Fox Developing FLASHMAN Movie Adaptation

No, this isn't Fox's take on The Flash or a speedster of their own. Variety reports that 20th Century Fox is developing a movie called Flashman, which is based on a character that first appeared in an 1857 book called Tom Brown's School Days but was popularized by author George McDonald Fraser's novel series over a hundred years later.

The character of Harry Flashman was just a school bully in that first appearance, but Fraser thought it'd be interesting to come up with the character's memoirs, and over the course of multiple books, he imagined Flashman's life as an officer in the British Army in the 1830s, having him rise through the ranks and participate in major world events while still being "a scoundrel, a liar, a cheat, a thief, a coward—and oh yes, a toady."

Malcolm McDowell played the character once already in a 1975 movie called Royal Flash that was directed by Superman III director Richard Lester, but Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions will be responsible for this new take on the story. From the sound of it, it seems as if Fraser's book series is essentially a successful version of fan fiction, so it should be interesting to see if this story translates well to the big screen for modern audiences.