Director
Shawn Levy now commands the Flash and will oversee a new
screenplay. Perhaps some elements of Goyer's take will be
used in the new script, but that has not been confirmed.
Though Levy, best known for comedies, claims The Flash
won't be a comedy, he did say he's going for a lighter tone
than Batman Begins or Superman Returns.
On top
of the world right now thanks to his work on Night at
the Museum, Levy also directed the Cheaper by the
Dozen remake and The Pink Panther remake,
both starring Steve Martin. It's safe to say that his sensibilities
vastly differ from Goyer, who wrote the Blade films
and Batman Begins.
Before
anybody gets outraged, though, remember that the Flash is
a character that should be more fun than Batman and Superman.
Depending on which secret identity the film uses, he could
even be a little on the goofy side, especially in an origin
story. No matter how we get worked up, he's not really an
iconic character; he's just recognizable. Smallville
has used Bart Allen in the role, and at one point the WB
(now CW) considered doing a television pilot for the Flash
completely altering his origin.
Does
that make Levy the right guy for the job? He's certainly
not a director with clear tastes like Bryan Singer, Christopher
Nolan or even Goyer. Though Levy has directed a couple of
high profile projects, most of his experience has been in
episodic television. After the mixed response to Superman
Returns, the powers that be at Warner Brothers may
have decided that's just what they want -- someone that
they can mold a bit and shape the story to a broadbase appeal
rather than an artistic vision.
It's
not art, but Warner has to have noted that Bret Ratner made
a lot more money with X3: The Last Stand, a film
without much of the series' fabled depth, than Singer ever
did with the franchise. This might also explain why they
let Joss Whedon
go from Wonder Woman.
A couple
of years ago, DC had been looking to hire someone to act
as advocate for their characters within the studio, to serve
the same basic function as Avi Arad was for Marvel. If someone
does have that job, it looks like they're not doing much
fighting, with DC properties stalled at two major franchises,
while Marvel has three coming out this year alone. (Of those
three, only one has a director that most would agree has
a singular vision -- Sam Raimi on Spider-Man 3.)
Get
rolling, Warner Brothers. Just don't give us another Catwoman.
Like
the choice? Hate it? Talk about it in the forum!
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