Thread by @NebsGoodTakes

A extensive timeline of the VERY long and absurdly troubled production history of WB's The Flash movie

Thread 🧵

In the late 1980s, WB hired Jeph Loeb to write a screenplay for The Flash

This never materialized, and WB would not be interested in The Flash again until the early 2000s

In 2004, WB was impressed by David Goyer's script for Batman Begins and approached him with the offer of writing and directing aGreen Lantern or The Flash film

He chose The Flash, and initially suggested that Ryan Reynolds should play the lead role of Wally West

In February 2007, David Goyer announced on his MySpace page that he was no longer working on The Flash

"The God's honest truth is that WB and myself simply couldn't agree on what would make for a cool Flash film."

2 days later, it was announced that Shawn Levy would take over as writer and director of The Flash, with elements of David Goyer's script intended to remain

He would later depart the project to prioritize making Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

In October 2007, David Dobkin had signed on to direct The Flash, with Craig Wright handling the script

It was confirmed as a spin-off of the upcoming film Justice League: Mortal, which was going to end with the death of Barry Allen and have Wally West assume his mantle

At this point, everything hinged on George Miller's Justice League: Mortal, with Adam Brody and Anton Yelchin cast as Barry Allen and Wally West respectively

The movie's concept art showed Barry's classic Flash suit, and Wally having a new black suit following Barry's demise

WB had fast tracked Justice League: Mortal in hopes to avoid the upcoming writer's strike, but they were too late, and had to resume production in 2008

They were then denied a tax rebate from the Australian government, for (allegedly) not casting enough Australian actors

Production of Justice League: Mortal was moved to Vancouver but the film was doomed as it suffered even more delays

WB then wanted to focus more on their solo superhero films due to the success of The Dark Knight, and were unsure of having simultaneous adaptations of Batman

Meanwhile in 2009, WB brought on producer Charles Roven and comic writer Geoff Johns to work on The Flash film, with Dan Mazeau to write the script

The movie's production seems vague at this point in the timeline, with archived + paywalled articles and missing citations

In 2010, it was announced that WB hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, and Marc Guggenheim to write treatments for Green Lantern 2 and The Flash

The Flash would now be using Barry Allen as the lead, with Geoff Johns having brought the character back in the comics at the time

As of 2012, that version of The Flash movie was "still in development" despite 2011's Green Lantern being WB's very own Hindenburg disaster

Speaking of the Hindenburg, we've now arrived at the announcement of the DC Extended Universe

In October 2014, WB had announced a brand new slate of DC movies following Zack Snyder's Man of Steel

The Flash was to be released in 2018, with Snyder choosing Ezra Miller to play the lead role of Barry Allen, having loved their performance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

WB initially offered James Wan the choice of directing either The Flash or Aquaman, with him ultimately choosing Aquaman, due to The Flash having already been done multiple times on TV at this point

In April 2015, duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller were working on the treatment for The Flash and were possibly going to direct it, but had instead chosen to direct Solo: A Star Wars Story

However, they remained as producers of the film

In October 2015, Seth Grahame-Smith was set to direct The Flash, being his directorial debut and still working with Lord and Miller's treatment

In April 2016, Seth Grahame-Smith left the film citing creative differences, but with the project retaining his script

In June 2016, Rick Famuyiwa was hired to direct The Flash

His version of the film was said to resonate more with young viewers while still being compatible with the pre-existing script by Seth-Grahame Smith

In the following month, actress Kiersey Clemons was cast as Iris West, beating out Rita Ora and Lucy Boynton for the role

Additionally, Ray Fisher's Cyborg and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman were also set to appear in the film

In September 2016, Rick Famuyiwa had completed a revision of the film's script and posted an image with Flash and Cyborg Funko Pops, implying Cyborg would have a large role as Barry's best friend in the film

https://twitter.com/RickFamuyiwa/status/780507720747065345

Earlier in 2016, during a TV special aired before the premiere of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, concept art was revealed of what this version of The Flash movie would look like, with Barry handling street-level crime and doing detective work

Months before filming, Rick Famuyiwa exited The Flash, citing creative differences with WB

"Sources say that the Dope helmer’s vision of making a movie with more edge clashed with the studio’s take."

The film was put on hold while WB sought a new director and Ezra Miller prepared to film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Later, WB had decided to take the film in a new direction and hired Joby Harold to completely rewrite the film, who then handed in a draft in May

In this period, WB asked Robert Zemeckis, Matthew Vaughn, Sam Raimi, Marc Webb, Jordan Peele, and Ben Affleck to direct The Flash

They all either had scheduling conflicts or denied the offer outright

At San Diego Comic-Con 2017, WB announced The Flash movie was to be renamed Flashpoint, revealing the movie would now revolve around the storyline where Barry Allen went back in time to save his mother's life

Dan Mazeau worked on the script during this time

Later that year, Geoff Johns was asked if the film would include Thomas Wayne as Batman, to which he didn't give a definitive answer

Jeffrey Dean Morgan expressed interest in the role, having already played Thomas Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

In January 2018, WB approached duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to direct Flashpoint, who were then confirmed as the film's new directors in March

The movie's title reverted back to The Flash in April

Filming was expected to begin in February 2019 but was delayed due to Ezra Miller's role in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and was now slated to be released in 2021

