Matthew Vaughn in Talks to Direct 'Flash Gordon' (Exclusive)

John Davis and George Nolfi are producing the film based on the comic strip hero created by Alex Raymond.
Matthew Vaughn, savior of the universe?

Vaughn, basking in the success of his surprise hit Kingsman: The Secret Service, is in negotiations to direct Flash Gordon, a movie based on the classic comic strip character that is set up at Twentieth Century Fox.

The studio picked up the project almost a year ago, with John Davis and King Features producing. Davis spent more than a year acquiring the rights from the Hearst Corporation.

Gordon is the adventurer first created in 1934 by iconic artist Alex Raymond. The hero, along with the lovely Dale Arden and mad scientist Hans Zasrkov, ends up on the planet Mongo fighting its tyrannical ruler, Ming the Merciless.

The strip was a major influence on pop culture, spawning three Buster Crabbe serials and, of course, the cheesy 1980 movie best known for its soundtrack by Queen. One of the character's lasting effects was in shaping the mind of a young George Lucas, who paid homage to the Gordon serials with Star Wars.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek 3) wrote the script, working off a treatment by Nolfi.

Vaughn, who’s always shown an affinity for geek-friendly material with his poppy comic book movies Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, became highly sought by numerous studios after Kingsman. The movie, based on a Mark Millar-written comic, was released in February and has grossed more than $392 million worldwide on a reported budget of $81 million.

He is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.

Mark Protosevich Hired To Rewrite Matthew Vaughn's 'Flash Gordon' For Fox
BY DREW MCWEENY @DREWATHITFIX | FRIDAY, JAN 15, 2016 1:40 AM

When George Lucas first broached the subject of following up American Graffiti, he proposed a bigscreen version of Flash Gordon, which was owned by Universal at the time. Instead, he went on to make the first Star Wars film for 20th Century Fox. Of course, Fox no longer has anything to do with Star Wars, which was sold to Disney, and Fox could use a little space opera magic of their own right about now. And, in no small bit of circular irony, it appears that it is the very property that sent George Lucas running to Fox in the first place that they're turning to for relief.

On his Facebook page today, screenwriter Mark Protosevich announced that he's writing Flash Gordon for 20th Century Fox, with Matthew Vaughn attached to direct. That is just plain great news. Protosevich has been first guy in on any number of intriguing geek properties over the years, and he wrote a draft of John Carter Of Mars that was one of the best action/fantasy scripts I've ever read.

Vaughn and Protosevich have been in each other's orbit before this, but I'm not sure to what extent. Protosevich did a pretty great job with an early pass at Thor, and there was a point where Vaughn and his co-writer/creative partner Jane Goldman were almost on Thor, and I'm curious if it was the Protosevich that got them interested in the first place.

"I can't wait to get started and if you're curious about the take? I'm not saying a word. All I'll say is this - it will be nothing like any version of Flash Gordon you've seen."

That's what Protosevich had to say about it before going silent again, and I'm thrilled for him and for Vaughn. Vaughn came onboard last year, when the script was still credited to J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Now it appears they're bringing in a new writer and they're hopefully picking up steam. I'd really like to see this film, because it's up to Matthew to create a brand-new version of something that has been iconically defined several times.

Perhaps he'll save every one of us.

EXCLUSIVE: As Paramount ramps up for the November 9 release of his horror film Overlord, Julius Avery has been set by Fox to write and direct Flash Gordon. This is the potential tent pole that once had Matthew Vaughn circling to direct. Vaughn will instead produce the film with John Davis and Hearst, whose head of film is C.J. Kettler.

Avery is an Australian director who made his debut on the Alicia Vikander-Ewan McGregor-starrer Son Of A Gun, and he made Overlord for Paramount and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest, and has been scaring up good reviews with the horror cognoscenti so far, scoring a 93 on Rottentomatoes.com as it gears up for a November 9 release. Avery grew up in Australia loving the Flash Gordon comic. He pitched his take and the studio and studio sparked to it and set him.

Flash Gordon is an adaptation of the pulp comic-strip hero who originated in 1934, with Flash pitted on the planet Mongo fighting its tyrannical ruler, Ming the Merciless. It was most famously adapted for the screen through the Buster Crabbe serials, but Seth MacFarlane’s Ted gave some serious hero worship of the 1980 campy Flash Gordon movie that starred Sam Jones as the character.

Fox senior vice president Matt Reilly is shepherding the film. Avery is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Gang, Tyre; Vaughn is WME and Brillstein.