A recent rumor suggested that The Flash movie is moving ahead with its casting process. But unfortunately, it seems like the progress is about to slow down for a while! The March 16, 2018 release has lost its director. Seth Grahame-Smith, who was hired to helm The Flash movie last October, has now left. The Hollywood Reporter confirms his exit.
Why did he leave? According to the report, Grahame-Smith pulled out of the Scarlet Speedster’s standalone movie due to “creative differences” with Warner Bros. Well, that is almost a regular event in Hollywood these days. Michelle MacLaren was initially signed to helm the Wonder Woman movie, but she eventually left the project for the same reason.
And with more than twenty-two months remaining before The Flash movie hits the theaters, the studio has ample time to hire another director. That's what they did when MacLaren left Diana Prince’s standalone movie. They hired Patty Jenkins, and there have been no further disturbances. So we don't need to be too worried about Seth Grahame-Smith's departure from the project.
The Flash movie was actually going to be the directorial debut of Grahame-Smith, who is best known for his best-selling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. He worked on the scripts of 2012’s Dark Shadows and the upcoming The Lego Batman Movie. Since The Flash movie was his first project as a director, it was unlikely that the studio would give him enough freedom in the creative process.
However, the project will still retain the script Grahame-Smith wrote, working from a treatment by The Lego Movie writers/directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The duo was reportedly the first choice for directing The Flash movie in its initial stages. But after they signed to direct the untitled Han Solo movie for the Star Wars franchise, it was no longer possible for them to take on the DC Extended Universe flick.
