Kiersey Clemons in "Extant"
Kiersey Clemons in “Extant” (CBS)

Announced a month ago, with HBO’s “Confirmation” behind him (his last directorial effort), Rick Famuyiwa (who also directed last year’s “Dope”) is set to direct Warner Bros’ “The Flash” superhero movie.

The WB has set a March 16, 2018 release date for the film which will star Ezra Miller.

Miller’s Flash, aka Barry Allen, was introduced in a cameo appearance in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and will appear in “The Justice League Part One,” which is now shooting and will be released in fall 2017.

Announced today by Variety, Famuyiwa is said to be eyeing his “Dope” co-star Kiersey Clemons for the female lead role in the Flash movie – Iris West; a character that is currently being played by Candice Patton in the CW TV series version based on the superhero. This might make the #KeepIrisBlack social media campaigners happy.

Clemons has been quite busy since “Dope,” with prominent roles on the big and small screens, from “Extant” and “Transparent,” to “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” and the upcoming “Flatliners” reboot.



Famuyiwa will direct from a script penned by Seth Grahame-Smith, based on a treatment by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

It’s a project that’s been in the works for sometime, having swapped directors at least twice over the years.

But it’s a huge move for Famuyiwa, especially at a time when discussions are plenty about filmmakers of color and women helming superhero franchises. Some may not know Famuyiwa actually existed before “Dope.” The man has been around for about 15 years, making his feature film debut in 1999 with “The Wood” (the dramedy that starred Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones), and followed that up with the Taye Diggs/Sanaa Lathan romantic-comedy-drama “Brown Sugar” in 2002, and another comedy-drama-romance in “Our Family Wedding” in 2010, which starred America Ferrera, Forest Whitaker, and Lance Gross.

All of his films are readily accessible on various home video platforms.