Taika Waititi Developing 'Flash Gordon' Animated Movie

Since he made his Hollywood debut with Thor Ragnarok, New Zealander director Taika Waititi has been quite in demand. He was set to make his debut animated film with the Starburns Industries film Bubbles for Netflix. Waititi recently left the project, now presumed cancelled in the fallout of the Leaving Neverland documentary (the film centred on Michael Jackson's chimp).

Fortunately, it turns out that's not the last animated film Waititi will be involved in, as he has reportedly signed on to a new animated Flash Gordon movie for Fox Animation (now of course-part of the Disney family).

Flash Gordon was last seen on the big screen in Mike Hodge's 1980 camp cult classic ("Flash aaaaaaaah saviour of the universe"), and Hollywood has been trying and failing for years to get Gordon alive yet again as a live-action movie. Now it seems that a fresh approach is being tried and it's being readied as an animated movie.

Waititi has been brought on to tackle the project, although his exact role is to be confirmed. If he does ultimately sign on to write and direct (a very exciting prospect) don't expect to see this for quite a while- he's currently finishing up his next film, after which he is moving onto the Akira live-action movie.

This seems like a prefect match of material and sensibilities, and fantastic news for anyone wanting to see Waititi move into animation. Thor Ragnarok was clearly influenced by Hodge's film. That's assuming of course they retain the campy tone rather than going a more ernest route. Either can work. But whatever happens... please for the love of Mickey, keep the iconic theme tune!

It's far too early to know what animation style this would take- but this could be a perfect opportunity to utilize retro-styled 2D animation, similar to the fan film made by Rob Pratt- unlikely as that may be. We'll keep you updated!



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