Sony Pictures is in early talks to acquire the film rights for a new big-screen adaptation of "Flash Gordon" reports the trades.

Flash was a sports player who travels to the planet Mongo with his lady love, Dale Arden, and the mad scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. There, they discover a world ruled by Ming the Merciless and meet strange inhabitants such as the Hawkmen and the Sharkmen.

Originally a science fiction newspaper comic strip in the 1930s, it was first adapted to the screen via Buster Crabbe serials. In 1980 it became a big budget movie adaptation starring Sam Jones and Max von Sydow that dramatically flopped - though turned into a campy cult hit on video a few years later, thanks partly to its well-known theme song by Queen.

A low-budget Sci-Fi Channel series last year based on the property drew poor reviews and ever poorer ratings, it was summarily cancelled. "The Mummy" director Stephen Sommers also tried to adapt the property to film four years ago, but the project fell apart.

Breck Eisner ("Sahara") will direct and Neal Moritz will produce. No writers are on board to adapt. Eisner is expected to work on his "Creature From the Black Lagoon" remake first.