Movies FANTASTIC FOUR [2015] Thread v.2 (Dragonlord's Review)

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 4, 2015

Dragonlord's Review of FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

Bottom Line: With a dark, grounded sci-fi approach, Josh Trank's Fantastic Four takes a long time to set up but breaks apart during the second half with a disjointed direction, lack of character interactions and overall poor script.

Fox's Fantastic Four reboot underwent a lot of negative press, from the Johnny Storm casting to the the studio being displeased at how the film turned out to director Josh Trank's rumored erratic behavior during production. But there was a glimmer of hope when the amazing first trailer was released which conveyed the film as a dark sci-fi adventure. Unfortunately all the reported production problems turned out to be true.

The film takes a long time setting up how the team got their powers. Didn't really mind the long origin story as the narrative was quite compelling. Having followed the production from the start, my mindset had already adjusted to the fact that this was going to take a lot of liberties from the source material. Felt like a dark, grounded science fiction drama with a dash of David Cronenberg-esque body horror vibe rather than the typical superhero movie with the first half of the film and the character development being decently entertaining. Ironically, the film goes downhill when our heroes finally get their powers.

The major problems start to pile up when the narration time-jumps to one year in the second half of the film. There's a sense of disjointedness in the plot direction and character development after the fast-forward. Much of the film is narrated through the eyes of Reed Richards. So when Reed disappears in a pointless interlude, the film also loses its identity. The four main characters barely have any interaction with one another and the family dynamic and team chemistry were non-existent. The rushed pace, terrible dialogue and a landfill of exposition didn't help either. Instead of building up the threat, Doctor Doom's re-emergence near the end felt tacked on. The sad part is that the film's actual running time is 100 minutes but could easily added 20-30 minutes to boost character development and fix the pacing problems.

It's too bad the script doesn't match the young, talented cast assembled. Among the four, Miles Teller as Reed Richards shines the most as the dorky genius. Her face is normally a bit off-putting for me but Kate Mara was pretty in here and did a solid job as Sue Storm. The terrific Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm was shortchanged as he was notably absent from the first half of the movie (and going back to my complaint of very few character interactions). Despite all the hoopla and controversy over his casting, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm was nothing special. Except for Reed, the other three members lacked any significant character development.

The action at the finale was pretty shoddy. Some of the special effects look bad like the Human Torch's flame form. Doctor Doom looks so terrible it makes you yearn for the bad Julian McMahon version. One cool and surprisingly brutal aspect of Doom's power is to easily blow up people's heads Scanners-style leaving a lot of blood splatter as a result. Inexplicably, Doom doesn't use these techniques to dispatch the heroes when they battle. Another minus is that they don't properly explain what Doom's powers are. The Thing looks and sounds good but still wish he would wear pants/underwear even if he doesn't have any genitalia anymore.

Overall, the first half of the movie was fairly good but everything got screwed up after the one-year time-jump. The film is like a 4-part mini-series, but the 2nd episode was never shown and the 3rd and 4th episodes are crammed into one. You deduct 3+ stars to my rating if you are one of those persons who can't accept drastic changes from the source material or hate this film's casting. If you want an excellent Fantastic Four movie, just watch The Incredibles again.

RATING: 4.5/10


Table of Contents:

Post 1: Dragonlord's Review
Post 2: Dragonlord's 14 Ways to Fix Fantastic Four Fiasco
Post 3-13: Details on the Troubled Production
Post 20: Dragonlord's F4 Fantasy Casting


Link to previous thread: http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f48/fantastic-four-reboot-first-trailer-released-2457401/

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 11, 2015

Dragonlord's Fourteen Ways to Fix FANTASTIC FOUR Fiasco

By now everyone knows that Fox and Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot is a commercial and critical flop. But the truth is it wasn't as abysmally terrible as it is being advertised. The first half was fairly decent and the darker, grounded sci-fi approach was an interesting direction. It is only when the story fast-forwards a year later that the film truly falls apart. With a few tweaks to the script, the film could have been pretty good or more. Here are 14 ways to fix the movie within the framework of what was available at the start of the production. [SPOILERS BELOW]

1. The extended Amblin-like opening featuring fifth graders Reed Richards and Ben Grimm was done very well. But the whole opening can be cut to make way for more character development down the line. Again, I'd like to stress out that deleting the almost 7-minute prologue is only necessary if the film needs to trim down its running time.

