After original Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones made a brief appearance in the 2012 comedy Ted, many fans hoped it could revive the gestating Flash Gordon reboot that has been stuck in development hell for several years. Although nothing has been confirmed at this time, FilmDivider is reporting that Star Trek 3 writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are currently working on the script, with producer Jon Davis currently seeking a studio deal for the project.

This is the first we're hearing about the writers working on Flash Gordon, but a Mormon Artist interview with J.D. Payne also mentions the project briefly, although there are no quotes attributed to the screenwriter regarding Flash Gordon.

Their take is said to be similar to Breck Eisner's, who was attached to direct back in 2008, with Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama writing the script. The story will go back to the original comic strip created by Alex Raymond in 1934, forgoing any previous association to the 1980 Flash Gordon feature and even the early 1930s serial movies such as Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), which served as inspiration for George Lucas to create the original Star Wars trilogy. Aside from these serials and the 1980 movie, Flash Gordon was adapted into the 1979 animated TV series The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon and the live-action Syfy Flash Gordon series which ran from 2007 to 2008.

In the original Alex Raymond comics, Yale graduate and polo player Flash Gordon was kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo, where he does battle with Ming the Merciless alongside friends Dale Arden and Hans Zarkov. The tone of this new version is said to be similar to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, full of "adventure and razor's edge escapades, balanced by plenty of character work."

Of course, none of this has been confirmed. Do you think it's time we finally get a new version of Flash Gordon? Chime in with your thoughts below. Aside from Star Trek 3, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay also wrote the screenplay adaptation for Boilerplate, which J.J. Abrams is producing for Bad Robot.