Flashpoint's Future Might Depend On Justice League Movie's Success

With less than a month before Justice League hits theaters, the superhero team-up film has a lot riding on it--including future DC Entertainment films. While Aquaman has already wrapped filming for a 2018 release, there's a rumor floating around that the future of Flashpoint--the standalone movie featuring The Flash--could be in jeopardy.

The news comes from Variety film reporter Justin Kroll, who appeared on a recent episode of Meet the Movie Press. "I've been tracking various movies in this world, director-wise, specifically Flashpoint," he says. "I've heard they've slowed that search down to see how this film does."

If true, it's hard to blame Warner Bros. for hitting pause on the film at this point. Flashpoint was originally set to be directed by Seth Grahame-Smith, who left over creative differences. His replacement Rick Famuyiwa departed the project for the same reasons. Since then, names like Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) and Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie) have been reported as possible directors, though nobody has been properly announced.

Justice League is a major moment for the DC film universe, as it comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed and financially successful Wonder Woman. With the movie currently tracking for a bigger opening weekend than Wonder Woman, it may behoove the studio to wait and see how the movie truly performs before rocketing forward with yet another spinoff. After all, Wonder Woman 2 is already a guarantee, while Shazam is currently in pre-production for a 2019 release. And that's all before any critical response to Justice League, which could change the way the movie is received by the general public.

With so many superhero movies already in the pipeline, taking your time with Flashpoint isn't a bad idea. Given how important the character of The Flash is to not only the Justice League, but the entire DC universe, it's one Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment need to make sure they get right.

Justice League is in theaters on November 17.