'Flash Gordon' heading back to the big screen
American sci-fi hero Flash Gordon will star in a new adaptation by 20th Century Fox.
In many ways an ancestor to the modern-day cast of Marvel and DC superheroes, Flash Gordon first appeared in a 1934 comic strip of the same name.
Without any super powers, he had for a mission to save Earth from the invading armies of Ming the Merciless, a bloodthirsty tyrant from an alien planet.
Installed as screenwriters are JD Payne and Patrick McKay, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with producer John Davis about to close the deal with Fox.
Though Payne and McKay may not be widely known, they are regarded as hot property in Hollywood, standing behind the script for a proposed third film in the rebooted "Star Trek" series.
It won't be the first time that Flash Gordon's adventures have been adapted for big or small screens, though surrounded by the ever-expanding cinematic universes of Marvel and DC, it represents Fox's shot at getting in on the superhero action while updating a comic icon for modern tastes.
Previous adaptations saw Queen soundtrack a 1980 feature that had "Get Carter" director Mike Hodges at the helm and Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton and Golden Globe double-winner Chaim Topol in significant roles; more recently, the Syfy channel launched a 21-episode TV series that ran through 2007 and 2008.
