Oh, fuck.

[yendi]

I'd caught the news that David Goyer was out as writer/director of The Flash.

What I'd missed was his replacement:

Shawn Levy.

The guy who gave us "original" works like Night at the Museum and Just Married and the remakes of Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther.

I fully expect this to vie with X-Men: The Last Stand and Batman and Robin for "super-hero movie that most makes yendi want to bitchslap a director."

Comments

[hughcasey.livejournal.com]

No, the worst will be THIS:

http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1822&Itemid=99

Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin) Wants To Direct Neil Gaiman's Sandman!

As they said on "Ain't It Cool News"...

Dear Warner Bros.,

Please don’t do this.

Sincerely yours,
Everyone Everywhere Ever On The F**king Planet

[yendi]

Yeah, but this is just Joel saying he'd like the project. I'm not worried that it's actually happening.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm not convinced it'd be possible to make a good Sandman movie. The stories are too long and complicated, and I don't think it'd survive being turned into a 3 hour travelogue a la the Harry Potter movies.

[curt-holman.livejournal.com]

I think that whenever Joel Schumacher does a PA tour, which is often, he mentions which superhero movie he'd like to do, and then that gets reported as a possibility. I remember after 'Batman and Robin,' he frequently commented that he'd like to do a "darker, grittier" Batman, which the movie/sf press would dutifully pass along.

I didn't like 'X-Men: The Last Stand,' but think it's better than both 'Fantastic Four' and 'Batman & Robin.'

[unwilly.livejournal.com]

I've given up on DC.

With Whedon off Wonder Woman, and now this, I'm just not going to bother.

[yendi]

I'll see who they bring on for WW, but I'm not hopeful.

[jenphalian.livejournal.com]

I hear they're adding that category to next year's Oscar lineup. You won't get to vote, but you will get to be the presenter.

[yendi]

That would almost make it worth it.

Although getting to smack only one of them would kinda suck.

[jenphalian.livejournal.com]

Which is why you can't be involved in the voting process. You'd figure out a way to make it a tie.

[e-scapism101.livejournal.com]

Kindly do not speak of X-TLS, or I may vomit.

[yendi]

I tend to feel the same way, but I had to make the analogy to convey how bad this movie is likely to be.

[wishiwasnt.livejournal.com]

fully expect this to vie with X-Men: The Last Stand and Batman and Robin for "super-hero movie that most makes yendi want to bitchslap a director."

Wow, I agree that X3 was bad, but I wouldn't put it in the same class as B&R.

[yendi]

I'd go the other way -- I'm not sure B&R is half as bad as X3.

[lbitw.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I actually got to the end of B&R.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Considering the things he has worked on previously, I wonder if they aren't thinking of making Flash more tween/teen oriented?

Levy's history combined with the comments that they didn't want to do another dark-themed super hero film makes it seem at least possible.

On that level it might be pretty good. Jett Jackson wasn't too bad. I'd definitely still rather see it with Goyer.

In related news, I'm not sure what to think about Robert Downey, Jr as Iron Man. I mean, I'm sure he'll be able to nail the self-destructive substance abuser angle, but....

[yendi]

You might be right, but I figure that folks who want a tween Flash can get one on Smallville.

Jett Jackson was okay, but his big screen stuff tends to suck royally.

I actually think Downey is a pretty good casting choice. Once the armor's on, it doesn't matter who's wearing it, and Downey really looks like he'd make a good Tony Stark.

[songwind.livejournal.com]

I used to just automatically pan any role that Downey was in, but I've seen a few things recently that I really enjoyed, thus my fence-sitting.

[yendi]

He's done enough over the years -- from Chaplin's drama to U.S. Marshalls's action to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang deadpan silliness -- that I'm willing to give him lots of benefit of the doubt (in spite of his personal breakdowns).

[songwind.livejournal.com]

I managed to avoid Chaplin somehow, but liked both of the others.

[ex-bookkeep.livejournal.com]

Do you ever get the impression Hollywood is tired of having comic geeks around and is planning sabotage of projects that are in the pipeline, just to try and stem the tide.

That's how I explain Catwoman.

[yendi]

I never saw Catwoman, as I have a long-standing policy of avoiding films directed by pretentious gits with one name.

[dark-blade.livejournal.com]

I'm sad that Whedon isn't on WW... it actually gave me hope for the film. :(

[yendi]

I'll reserve judgment there until I see who they go with instead.

[fmh.livejournal.com]

No. No. They cannot fuck this up, not this! I've waited to long, I want my goddam Flash movie. And I want a real adaptation. Jay Garrick? WW2 era please. And I want to see that fuckin' helmet. Maybe do the other speedsters in subsequent movies.
S'bad enough what they wanted to do to the Green Lantern movie.

[yendi]

They can and will. It's what they do.

But I'd be okay with a non-Jay movie, as Barry's also got an interesting story. Wally became interesting, but so much of who he is is tied up in his legacy, it'd be hard to make a movie without losing a chunk of that.

[tiki-man.livejournal.com]

a dark flash? i dunno. does comic book = brooding?
Barry Allen may have been screwed either way.

[curt-holman.livejournal.com]

Does anyone remember the short-lived 'Flash' TV show with the Danny Elfman soundtrack? Late 80s/early 90s, I think? I don't remember that much about it, but I thought it wasn't bad.

[yendi]

I adored that show. Mark Hamill as The Trickster was a blast.