In an updated version…I wonder (seriously, not in the "I hate Lucas for ruining Star Wars theme") what direction would be most appreciated for today's audience.
In these days of the general public being ok with sparkle/glitter vampires I am not sure if this would be a good idea.
The Flash Gordon movie, it is what it is-you like it or you don't, he was blond and athletic…and had Flash on his shirt, that is about as close to Flash Gordon as he got…the movie replaced pulp with cheese, and it worked for a separate movie…which is weird because an effort was made to stay true to Ming, Voltan, etc.
If I had my choices I would stay with the original time period and theme.
(clipped from wiki)
The comic strip follows the adventures of Flash Gordon, a handsome polo player and Yale graduate
I am not so sure that a polo player would score highly with the general audience…perhaps a soccer player? Not that this is a huge part of the character, but this suggests high endurance, speed, team play, etc.
Since the bulk of the Earth contact is limited I would choose to go with period rather than modern. This would help with the suspended belief of the pulp ideals.
Now I really liked Sky Captain, the coloring and the mood was spot on but it was an odd movie for general audiences and that does not equate to big box office results.
A really decent TV series might be interesting…maybe an AMC rather than SyFy channel.
harvests scenario ideas from The Third World War.