2. If you cut the prologue, the movie starts with teen versions of Reed (Miles Teller) and Ben (Jamie Bell) at the high school science fair. In the actual film, Jamie is just a glorified assistant with forgettable lines and an unmemorable presence. Beef up Jaime's role, personality and dialogue in this scene. Highlight the friendship and repartee between Reed and Ben. Show a brief, subtle scene on Ben warding off Reed's high school tormentors.

3. In the actual film, Ben is stuck in his hometown until Reed persuades him to go to Planet Zero with him. This is one of the biggest mistakes of the film. Reed should have demanded that he would only accept Dr. Storm's scholarship if Ben is also offered one since he also helped build the teleporter. Or make Ben into a highly skilled mechanical engineer and is also offered a scholarship. Either way, this will make Ben part of the team from the get-go and will have significant interactions with the other members.

4. Michael B. Jordan's characterization of Johnny Storm is just wrong. Give him the happy-go-lucky attitude of his character from Chronicle with a dash of brashness instead of the actual film's dull iteration with daddy issues and a chip on his shoulder. Cut out the drag racing scene and have Johnny on the Baxter Building from the start working on the project. Johnny and Ben starts off on the wrong note and the two have been constantly pawning each other ever since.

5. Remove altogether the scene where Dr. Richards visits Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebell) who can be seen surrounded by computers and multi-tasking his 'blogging.' Change it so that Victor is with the project from the beginning. He is extremely jealous at Reed for cracking the formula, for being smarter than him and later on for winning Sue's affection. Keep his disdain for the government and make him more arrogant and pompous. Give Victor an European accent, a backstory where he was line to succeed the throne in Latveria but a coup forced him in exile in the U.S. Victor nonchalantly drops his Latverian backstory during a conversation.

6. Introduce an eccentric but brilliant science guy also working on the project (think Burn Gorman from Pacific Rim) who believes that mankind should start over. Let's call him Dr. Edmund Grimes for now. The reason for this is to set up a main antagonist later on without sacrificing Victor's future storyline.

7. Instead of the guys deciding to go to Planet Zero during a drinking session, change it to Dr. Storm ignoring the backers' orders and secretly allowing the guys to go to the other dimension. Instead of only 4 persons, make it so that the shuttle can teleport 8 persons in a trip. The reason for this is to have 2 extra persons to join the trip and die from exposure to the alien energy so that it sets a precedent that you don't automatically get powers if you are bombarded with outworldly energies. Sue joins the expedition. Victor and Grimes are presumed dead and left behind Planet Zero. Dr. Richards brings them all back home but dies from the ensuing explosion.

8. Retain the David Cronenberg-esque body horror vibe when they discover what they have become. Instead of escaping by himself, Reed frees Sue, Ben and Johnny and they all escape together from the military compound.

9. The four go into hiding. They mourn for Dr. Richard's death. They're scared of being turned into guinea pigs or weapons by the government. The Thing is angry and depressed over his condition. But most important of all, The Thing is wearing pants or shorts. The group slowly learn to control their powers over the next few weeks. Reed is also busy trying to get back to Planet Zero to find a cure for Ben.

10. A nuclear power plant is in near critical meltdown due to the cooling system being knocked out from a big earthquake. The team is nearby and decides to help stop the crisis. The team succeeds in stopping the meltdown and saving the people trapped inside the rubble. [Note: It doesn't necessarily have to be this scenario, it can be any natural or man-made disaster the team shows up and saves the day.] The Fantastic Four becomes heroes in the public's eye. On their way to Reed's parent's house to retrieve a component for the Quantum Gate, the military ambushes the Fantastic Four. A big action sequence takes place which ends with the team being apprehended.

11. Meanwhile at the military base, the army has successfully re-built the Quantum Gate and sends a team to Planet Zero. The army scientists encounter Grimes, who is still alive, and bring him back to Earth. Grimes is revealed to have been driven insane and starts to massacre all the personnel on the base. Grimes goes back to Planet Zero and activates a portal that begins consuming the landscape of the Earth.

