As we reported earlier this summer, Dope director Rick Famuyiwa has replaced Seth-Grahame Smith as director of DC’s The Flash (Smith dropped out due to Hollywood’s favorite ambiguous reason to leave a project, “creative differences”). Now, Variety reports that Famuyiwa might be reuniting with Dope star Kiersey Clemons, his top choice for the female lead of The Flash. Warner Bros. did not provide any comment on the casting possibility, and the exact character Clemons is in the running for has not been announced. But according to insiders, Famuyiwa likely has her in mind to play Iris West, journalist and close friend of Barry Allen. (Candice Patton plays Iris in the television iteration of The Flash.)
Since Dope, Clemons also starred alongside Chloë Grace Moretz in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and has landed one of the lead roles in Sony’s Flatliners remake, which also stars Kiefer Sutherland, Ellen Page, Nina Dobrev, and Diego Luna. She also has had recurring roles on Transparent, New Girl, and Extant. To make matters a little more interesting, Borys Kit, who runs The Hollywood Reporter’s geek blog Heat Vision, tweeted that singer Rita Ora and Lucy Boynton are also in the mix for the role of Iris. Hopefully Clemons will win that battle.
Despite the initial director setback, The Flash is still expected to begin production this year. Ezra Miller will play Barry Allen/The Flash, and made his first appearance as the character in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The studio is holding onto Smith’s most recent draft of the script, based on a treatment co-penned by Clone High writers Chris Miller and Phil Lord.