Flash Director Andy Muschietti Reveals the Movie Will Concern Flashpoint and He’s Attached to a Howling Series for Netflix
IT director Andy Muschietti chatted about The Flash in Hollywood this week and disclosed a key piece of info related to the story. He mentioned as well another project he has in the works.
Muschietti revealed to That Hashtag Show the plot he and writer Christina Hodson are working on involves Flashpoint. Though the saga’s been told and retold a few times already in animation and on the CW series, Muschietti said it will be a “different version of Flashpoint than you’re expecting.”
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That’s the only update he offered but based on our ongoing coverage of a potential Flashpoint movie, the development of The Flash, and Warner Bros. new direction for DC Films, I imagine Muschietti helms a take that is different and also more contained.
Flashpoint relaunched the whole DC Universe into the New 52. Muschietti will probably work within certain confines that abandon the clutter of a shared universe – to the liking of WB execs – and focus on what he referred to as “a beautiful, human story” of Barry and his mom.
Of course, that means we won’t get a Flashpoint Batman in the upcoming film. While it could happen as a separate standalone feature project or HBO Max venture, it’s unlikely. Jeffrey Dean Morgan gave fans hope with his “masked comeback” post on New Year’s Eve but he already stated in 2018 the “paradox” idea is in steady-state limbo without Zack Snyder.
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Howling for Netflix
Muschietti also shared he’s finally moving on another horror project he’s wanted to do for some time: a Howling remake. Netflix is teaming up with him for a new adaptation of the cult classic based on the Gary Brandner novel.
In his story, housewife Karyn Beatty suffers a nervous breakdown and a miscarriage after a rape and a break-in. She and her husband go to the secluded California town of Drago for her recovery where they discover everybody is a werewolf.
The 1981 film directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins) differed greatly from the book. Karen White (Dee Wallace Stone) is an LA TV reporter investigating and corresponding with serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). She experiences flashbacks and a breakdown after Quist corners her and is apparently shot dead by police in the backroom of a porn shop.
Karen goes to The Colony, a mountainous retreat run by her psychiatrist Dr. Waggner (Patrick Macnee), to recuperate. The Colony turns out to be connected to Quist, who survived, and home to werewolves trying in vain to “tame what’s meant to be wild.”
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Released in 1981, The Howling was heralded for its groundbreaking makeup effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing). It won a Saturn Award for Horror and a devoted following that considers it the greatest werewolf movie of all time. Coming out the same year as An American Werewolf in London, there is somewhat of a rivalry between the two in some circles.
Dick Miller also delivered one of his finest performances ever in the supporting role of salty book dealer Walter Paisley – somebody who doesn’t appear in the novel.
The Howling was also cursed with sequels that never lived up to the original. Sadly, the franchise’s string of bad luck and faithless adaptation languishes on to this very day. If IT 1 and 2 are an indication, Muschietti will stick more closely to the source material than Dante did.
Netflix has done well adapting popular book series and delving into the horror genre. They found success with Stranger Things, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and The Haunting of Hill House which is getting a second season. The Witcher looks to be following that trend.
The Flash will zoom into theaters in July of 2022.
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