12. During the military land transport, the team is aware of the situation at the army base from the live video transmission. Reed pleads with the General to release them since they are the only ones that can stop what is happening. The General relents and frees them. Reed tells them they need to go back to the team's hideout to use their own Quantum Gate to go to Planet Zero. Time is of the essence. The team goes to Reed's parent's garage to activate the flying car he has been working on since childhood to get to their lair faster. The world is aware of the apocalyptic event. Reed has a brief emotional moment with his parents, whom he always had a disconnected relationship. They tell him how proud they are of him and to go save the world.

13. The team arrives at their lair. They activate the Quantum Gate and go to Planet Zero. An epic battle ensues between Grimes and the F4. They finally managed to destroy Grimes and reverse the portal's polarity. The team rides the wave back to Earth. Something also manages to get in before the portal closed. The team is hailed as heroes by everyone. During the epilogue, the team sets up the Baxter Building as their base of operations in order to continue to help the people and exploring the unknown.

14. In the post-credits scene, we see the capital of Latveria and it's an active war zone. Inside the command room at the castle, the Latverian President is scrambling orders to his men and asking if there's anything they can do to stop this man. There's a loud commotion outside the room. And then silence afterwards. Everybody in the room anticipates with fear on what is coming. The door blows away. We then see Victor in full Doctor Doom costume (similar to the one he wears in the comics) enter the room. The End.


So those are my suggestions on how they could have salvaged the Fantastic Four reboot. What are your comments on it? For those that have seen the film, does my version sound better than the actual movie that the writers came up with and Fox allegedly tampered with? Should Fox just have hired me to rewrite the script? (lol)

I nominate Dragon to be FOX's Kevin Feige.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: October 9, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Ends U.S. Theatrical Run with $56 Million!

The saga of the Fantastic Four has been a fascinating one. Despite early behind the scenes rumours pointing to trouble for the reboot, an impressive first trailer was all it took for many to understandably conclude that the movie could end up surprising us all by being way better than expected.

While subsequent trailers didn't have the same impact, the tide appeared to be turning...until the reviews hit. Despite having the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score we've seen for some time, everyone was shocked to see director Josh Trank take to Twitter the day before the reboot was released to disown in. With an expose revealing all the drama involving the director and studio shortly following, Fantastic Four tanked, and now there's yet another embarrassment for the reboot.

After a nine week run, it's made a paltry $56,051,712. That's $10,000 less than what the first Fantastic Four movie made during its opening weekend in 2005! How Fox could ever consider moving forward with a sequel is hard to say, so bring on the Marvel Studios reboot, eh?

Box Office Report: Fantastic Four Ends North American Run With Hilariously Dismal Amount Totaling $56 Million
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Update: September 5, 2015

THE ROOM's Tommy Wiseau Wants to Direct FANTASTIC FOUR 2

Now that the dust has settled, we can all collectively agree that the recent Fantastic Four movie proved to be an unmitigated disaster. How should Fox recover from such a drastic misstep if they proceed with a sequel? Put the franchise in the hands of infamous director Tommy Wiseau – at least that’s his belief.

In a recent interview with Milwaukee Magazine, Wiseau opened up about his feelings for Fox’s recent attempt to reboot the Fantastic Four franchise yet again, and his desire to take part in a potential sequel:

"You know, I told you I saw this Fantastic Four….it just….I’m not being critical- let me put it this way, I like it, I did enjoy it number one. Number two, it’s too bad they didn’t call me, that’s all I want to say and I rest my case. (laughs) That’s all I can tell you. (laughs) Good response in Europe though, that’s my understanding, but it’s too bad they didn’t call me, that’s my point. Maybe if there’s a sequel, you know. You know, maybe your article gets me that job, who knows what will happen."

Tommy Wiseau Wants To Direct The Fantastic Four Sequel, Because Of Course

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 23, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Earns Pitiful $3.6 Million on 3rd Weekend

Fantastic Four is the gift which keeps on giving for fans of trainwrecks, as the reboot had a horrendous third weekend at the North American box office. Losing nearly 1500 theaters, the movie grossed a paltry $3.6 million, making no real impact on the Top 10 (where Straight Outta Compton continues to dominate). It now has a total of $49 million, meaning that after 17 days of release, it still hasn't made as much as both Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer did on their respective opening weekends in 2005 and 2007 which is embarrassing.

