Barely six months since [he agreed to take on ](empireonline seth grahame-smith flash)the job, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies novelist Seth Grahame-Smith has quit Warner Bros. and DC's The Flash.
The writer and producer, who has created the screenplays for films such as Dark Shadows and ran US TV series The Hard Times Of RJ Berger, was announced as in charge of both scripting and directing the DC Extended Universe take on Barry Allen, who will be played by Ezra Miller after his cameo introduction in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. No official reason was given for Grahame-Smith's departure beyond the traditional "creative differences", but it has already set tongues wagging that the DCEU is going through a turbulent time, with talk that James Wan might be having second thoughts about Aquaman. But it's not unusual for big films to lose directors – Thor: The Dark World went through a couple and Edgar Wright famously left Ant-Manjust before he was about to begin shooting. (The Flash, by contrast, doesn't have to be on screens until 2018). And Grahame-Smith remains close with Warners; he's part of the writing team behind the ongoing Lego Movie universe and is writing and producing Beetlejuice 2.
Still, the "fastest man alive" needs a new director, who will work from Grahame-Smith's script, itself born from a treatment by Phil Lord and Chris Miller who were themselves considering directing before their schedules became too busy. Might we suggest one Rachel Talalay, who has done good work on the TV version of The Flash and also directed a few great episodes of Doctor Who?