Warner’s Search For A Director To Helm The Flash Has Reportedly Narrowed To A Two-Horse Race

UPDATE: THR notes that Sam Raimi is also being eyed to direct.

ORIGINAL STORY: Following the back-to-back departure of Seth Grahame-Smith and Dope helmer Rick Famuyiwa, Warner Bros. is reportedly on the verge of naming a director to helm The Flash.

Variety is reporting today that the studio’s shortlist has now been whittled down to two leading candidates: Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) and Robert Zemeckis, who was first linked with the Scarlett Speedster’s solo flick late last month. Warner Bros. declined to offer any comment at the time of writing, though it’s important to keep in mind that Variety’s source claims other candidates are still in the mix – they’ve just fallen down the pecking order to make room for the studio’s top choices.

Based on their respective slates, Zemeckis is surely the more likely of the two to sign on for The Flash. The Back to the Future filmmaker is often championed as a bona fide visionary in visual effects – from The Walk to Denzel Washington’s Flight, many of the director’s creative efforts often turn out to be a visual delight – which ought to dovetail with Warner’s as-yet-mysterious plans for a Flash solo movie.

Vaughn, on the other hand, currently has his hands full with Fox’s lucrative Kingsman franchise. Not only is the writer-director poised to launch The Golden Circle later this year, but there’s already been talk of a third Kingsman movie kicking into gear in the not-so-distant future. Perhaps Matthew Vaughn simply held talks with Warner Bros. in order to force the issue of a threequel? We’ll leave that one to you.

Nevertheless, The Flash has been in stasis ever since Rick Famuyiwa made for the exit door. A lack of tangible progress lent Warner the necessary time to order a page-one rewrite from Joby Harold, but surely these reports of Robert Zemeckis (or Matthew Vaughn?) closing a deal will signal the end of the film’s production woes?