In its sixth week in release, Ant-Man will claim eight-place at the North American box office with $4.1 million. While the not-so-Fantastic Four clings to tenth-place in its third weekend with $3.65 million. Ant-Man only dropped 26% from last week, while Fantastic Four plummeted 56%.

Fantastic Four is not faring much better overseas either as it grossed just $16 million this weekend, for a total of $60 million. It's hard to imagine Fox going anywhere near this franchise again after this performance, even with a new director. Regardless, Fantastic Four isn't Fox's only flop this weekend. Hitman: Agent 47 earned a paltry $8.2 million during its debut weekend.

Box Office: 'Fantastic Four' Continues To Bomb In Yet Another Humiliating Weekend
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Update: August 18, 2015

New Details Revealed on The Thing Deleted Scene from FANTASTIC FOUR

A Chechen rebel camp in the wee hours of the night. There are soldiers speaking a foreign language, and they are loading up some heavy-duty weaponry. Crews are filling truck beds with the gear, preparing to mobilize - then a siren goes off. Everyone freezes, and one by one they turn their faces to the sky. A stealth bomber whispers by overhead, and a large object falls from it, streaking through the air at great speed.

The object - a bomb, a missile? - collides with the earth in the center of the camp, sending debris is all directions. The soldiers take cover, then tentatively emerge and walk toward the crater, where there is a giant pile of orange boulders.

Slowly, the rocks begin to move on their own, becoming arms, legs, a torso, a head... This rock-figure lumbers out of the smoke, and the soldiers level their weapons - then open fire. As The Thing lurches into view, bullets spark and ping off his impenetrable exterior.

Rather than some elegant, balletic action sequence, The Thing moves slowly and deliberately. He's in no hurry. The storytelling goal was to show the futility of firepower against him as he casually demolishes the terrorists. It's a blue-collar kind of heroism.

When it becomes clear this rock-beast cannot be stopped, the surviving Chechen rebels make a run for it - and that's when a hail of gunfire finishes them off. From the shadows of the surrounding forest, a team of Navy SEALS emerge with their guns drawn and smoking. The cavalry has arrived, but the enemy has already been subdued.

The film would then have shifted to a bird's-eye view of the camp, an aerial shot showing waves of American soldiers flooding in to secure the base. Just when it appears the American soldiers may be ready to clash with the rock monster, The Thing gives them a solemn nod, and they clear a path. He lumbers past them, almost sadly, a heartsick warrior. Then he boards a large helicopter and is lifted away.

Only then does the movie cut to that conference room, where Tim Blake Nelson's Dr. Allen is crowing to his military overlords about how this mutated team of scientists is helping do the heavy lifting for America's rank-and-file soldiers.

Those close to Fox say Trank was indecisive, and couldn't figure out if he needed the scene, going back and forth before finally deciding it wasn't necessary. They cite it as another example of a director out-of-control, unsure of what he wants or how to execute it.

Others close to Trank say the filmmaker always wanted the sequence, but was forced to cut it when the studio pared back the budget at the start of production. They say Trank created a detailed previsualization of the scene - essentially, an animated version of what it should look like - that allows digital artists to begin creating effects.

Late in production, when Fox executives realized they had a comic-book movie in dire need of action, sources sympathetic to Trank say they agreed to finance the scene - but Trank was not allowed to participate in the filming. As a result, the crew returned with footage shot in documentary hand-held style - which didn't match the previsualization, or the planned digital effects, and also clashed with the visual style of the rest of the movie.

At that point, according to sources close to Trank, the exasperated director chose to kill the scene entirely. It's impossible to tell who's at fault, but there's no denying the scene would have delivered a visceral jolt just as the movie's pace was beginning to flag.

Here's What the Mysterious Deleted Fantastic Four Scene WasSupposed to Be...

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 18, 2015

Original FANTASTIC FOUR Script Had Galactus, Mole Man and More

The 2012 draft of Fantastic Four by Jeremy Slater resembles the film closely at first. Reed and Ben are young friends, working together on a project that teleports matter to somewhere. In Slater's draft the toy car that Reed first teleports shows back up when the team make it to the Negative Zone, a strange thing for the final film to leave out.

Slater's draft is quicker than the final film, but it does take time to establish that Ben Grimm is Reed's enforcer, keeping him safe from bullies. This aspect makes Reed's decision to bring Ben along on the trip to the Negative Zone make more sense. In this version there is no elder Dr. Storm, and Sue calls her brother Johnny in to help at the last minute because they have no one else to turn to.

