Ezra Miller Flash
Ezra Miller as The Flash in Justice League. Warner Bros

Warner Bros has turned to Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to direct the upcoming solo movie starring Ezra Miller as DC superhero and Justice League member The Flash.

The project has been in a state of constant flux since Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote a story treatment, turned down the opportunity to direct. Seth Grahame-Smith was brought on board, but later dropped out due to creative differences.

Dope's Rick Famuyiwa was then recruited and Kiersey Clemons was cast as female lead Iris West, but the director soon left – once again due to creative differences.

Robert Zemeckis, Sam Raimi and Matthew Vaughn were rumoured to be up for the job, then there were reports Lord and Miller were back in the mix following their firing from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

As of 17 January 2018, it will be Daley and Goldstein who direct. It's not know whether they will also take a pass at the script.

Variety broke the news, also revealing that the director's chair was offered to Ben Affleck – who plays Batman and was once set to direct himself in his own solo movie.

Daley and Goldstein are writing partners who directed 2015's Vacation reboot and the upcoming Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman comedy Game Night.

At San Diego Comic Con 2017 Warner Bros and DC Entertainment confirmed that the Flash movie would be based on a time-travelling, reality-altering Flashpoint series of comics - leading to speculation it might shake up the whole DC Extended Universe (DCEU) of films.

Warner Bros and DC have struggled to make the DCEU a true success. While there's been no true flop, each film to date has been beset by critical or commercial disappointment, with the exception of last year's Wonder Woman.

Man of Steel set the DCEU off in 2013, and was followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – which failed to cross $1bn at the box office, a target it should easily have hit. Suicide Squad was a success despite scathing reviews, and last year's Justice League was panned while struggling to make even close to what Batman v Superman made – despite the wealth of superheroes it starred.

Next up for the DCEU is James Wan's Aquaman in December, which stars Jason Momoa as the Atlantean, followed by Shazam! in 2019 with Zachary Levi in the lead role. Wonder Woman 2 is also set for 2019, with Flashpoint now expected in 2020.

Further movies including Suicide Squad 2 and new films based on Batgirl, Black Adam and the Green Lanterns are also in various forms of early production.