The 2012 Disney Flop That Ended The Chances Of A Flash Gordon Reboot Movie
"Flash! A-ah! Savior of the universe!" Those Queen lyrics stir up something special in anyone who has ever watched 1980's "Flash Gordon," starring Sam J. Jones as the eponymous hero and Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless. Despite the sci-fi film establishing itself as a cult classic and having legions of fans, a reboot film has never materialized. However, that nearly changed in the 2010s.
Filmmaker Steven E. de Souza, who's known for his work on franchises such as "Die Hard," "Street Fighter," and "Beverly Hills Cop," told Den of Geek that he completed a script for a "Flash Gordon" reboot in the '90s. A merry-go-round of changes occurred, but his script was revived years later. There was only one issue. "But then 'John Carter' came along and now 'Flash Gordon' is probably dead for 10 years," de Souza said. "Anybody who opens that script will go, 'This is just like "John Carter"!' For better or for worse, there are a lot of similarities between 'Flash Gordon' and 'John Carter.'"
Released in 2012 and starring Taylor Kitsch, "John Carter" was envisioned as the next big franchise for Disney. The problem is that the studio spent around $350 million on the film, and it only made around $284 million worldwide. There are many reasons as to why "John Carter" flopped, but it was an undeniable expensive failure for Disney. As de Souza mentioned, this would have put off any studio from trying to make a movie about a similar hero.
There was a Flash Gordon reboot on TV
Even though a "Flash Gordon" reboot movie still feels further away than the planet Mogo, the King of the Impossible received his own live-action TV series in 2007. "Flash Gordon" aired for a single season on Syfy, with Canadian actor Eric Johnson (who might be familiar to you as Erik from "Vikings") playing the titular hero and John Ralston appearing as Ming.
"Smallville" fans who loved the show's less-than-superheroic take on Clark Kent (Tom Welling) recognized Johnson at the time for portraying Whitney Fordman, the Joe College, all-American lad competing with Clark for Lana Lang during Season One. Unfortunately, Johnson's charisma couldn't save the joyless slog that was this latest "Flash Gordon." Considering how vibrant and over the top the 1980 "Flash Gordon" movie had been, this series lacked the same fun factor and enjoyability. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a pitiful 15% critical approval rating, though the audience score is considerably higher at 60%.
Having said that, it's unlikely that anyone lists the 2007 "Flash Gordon" series above the movie (if they do, make sure they aren't trolling you intentionally). At least Johnson went on to bigger and better things in his future.