As in the final film Reed goes to the Baxter Building as part of a science scholarship; there he meets Sue and Victor Von Doom. Victor takes the nerdy Reed to parties, where he meets and falls for Sue, but Victor's not actually picking up girls at these shindigs - he is secretly feeding Reed's research to spies from his homeland of Latveria.

There's more stuff happening in the Baxter Building. We meet Dr. Harvey Elder, who is creating artificial life in the biolab with Sue - the Moloids. Meanwhile Ben has become sad as Reed has stopped calling him, and he has made a choice - he's skipping college and has enlisted in the army.

When the school refuses to allow Reed and Victor to use the Quantum Gate they have built to enter the Negative Zone the team chooses to use it under cover of night. Reed calls in Ben, the person he trusts the most, even if their relationship is strained. Sue is staying behind, Johnny helping her man the controls from this side of the portal. Ben gets promised that he'll be the first human to step foot on the other side of the portal.

In the script the Quantum Gate is very much that - a rip in space through which a module is passed on a big hydraulic arm. When the team gets through to the Negative Zone Von Doom gotta Von Doom - he pushes Ben aside and puts the first footprint in the dust.

What they find is not the empty broken landscape of the film but rather an alien city. The city is full of skeletons, non-human things that have been killed in some cataclysm. As the team explores the ruins they come upon an amphitheater full of corpses and something else. Something huge, and something wearing battle armor with two blades coming out of either side of its helmet.

The huge thing - Galactus, for those not in the know - chases the three explorers. He shoots Dark Matter out of his hands, enveloping and seemingly killing Victor. Reed and Ben make it to the module but it's not working; on the other side of the portal Sue is working feverishly to fix the circuitry that won't allow the module to return home. Galactus nears as Sue finally fixes the machine, and he blasts the module with Dark Matter - but the Dark Matter hits the Quantum Gate and there's a reaction and the entire team - the two in the module and the two in the lab - are pelted with some kind of cosmic madness.

The scene of the team waking up in the wreckage is similar here - Johnny on fire, screaming, Ben trapped in stone. Sue's condition is more obvious in the script, with the skin on her face disappearing and showing her musculature.

The script jumps ahead four years. Johnny Storm is a reality show star, although his show is dipping in the ratings. Sue is still at the Baxter Building, and she's using her invisibility powers to look inside of patients suffering from serious cancers. Dr. Elder wants her to come work on the Moloid program, but Sue won't - she thinks it'll be weaponized.

Ben Grimm has been weaponized, working with the military as a deadly asset. He is kept locked up at a military base between missions. Reed, meanwhile, is in hiding in Jakarta, taking the blame for the destruction wrought in the Baxter Building. He's built himself a Herbie robot and he's trying to sell his plans for the FantastiCar to Toyota. They think the idea is good, but that running it on a nuclear reactor shows no regard for safety - Reed's hallmark.

As all of this is happening we cut to Latveria. Using the information Victor fed them, the Latverian government has created their own Quantum Gate. They send a team through and the module returns splattered in blood, containing only one occupant: a Victor Von Doom now made entirely of Dark Matter. He quickly dispatches everyone around him, using shape-changing abilities and shooting electrified razor wire from his hands. Within minutes he has slaughtered Latveria’s ruling elite and taken over the country.

Back in the US Sue and Ben meet for pizza. Ben's hiding in a trench coat and a fedora, and he's telling Sue that he's basically made his peace with being a monster. What he hates is that Reed abandoned him. Sue, it turns out, has been staying at the Baxter Building because she has been trying to cure Ben, using her cancer research. It's not working.

In Indonesia Reed is attacked by thugs armed with futuristic weapons, weapons based on his own designs. He understands that this has to be Victor, that somehow he survived and is after his old friends. Reed tries to call Sue to warn the others, but he can't get her on the phone, so he whips out a FantastiCar prototype, loads up Herbie and begins a flight across the ocean.

At the same time thugs - called Shock Troopers in the script - assault the Baxter Building. Johnny happens to be there with a camera crew, trying to get Sue to join him on the show to spike ratings. In the chaos that ensues Dr. Elder gets Moloid juice on him and is transformed into Mole Man, while Shock Troopers inject a Moloid with Dark Matter.

