Fox Developing ‘Flash Gordon’ Movie Penned By ‘Star Trek 3’ Writers

It’s being reported that 20th Century Fox has acquired the movie rights to Flash Gordon, the popular pulp comic that was first created way back in 1934.

The acquisition is a package deal that includes producer John Davis, who spent over a year trying to secure the rights after previous rights holders such as Universal, Sony, and Manderlay Pictures were unable to make the movie happen, and Star Trek 3 writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay working on the script.

The Flash Gordon comic follows a polo player who, along with companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov, travel to the planet Mongo to stop Ming the Merciless from using meteors as weapons to attack Earth.

The property was already turned into a movie in the ’80s with Sam Jones starring as Gordon, a football player instead of a polo player. Jones also played the character in a cameo for the 2012 Seth MacFarlane comedy Ted.

Davis first hired George Nolfi to pen a draft of the script before Payne and McKay were brought in to work on it. Nolfi will also be a producer on the movie.