In a weird way,Guardians of the Galaxyhas both opened and closed the door for big, bold space operas. On the one hand, it shows that there’s an audience for weird, goofy sci-fi space adventures. On the other hand,James Gunn’s take is so unique that other filmmakers might be worried about being inGuardians’ shadow and not able to make their take stand apart.
That seems to be the issue that directorMatthew Vaughnhas run into with his planned remake of the 1980 cult classicFlash Gordon.Vaughn signed on to directthe film in April 2015, but word on the remake has been silent since then. For those unfamiliar withFlash Gordon, it’s based on a 1930s comic strip, and it follows a football player (played bySam J. Jones), who gets caught up in a trip to space where he must defeat the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless.
Steve Weintraub spoke to Vaughn at the press day for Vaughn’s new film,Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and asked ifFlash Gordonwas still happening:
“Yeah, we’ve been working on it. For me, the only problem withFlash GordonisGuardians [of the Galaxy]kind of stole what I would have liked to have done with it. You’ve gotStar Wars, you’ve gotGuardians, so you’ve got to have your own space opera, but you have to find something that can survive among these two very, very great franchises.”
If you’ve seenFlash Gordon, you can definitely see howGuardianscould have stolenFlash’s thunder, and now Vaughn is in the tricky position of trying to find out what to do with the property. To stay true to the original, you’d have to do something goofy and funny, and going in a serious direction wouldn’t really work considering the story is about a football player who saves the galaxy.
Should Vaughn finally go ahead withFlash Gordon, it will only be because he’s full-speed ahead on it:
“The way I choose films is when I know I have to make it. Simple as that. There will be a moment where I can’t think of anything else other than getting behind a camera and shooting a movie. It’s a very hard switch to click; once it’s on, nothing stops me.”
It will be interesting to see where Vaughn goes next. IfKingsman: The Golden Circleis a hit, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to go with a third installment, but he could just as easily pick up another project.
For more from our interview with Vaughn, check out the links below:
