By now, there aren't many comic book movie fans who aren't aware of the monumental flop that is Ezra Miller's solo Flash movie. Indeed, it's hard to fathom such a dismal outcome for a project that initially had a ton of optimism surrounding it.
The Flash's time-traveling moment in Justice League was one of the film's most talked-about moments, and potentially seeing the Flashpoint storyline unfold on the big screen had many fans of the Scarlet Speedster thinking his solo film would bring in box office dollars similar to James Wan's Aquaman.
The Flash is currently projected to become Warner Bros.' biggest flop in studio history, which begs the question: where did things go wrong? Perhaps It director, Andy Muschietti, wasn't the right choice to helm the project. Or maybe Christina Hodson wasn't a great fit given how Birds of Prey and Batgirl fared.
This makes one think back to the myriad of creators who were all attached to the project at one point or another. Reportedly, The Flash movie was going to be something very different before the studio settled on a Flashpoint-esque storyline.
From Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to Joby Harold, here's the history of The Flash movie's creative development and how the film gradually changed from Barry Allen facing off against The Rogues to battling General Zod and an army of Kryptonians along with Dark Flash.
Click the Next button below or keep scrolling to check out The Flash's long, troubled development history.
Oct. 2014: Flash Movie Announced
After being heavily rumored for years, Warner Bros. officially announced plans for a Flash movie in 2014. The DC Extended Universe film was initially slated for release in 2018, and Grant Gustin's Flash TV show on The CW had just premiered.
Little else was known about the film except that Ezra Miller was expected to make a cameo in the upcoming Batman v Superman film before starring in a solo outing.
At the time, there was a whole different regime sitting at the head of the studio. Warner Bros. chairman Kevin Tsujihara actually unveiled the film during a Times Warner earnings call.
The Conjuring director James Wan was given the choice of directing The Flash or Aquaman, and he wisely chose the latter.
April 2015:Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Treatment
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller signed on to write a treatment for The Flash movie, with an option to direct the film if they desired.
Lord and Miller delivered their treatment but ultimately opted to direct Solo: A Star Wars Story for Lucasfilm. They would eventually circle back to WB and The Flash after leaving the Han Solo project over creative differences.
The pair would go on to write and produce Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse- so their decision to pass on Han Solo and The Flash proved to be a wise decision.
It wasn't until earlier this year that Lord & Miller spoke about their time on the project.
“It did involve time travel, but it was not a multiversal story,” Miller told The Hollywood Reporter. “So I think it is safe to say that [the current movie] is its own unique thing.”
Lord added, "A lot of our treatment was about how much food he had to consume."
Oct. 2015: Seth Grahame-Smith Script
Seth Grahame-Smith was brought in to write and direct The Flash, based on the treatment from Lord & Miller.
His script was rumored to center on Barry being determined to travel back in time to save his mother and prove his father's innocence after traveling back in time to save the day in Justice League.
He would go on to learn of a program by the U.S. government that sought to harness the power of the Speed Force and that the scientist heading up the program is Eobard Thawne. Barry successfully travels back in time and learns that Thawne is the individual responsible for his mother's death. Cyborg makes a cameo appearance.
Not much is known about this version, but it was rumored that the villains of the film would be The Rogues who would be depicted as nightmarish monsters- victims of science experiments gone wrong by the same government department that was headed by Thawne. The film was said to have a campy, horror vibe.
In the wake of Batman v Superman's muted box office gross in Spring 2016, Warner Bros. reportedly rethought its decision to have a first-time director helm their big-budget superhero tentpole and moved on, citing creative differences.
June 2016: Rick Famuyiwa Script
After Grahame-Smith departed, Dope director Rick Famuyiwa was brought in to direct and also revise the script. In his version, it was rumored that the film was given a more mature tone, and Cyborg's role is beefed up. Thawne is still present in this film but is more of a looming threat that's being saved for future films.
In Famuyiwa's script Barry is still trying to figure out how to travel back and save his mother (with the help of Cyborg) when his day job as a forensics scientist sees him involved with investigating other corrupt officers in his precinct who are on the payroll of a local mobster. When The Flash gets too close to exposing them, the mob turns to Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold.
Cold actually manages to kill Flash's love-interest, Iris West but Barry manages to team up with Cyborg and travel back in time 1 day to save Iris and take Snart down. The film ends with Barry and Cyborg working on the cosmic treadmill, a device that will allow Barry to travel back in time much further.
Development on Famuyiwa's take moved forward to the point that Kiersey Clemons was selected to portray Iris West while Billy Crudup was brought in to play Henry Allen.
Warner Bros. apparently didn't like the dark nature of Famuyiwa's script as it echoed a period of political unrest in the real world surrounding police brutality. Famuyiwa refused. to change his script and departed due to creative differences.
Famuyiwa's version would ultimately be scrapped and he would go on to become a fixture on The Mandalorian, directing several episodes.
January 2017: Joby Harold Complete Rewrite
It was rumored that Harold's version opens with Barry focusing on trying to learn more about his powers, but not specifically trying to learn how to travel back in time. Cyborg is present, designing a series of tests to determine the upper limits of Barry's abilities.
Throughout the course of the film, Barry battles The Rogues, criminals who have stolen high-tech weaponry from S.T.A.R. Labs. Their goal is to steal and sell alien tech leftover from Zodd's invasion in Man of Steel and the Apokolips tech from Steppenwolf's invasion in Justice League.
The Rogues each set off a series of traps in Central City to occupy The Flash while they buy themselves enough time to pull off the heist.
May/July 2017: Robert Zemeckis Frontrunner to Direct/ Film was retitled to Flashpoint at SDCC
Justice League wouldn't be released until November 17, 2017, but it's clear that the powers-that-be at WB were already weighing the option of a potential reboot. Robert Zemeckis of Back to the Future fame was the frontrunner to direct and the movie was retitled to Flashpoint at SDCC.
Harold's script is completely thrown out as the studio weighs its options for a reboot. Though Zemeckis never officially signed up for the project, it was clear that WB wanted to go in a new direction and Flashpoint was the mechanism to accomplish this.
January/March 2018: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein- Title Changes Back To The Flash
In January 2018, Walter Hamada was promoted to oversee Warner Bros. DC Comics output, replacing Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. The Flashpoint storyline was reportedly dialed back quite a bit and re-worked to be a self-contained story with no wider implications for the rest of the DCEU.
Warner Bros. was reportedly keen on replicating the "self-contained, fun approach" seen in the billion-dollar-grossing Aquaman instead of continuing on with the dark and gritty style of Zack Snyder.
Speaking to Variety earlier this year, the duo shared what their take on the film would've been.
"We pitched this idea of a ground-level superhero where it isn’t entirely end-of-the-world stakes,” Daley said. “He’s just learning his powers and is also somewhat dysfunctional with his life. The more imperfect we can make a superhero, the better, because that’s the inherent challenge: How do you give imperfection to someone that is, you know, physically perfect?”
They also met with Ezra Miller to discuss the script and it seems things didn't go well. “They were intense and very bright,” Goldstein said of Miller. “Later, it became clear that they didn’t want to quite do the same thing as we did.“
“It was a number of creative differences that caused us at a certain point to decide that it was time to go,” Daley said before Goldstein added, “If we feel like the powers-that-be aren’t excited about making the same movie as we are, we’re not going to win that battle. And so it’s better to cut your losses and get out of there.”
Although they moved on from The Flash years ago, Daley and Goldstein still share a story by credit on the finished movie.
March 2019: Ezra Miller and Grant Morrison Script
After months of rumors, Geoff Johns officially stepped down from his executive role at DC Entertainment in June 2018. He had already been succeeded by Harmada many months prior, so there was little for Johns to oversee.
Ezra Miller apparently really liked the serious nature of the previous scripts- particularly Rick Famuyiwa's version and he did not like the new, lighter direction present in Daley and Goldstein's script.
To that end, Miller lobbied WB for a chance to write his own script and he was given a week to do so. Miller teamed up with celebrated comic book writer Grant Morrison and secluded themselves away to brainstorm ideas.
Morrison previously shared, "[There] had been a few versions [of the film], and as far as I remember, Ezra just wasn't quite happy with what they were getting at the time. And Ezra had a lot of ideas; they came to me with a book of ideas. And then we worked together. It really was just the two of us. They came over here to Scotland and hung out, and we wrote this thing. I really liked it. Warner Bros. only gave us two weeks! It was cruelty, you know. It was hardcore. We had to be like the Flash to get this thing done, and they were looking for something quite different."
July 2019:: Christina Hodson and Andy Muschietti
It was reported that even before all the drama surrounding Ezra Miller started, Daley and Goldstein found Miller somewhat difficult to work with. The final straw was apparently Miller's decision to go off and write his own script.
Following their departure, the studio turned to director Andy Muschietti and writer Christina Hodson to develop the film.
Muschietti's hire was seen as the studio seeking to recapture the Aquaman magic by bringing in a horror director. The studio was also said to be pleased with Hodson's script for Birds of Prey.
Despite the number of hands on the project, Hodson received sole script writing credit for the film, while Daley and Goldstein received story credits.
Prior to release, the film was hyped as the greatest comic book movie of all time, however, the film's box office performance indicates that what was delivered is anything but.