Ezra Miller wasn't a fan of Goldstein and Daley's lighter take on the script, and recruited legendary comics writer Grant Morrison to work on a new script with them

WB gave them two weeks to write their script, and were then going to choose between the two versions

Ezra Miller and Grant Morrison's take on The Flash was inspired by Back to the Future, but WB wanted the film to explore more of the multiverse instead, rejecting their script but retaining Ezra Miller in the lead role

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein exited The Flash in July 2019, citing creative differences

Later on during the chokeslam incident, Daley had tweeted "creative differences" implying the duo didn't get along with Ezra Miller at this time, to put it mildly

At the same time, it was revealed WB approached It & It Chapter Two director Andy Muschietti to direct The Flash

Additionally, Christina Hodson(Bumblebee, Birds of Prey, Batgirl) was chosen to write a new script for the film

Their involvement was confirmed in November

Production for The Flash finally seemed on track with Andy Muschietti set to direct, Barbara Muschietti to produce, Christina Hodson set to write, and the movie to be released in July 2022

It was then pushed forward a month earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic

In June 22, it was reported that Michael Keaton entered negotiations to return as Batman in The Flash, implying the film was no longer interested in adapting Thomas Wayne's Batman from the Flashpoint storyline

At this time, Ray Fisher spoke to Andy Muschietti about his role as Cyborg in the film, and they had set a two-week shoot for him to appear as a cameo alongside other Justice League members

He was offered a fraction of his traditional salary, and ultimately removed from the film

In April, a video surfaced of Ezra Miller appearing to choke a woman at the Prikið Kaffihús bar in Iceland

They were escorted out by staff members and no arrests were made

In August 2020, Ben Affleck was also confirmed to return as Batman

Later in September, during DC's virtual Fandome event, Michael Keaton's involvement in the film was confirmed with new concept art revealing his Batman fighting alongside Barry Allen, with a new Flash suit

During an interview from the DC Fandome event, Barbara Muschietti said that the film would be used to restart DC's cinematic universe, while still acknowledging what had come previously

The Flash was hit by several more COVID-related production delays, but was still being actively worked on

In February 2021, director Andy Muschietti posted a video of himself with actress Sasha Calle on Zoom, surprising her with a Supergirl suit and saying she got the part

In March 2021, Michael Keaton stated he hadn't read the latest version of the script and would have to do so before deciding if he'd stay on, citing COVID as a concern

Despite this, he would eventually stay on

After 30 years of production, principal photography on The Flash finally began on April 19th, 2021

The logo for the film was also revealed

On July 29th 2021, filming was halted as a camera operator collided with the Batcycle

Thankfully he was not seriously injured, and filming wrapped on October 18th 2021

On January 28th 2022, Ezra Miller posted a video on Instagram telling a chapter of the KKK in North Carolina to kill themselves

In March 2022, WB delayed The Flash to release in June 2023, with the film having 2,500 VFX shots still needing to be completed

Later that month, Ezra Miller was arrested in Hawaii and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment for their behavior at a bar

Miller later claimed they were "accosted by a Nazi", and that they often film themselves being assaulted to sell for NFT crypto art

In April 2022, they were once again taken into custody in Hawaii for second-degree assault, where they allegedly threw a chair at a woman's head after being asked to leave a private event

They then plead no contest to the previous bar incident and were fined $500

In June 2022, a restraining order for Ezra Miller was requested by the Iron Eyes family due to their relationship with their child, Gibson Iron Eyes

They had been accused of grooming this child since they were 12, allegedly having given Gibson LSD and leaving bruises on them

Later, Gibson released a video denying their parents' allegations, claiming every decision they made was their own

They also claimed to not have a phone at the time, leaving the video suspect for most

Ezra Miller would then make several Instagram posts appearing to mock the authorities looking for them

One post said "you cannot touch me I am in another universe"

The Iron Eyes family then attempted to obtain a permanent order of protection against Ezra Miller but it was dismissed, they also withdrew their request for full custody over Gibson

During all of this, WB saw themselves with 3 possible scenarios for The Flash film:

1. Ezra getting help and doing limited press

2. Market the movie without Ezra doing any press whatsoever, and then recast

3. Scrap the film completely

As of now I think they went with 1?

There's more involving child harassment allegations in Massachusetts and a farm in Vermont but quite frankly you should be going to their Wikipedia page for more on this information given the Twitter character limit

In August 2022 Ezra Miller was charged with felony burglary for stealing rice wine from a childhood friend's home

They thought they were still friends and allowed in the home, and plead guilty to trespassing to get the burglary charge dropped

Later that month, Ezra Miller released a statement to Variety, claiming to have already begun treatment for their "complex mental health issues" and issued an apology to all of those they hurt

After over 30 years of production, the first trailer for The Flash was released during the 2023 Superbowl

Due to extreme confidence from early test screenings, WB screened The Flash early at CinemaCon 2023 to a largely positive response

Following positive responses from CinemaCon attendees, WB has decided to market The Flash with the bizarre strategy of several random celebrity endorsements

These include Tom Cruise, Stephen King, Terry Cruise's entire family, Jaden Smith, and more

Finally, The Flash is set to release 11 days from now and WB is banking on it making 5 billion dollars

I've already seen it and thought it was great, not the road I would've preferred to get here but it is what it is👍