De Laurentiis
Since the 1960s, producer De Laurentiis, having produced "" and "Barbarella", became interested in making a film based on "Flash Gordon". Initially, De Laurentiis wanted Italian director Federico Fellini to direct the picture; although Fellini optioned the "Flash Gordon" rights from De Laurentiis, he never made the film. George Lucas attempted to make a "Flash Gordon" film in the 1970s; unable to acquire the rights from De Laurentiis, Lucas decided to create "Star Wars" instead. De Laurentiis then hired Nicolas Roeg to make the film. Roeg, an admirer of the original Alex Raymond comic strips, spent a year in pre-production work. However, De Laurentiis was unhappy with Roeg's treatment of "Flash Gordon", and Roeg left the project. De Laurentiis also considered hiring Sergio Leone to direct the "Flash Gordon" film; Leone refused, because he believed the script was not faithful to the original Raymond comic strips. De Laurentiis then hired Mike Hodges to direct.