Flash Producer Talks About WB's Recall Process For Languishing Films

UPDATE: Dan Mazeau, current screenwriter on The Flash, has written to IGN following the piece we re-reported yesterday. "Everything is moving forward as planned," Mazeau said. "I'm still writing the script. Geoff Johns is still consulting. Flash fans have no cause for concern, and — IMO — lots to be excited about." Original article follows:

When DC Entertainment was formed a few weeks ago and Diane Nelson given the reigns, one of the actions reported was that the company would be recalling characters and projects that had long been stalled. The big example was Wonder Woman, which had gone undeveloped for many years in the hands of producer Joel Silver. Another character that has been in development hell for a while is the Flash. Now former producer Charles Roven talks about how WB and DC took the character back.

IGN spoke to Roven, whose description of the process is pretty straightforward:

Warner Bros. came to me and said, 'The work that you've been doing hasn't yet resulted in something that any of us, including the filmmaking team, feel could be greenlit as a movie. We're trying to accomplish something that takes into account the entire, rich DC character world, and we'd like to pull it back.

WB explained that he could still be involved as things went forward, but that a different approach was necessary. He mentions the David Goyer script they'd worked with at one point, which didn't generate a film, and that other options had been tried. Most recently, in February of this year, we'd heard that Johnny Quest scripter Dan Mazeau was writing The Flash for WB. Later we found that Geoff Johns was working on the project as well; is that now a dead horse, or is that development continuing?

If you're a fan of these characters, I don't see how this is anything but good. So many of DC's signature heroes have been allowed to stagnate. Not pointing any fingers — there are a lot of reasons why films never make it to the screen. But with Marvel doing such a good job now of getting the right talent on board and actually making the movies happen, there's no reason WB and DC can't follow suit.