The Flash (film)

***The Flash*** is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Barry Allen incarnation of DC Comics character the Flash. Produced by DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the fourth film in the DC Movie Universe. The film was directed by Neil Marshall, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman from a story by Greg Berlanti and Geoff Johns, and stars Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Kate Mara, Eric Bana, Kristen Bell, Oscar Isaac, and Bill Pullman. After being struck by lightning, CSI investigator Barry Allen awakens from a coma and discovers he has superhuman speed. When his city is at the risk of destruction, Barry dedicates himself to protecting the innocent and puts his powers to the test.

Warner Bros. hired comic book writer Jeph Loeb to write a screenplay in the late-1980s, but the outing never materialized. Development for a film adaptation was revived in 2002. Orci and Kurtzman were hired to write the script in early 2005, and Marshall was hired a year later to direct the film. Principal photography took place in Kansas City between March and July 2009.

*The Flash* was released on June 4, 2010 and grossed over $418 million against a production budget of $95 million. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the light atmosphere, special effects, and the performances of the cast. The film spawned two sequels, *The Flash: Enter Zoom* and *Flashpoint*, and were released in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

## Cast

* Chris Pine as Barry Allen / The Flash
	+ Kodi Smit-McPhee as 9-year old Barry Allen
* Viggo Mortensen as Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash and Harrison Wells
* Kate Mara as Iris West
* Eric Bana as Leonard Snart / Captain Cold
* Kristen Bell as Dr. Louise Lincoln
* Oscar Isaac as Paco Ramone
* Bill Pullman as Darryl Frye

John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen in the 1990 TV series *The Flash*, plays Barry's father Henry. Anna Gunn portrays Barry's mother Nora.

## Production

### Development

Development of a film based on the DC Comics character the Flash began in the late 1980s when Warner Bros. hired comic book writer Jeph Loeb to write a screenplay. That version of the film did not materialize.

Warner Bros. was planning a new shared universe of films based on DC Comics by March 2001, and had tentative plans to release a *Flash* film in 2004. In May 2002, Warner Bros. and DC Films announced a slate of planned projects as part of the new DC Extended Universe (DCEU). *The Flash* was set for a 2006 release. By April 2003, Greg Berlanti and Geoff Johns were writing a story treatment for the film with the possibility of Chris Columbus directing it. After Columbus decided to direct *Rent* (2005) instead, David S. Goyer entered negotiations to write and direct the film based on Berlanti and Johns’ treatment in October 2003. Goyer was set to make his directorial debut with the film, with Johns producing. Goyer left the project in April 2004, citing creative differences. Warner Bros. chose to retain his script, and he was still expected to be involved in the project moving forward. A search for a replacement director began immediately.

Catherine Hardwicke was hired to take over as director in June 2004, with Warner Bros. feeling that Hardwicke’s vision for the film would both resonate with younger audiences and also be compatible with Goyer’s existing script. Filming was expected to begin later in 2004 and was not believed to be delayed by the director change. Hardwicke completed a revision of the script in August. At the end of October, Hardwicke left the project after not being able to "come together creatively" with the studio, who disagreed with the direction that Hardwicke wanted to take the film.

The film was put on hold while the studio searched for a new director. During that time, Warner Bros. decided to take the film in a new direction and in January 2005, William Monahan was hired to do a page-one rewrite of the script. He handed in a draft by May. David Hayter contributed to the script in July.

In May 2006, Todd Phillips entered negotiations to write and direct the film with Scot Armstrong. Phillips and Armstrong were confirmed in July 2006, but left the project later that year. In July 2007, Warner Bros. chose Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to write a new screenplay. Neil Marshall entered negotiations to direct the film, and a January 2008 pre-production start expected. The involvement of Marshall, Orci and Kurtzman was confirmed in November 2007, when filming was expected to begin in 2009. A month later, Warner Bros. scheduled *The Flash* for release on June 11, 2010.

### Casting

Before Chris Pine was cast as Barry Allen in August 2008, Chris Evans, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hayden Christensen, Dan Stevens, and Ryan Gosling were considered for the role.

*More coming soon*

### Filming

Principal photography began in March 2009 in Kansas City. Filming concluded in July.

## Music

Tyler Bates composed the score for *The Flash*, with additional work from music duo Tomandandy. The soundtrack album was released by WaterTower Music on June 8, 2010.

## Marketing

### **Viral marketing**

In April 2009, a website for S.T.A.R. Labs launched with articles on artificial intelligence, genetics and meta-human studies. On July 23, the website updated with news about the development of the particle accelerator, which was publicly intended to create new methods of energy, scientific research, and medicine, and much more. On September 23, the site confirmed the launch of the particle accelerator. A few hours after the announcement was made, the website crashed. When it came back on, it was announced that the particle accelerator had exploded. A few days later, the site shut down after reporting that S.T.A.R. Labs had been categorized as a class four hazardous location.

On January 22, 2010, a blog site written by Iris West was released called *The Streak*. On the blog, Iris documents her sightings of The Flash. Around the same time of the launch of the blog, a mobile app called StreakCam was released for iOS and Android that could “detect nearby sightings of The Flash”. When at the location, a streak of The Flash would quickly appear on the app’s camera and appear as if The Flash is in the user’s real-world location. Fans sent their pictures to *The Streak* to be posted. On February 5, the first photo from the film was released, depicting Barry Allen in his Flash costume.

### **Trailers**

A 15-second teaser for the film was shown alongside the IMAX release of *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*. A full-length teaser trailer was screened during *The Flash* panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. An international teaser was released on September 20, 2009. The US theatrical trailer was released on October 9, 2009 and was attached to *Man of Steel*, *The Twilight Saga: New Moon*, and *Avatar*. On December 31, 2009, the first three promotional teaser posters were released.

The first still from the film was released on February 5, 2010, and *Empire* released exclusive images from the film in its April issue. The second theatrical trailer made its debut during Super Bowl XLIV before being released online. A TV spot aired on The CW on April 2, 2010 during *Smallville*. On April 14, the first clip from the film was released on the film's website. The final trailer premiered in theaters on April 16 at screenings of *Kick-Ass* and *Clash of the Titans*, then soon after premiered online on Yahoo! on April 22. The trailer was later attached to *The Losers*, *A Nightmare on Elm Street*, and *Iron Man 2*. The trailer also aired on ESPN on April 25 during an MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.  Another clip of the film was shown during the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.

### **Promotions**

Promotional deals were made with Nokia, Lexus, Verizon FiOS, Intel, and Papa John's Pizza.

On June 4, 2009, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that a video game based on *The Flash* was in development with Terminal Reality and would be released in 2010. The game was unveiled on November 27, 2009 on the film’s website prior to the release of its debut teaser trailer on GameTrailers TV. The first full-length trailer was released on December 15, 2009. The launch trailer came out on May 28, 2010. The game was officially released on June 8, 2010 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3.

## Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of 177 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.75/10. The website's consensus reads, "*The Flash* benefits from its purposefully light atmosphere, making it a superhero movie uniquely geared toward genre fans as well as novices." Metacritic, which assigns a rating reviews, gives the film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.