We heard last week that the most recent director of the upcoming The Flash movie, Rick Famuyiwa, has pulled out of the production. This is the second director to step away from the film, as Seth Grahame-Smith also pulled out earlier in the production phase and does not put the movie in good stead. The Flash character played by Ezra Miller is going to feature quite heavily in the new Justice League film and so Warner Bros and DC are definitely all in for establishing the character in their cinematic universe.
Famuyiwa reportedly left as a result of creative differences. Which is never a good thing for a movie, as it is generally a sign of too much studio meddling – and given Warner Bros’ past history, would not be a surprise. It could also related though just to how the tone of the film needs to match the greater cinematic universe as well.
However, while director changes are likely going to have an obvious effect on the tone and feel of a film, as whoever they hire next will likely be required to work even more with someone else’s vision, the other side of the story is how it affects the actors themselves.
Ezra Miller was interviewed by Collider and shared his thoughts on what to make of everything and why the film has lost both of its directors:
These processes are complicated, and I think it can – from afar – appear to be … something interpersonal or dramatic. That is rarely the case. These are groups of people taking the development of projects extremely seriously, and the teams are changing all the time. There’s often a lot of flux in who the team of the production of a film is before that production starts, and in this case, you hear about it, because it’s a critical figure – the directors that have been coming on and leaving.
For me, it’s sort of a tragic relay race, and we’ve had a couple really incredible people carry this baton, and their marks are left on that baton, and the work that they’ve given to the project will certainly be represented in whatever the final product comes to be.
Well, it seems that from his perspective, it’s all just part of finding the correct person to continue the evolution of the story. It doesn’t make me feel any less skeptical about it all, as every director leaving their little mark could leave us with a bit if a mess. Hopefully this is not the case.
The time is not going to waste from Miller’s point of view though as he is apparently using the time to brush up on his comics and get to know more about the character and the DC Comics world.
The film is scheduled for a March 2018 release, but if they don’t find another director soon, they are going to have to shift this out. The Flash might be fast, but not even his speed can rush the development process.
Last Updated: November 11, 2016
