In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Sci-Fi classic FLASH GORDON, totalscifionline sat down with director Mike Hodges, where it was revealed – dun dun duuuunnnn! – that there was supposed to be a second installment! Why didn’t it happen? Mr. Hodges explains how differences between Producer Dino De Laurentiis and star Sam J. Jones did in the follow up film:
”I was very fond of Sam but here’s what happened: we did the main shooting up until Christmas and then we stopped for the break. After Christmas I came back and did all of the second unit stuff too. For instance, I had to do the shots with the flying men and that sort of thing—what passed as special effects back then (laughs). So I also had to shoot a whole bunch of other stuff with a stunt double for Sam and I had to re-voice the occasional line of dialogue too. Not much but some—and I got somebody to impersonate Sam’s voice. You would never know it wasn’t him.
But Sam found out and I think that was one factor that led to him being upset. And Dino and he just did not see eye to eye for a while. So when you lose your main star there can’t really be a sequel.”
A sad day for fan boys everywhere, no doubt. But take heart – we most likely haven’t seen the death of this cult sensation!