How director Shawn Levy talked himself out of making THE FLASH

by Joey Paur



We really don't need this guy directing superhero movies anyway. Shawn Levy is the director that brought us films such as 'Cheaper By the Dozen', 'Just Married', 'The Pink Panther', and 'Night at The Museum' being his best film out of the bunch. Here is a guy that Warner Bros. brings in to direct the big screen film version of 'The Flash'. This shows you where Warner bros. head is at with this property. Why the hell would they want Levy?  This was around the time the writers strike was going, Justice League was actually getting into development and The Flash was in active development. Thank the heavens in high hell that this didn't go through and Levy was the guy to turn them down! Here is what he ended up telling the producers:

“If you’re looking for someone who can devote himself only to ‘The Flash,’ I can’t be your guy, because I’m the shepherd of my own franchise — ‘Night at the Museum’ — and I’m going to need to pay attention to that.”


Thank you! I do find it odd that he sacrificed a chance to direct a big budget superhero film for 'Night of the Museum'. Maybe deep down he realized he just didn't have what it takes to direct a good Flash movie. Or the guy was just smart enough to say he really just didn't have the time to do it, an didn't want to overload himself. Levy continued:

“That’s really what it was. We were doing development, and getting interesting places on the script, but they wanted someone with more time and focus than I was able to promise.”


Isn't it funny that Warner Bros. wanted to speed up the process on developing the film, and by moving forward with that decision they pretty much killed the project? As for whether or not he will ever make a superhero flick he says:

“You know what? It’s not a yearning for me. It’s a thing I’d love to try my hand at, but as I look at the work of guys like [Jon] Favreau, [Christopher] Nolan and Zack Snyder, it occurs to me that there are guys who are genuinely naturals at those sort of films. And I may or may not have that muscle.”


At least the guy realizes he really doesn't have what it take to make this kind of film. He's got his own thing going and it seems to be working out for him. I just thought this would be an interesting behind the scenes insight on how some things work within the entertainment industry. And also point out that we really had a close call with The Flash movie. It should be interesting to see who they bring on too direct it next.

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