Flash Gordon will return to the big screen in a movie penned by Star Trek 3 writers, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, with a treatment by George Nolfi (Bourne Ultimatum), who also joins John Davis as one of the film’s producers.

Created in 1934 by Alex Raymond, Flash Gordon has long been a popular superhero, known for his adventures on the planet Mongo. With the help of mad scientist Hans Zarkov and the beautiful Dale Arden, Gordon courageously battles the planet’s tyrannical leader, Ming the Merciless.

Hollywood was aware of Flash Gordon’s potential to sell tickets from the beginning, releasing Flash Gordon movies as early as the 1930’s. There have also been TV adaptations. The last feature film was a cheesy flick in 1980 starring Sam J. Jones. The upcoming reboot is expected to stay more faithful to the original comic strips. There have been several attempts to do another movie, with sights set on a possible franchise.

An early supporter of the project, Fox executive Matt Reilly will oversee production. Reilly worked on The Lego Movie before joining Fox.