Taika Waititi's 'Flash Gordon' Will Now Be A Live-Action Film

Taika Waititi is undeniably one of the busiest directors in Hollywood right now; however, it looks like he might have just gotten a bit busier.

According to Collider, he’s now working on a live-action adaptation of Flash Gordon.

Now, this news might cause some confusion for some who might recall the Academy Award winner announcing his involvement on a Flash Gordon project a few years ago. That project was initially planned to be animated though.

In a recent interview the site had with Jungle Cruise producer John Davis however, it was revealed that that is no longer the case. It will instead be developed as a live-action film now.

When talking about how the change from animated to live-action occurred, Davis said, “[While Taika was] writing it…he initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we got into it and started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better.'”

For those unfamiliar with the character or property as a whole, Flash Gordon is based on a 1930s comic strip of the same name. The series follows a handsome young athlete who, after traveling to planet called Mongo with his companions Dr. Hans Zarkov and Dale Arden, must face off against its ruthless conqueror Ming the Merciless.

Preying off of the Star Wars craze in the late 70’s, the strip was previously adapted into a film of the same name in 1980. While it didn’t deliver the same Box Office numbers as Lucasfilm’s iconic space opera, the film has since developed a cult following. Seth MacFarlane admired the film so much he parodied it in his 2012 film Ted.

There was also a short-lived series based on the comic strip that aired on the Syfy Channel in 2007.

While Waititi even has his own solo Star Wars film on his plate – and a live-action version of Akira, Davis insists that the projector is a priority for him. He says, ‘This movie embraces everything that’s special about Taika, and his vision.”

Just to confirm how busy Waititi is, he’s appearing in two of this summer’s biggest films: Free Guy and The Suicide Squad. Plus, he’s got a TV series airing on FX later this year (Reservation Dogs) and two films expected to come out next year, including Thor: Love and Thunder.

Even though we can’t say for sure when the film will drop, because of Waititi’s massive talent, it’ll absolutely worth the wait.