1980’s Flash Gordon is considered a camp classic sci fi movie and is well-remembered by those who saw it when it first came out as well as those who have discovered it in the years since.
A sequel was teased just before the end credits rolled, but that did not happen and many have wondered why we never had another adventure with Flash and Dale and Zarkov and Prince Barin and Princess Aura and the rest. As it turns out, the star of the movie himself may have been the reason that a sequel was never made.
Flash Gordon, which starred Sam Jones as the title character, Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, and Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, was not a Box Office smash in the States, pulling in only $27 million vs. a $35 million budget. But apparently it did quite well overseas (neither Box Office Mojo nor IMDb have the full numbers on its foreign tally, though), and there were early plans to do a sequel. According to an interview with the film’s director Mike Hodges, Sam Jones dropped out when he became annoyed with the director and producer and allegedly killed the project.
Apparently, Hodges had to film some additional scenes for the first film after the principal photography had been completed and Jones was not present during this because only his stunt double was needed for these action and special effects scenes. But the Flash Gordon character did need to say a few lines and Hodges had someone else impersonate Jone’s voice. When the actor found out, he was none too pleased and this led to him falling out with producer Dino De Laurentiis. Thus, according to Hodges “when you lose your main star there can’t really be a sequel”.
Had the first Flash Gordon movie been more successful at the Box Office, I’m guessing that something could have been worked out. But since it was perceived as a modest flop domestically, apparently Hodges and De Laurentiis decided to move on to other projects. The film would later do well in encore runs on the cable channels and would also enjoy good returns from home video rentals and sales, so it is possible something could have happened into the late 80s. But Hollywood had moved on by that time, and the film had not achieved its cult classic status yet, so a sequel never happened. You can read more about the movie at this link.
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