News broke late today on Deadline that Rick Famuyiwa will replace Seth Grahame-Smith as the director of Warner Brother’s The Flash. Famuyiwa is best known for writing and directing Dope, a coming of age film about a teenager who moves into a neighborhood where he doesn’t fit in. Besides being a critical success, Dope also enjoyed a large amount of popular support and can currently be found streaming on Netflix.
Interestingly, Grahame-Smith was also signed on to write The Flash with help from Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Lord and Miller are also expected to work with Famuyiwa on FOX’s reboot of the 80’s TV comedy, The Greatest American Hero, which examines the idea for a truly ordinary person being given superpowers. It is unclear how Grahame-Smith’s exit will affect the films screenplay but Famuyiwa has plenty of writing experience with a writing credit on every directorial outing except for the recent HBO film Confirmation.
The Flash is expected to be released in 2018 starring Ezra Miller as forensic scientist turned superspeedster Barry Allen, who made two cameos in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and will be a part of the upcoming Justice League: Part One. It is unsure about which other characters will be a part of The Flash although rumors point to Iris West, Eobard Thawne (The Reverse Flash), Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash), Leonard Snart (Captain Cold), and Fred Chyre among others.