Sue and Johnny stop the Shock Troopers - the script says that Sue is like an Amazonian warrior, just destroying dudes - when Reed shows up too late to warn them. But not too late to see that injected Moloid, now giant, burst out of the ground. Ben, who happens to be nearby looking at puppies in a pet shop window, hears the commotion and runs over. The team engage the giant Moloid, as seen on the cover of Fantastic Four number one, in a fight that is both exciting and humorous. Ben gets swallowed and tries to fight his way out; when he finally gets to the Moloids mouth he sees that Reed has slingshotted a bus at the creature and Johnny has set it on fire and it is heading right towards the mouth - and Ben.

You can see that the finished film has gone way away from this script. The time jump and the team being separated happens here, but everything else is different. The rest of the script has the team coming together to go to Latveria, now the center of an international incident because Victor has built a giant Dark Energy cannon. He intends to use it to destroy Galactus; it seems that Victor's only chance at survival in the Negative Zone was to act as Galactus' herald and help him find a new world to eat - Earth. But Von Doom intends to destroy the Destroyer before that can happen.

The team uses their powers in more ways in the script, and Sue especially gets a lot to do. She helps Reed escape from government captivity after the Moloid battle and she’s able to create a force shield that reduces wind resistance on the FantastiCar and allows it to reach incredible speeds. Reed uses his powers to become a living airbag in a crash, he survives a grenade attack, and in the end his biggest contribution to the final fight is Herbie.

The final battle is in Latveria, but it is revealed the shapeshifting Doom there is just a kind of Doombot; Victor is actually physically attached to the planet in the Negative Zone and has sent tendrils of his being to Earth. The film ends with him trapped in the Negative Zone, the FanFour telling the government Galactus is coming and the retooling of the Baxter Building as their home base and a school for smart kids who can help defeat the coming menace of Galactus.

Jeremy Slater's Original 'Fantastic Four' Script Included Galactus, Mole Man and More

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 15, 2015

Scenes from FANTASTIC FOUR Trailer That Didn't Make the Cut in the Movie

Dr. Storm's voiceover - It set the tone for the first teaser trailer, but there was none of it. Many of those establishing shots weren't used, either, including the car on the long, winding country highway. It must have been planned for use at one point, and not just file footage, since that road appears to be the same one later imperiled by Doom's attack.

Ben at the batting cage - We do see him playing ball -- alone, and in the dark -- at one point in the film, but we don't see him at the batting cages with a helmet on, as he's seen in the first teaser. Weirdly, that image was used as the default image for Jamie Bell's take on Ben Grimm for a long while.

Cradling her brother - The setup for the scene -- Johnny being "extinguished" by debris on Doomworld -- happened in the film. This, though, doesn't look familiar. The abrupt final battle only featured Sue and Johnny using their powers in the other dimension.

Red/Green - For some reason, the red radiation on Planet Zero became green in post-production. Not sure why.

What's coming? - In the teaser trailer, Victor tells Reed that "the answers" are coming. In the second trailer, "Doom" is coming. It seems likely that these disparate answers to a fairly simple question are indicative of the significantly-altered take on the film as production progressed...but obviously both of them can't be in the movie.

Question and Answer - Reed Richards knows "answers to questions we don't even know to ask yet," says Franklin Storm in one trailer. In the film, though, it's Planet Zero that carries with it the promise of those answers.

Sue's introduction - In the trailer, Professor Storm tells someone that "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sue." She's in the lab at the Baxter Building at that point. We didn't get anyone introduced to Sue that I can remember in the lab, although that same line-read was the one spoken at the science fair, where she met Reed.

The Thing in action - The Thing dropping out of the helicopter, and The Thing about to pound Doom on the ground were two "Hell yeah!' moments that got many fans excited when the trailers debuted. When the movie came, though, those two images were not among the relatively small number of shots we got of The Thing in action.

As production began, the final budget hovered around $120 million, about $30 million less than Trank expected. Team Trank says the director wasn't getting enough money to craft exciting action scenes, including one with The Thing dive-bombing a terrorist camp.

Fantastic Four: Scenes From the Trailers That Didn't Make the Cut in the Movie
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Update: August 15, 2015

Fox Rejected H.E.R.B.I.E. and Fantasticar from FANTASTIC FOUR Movie

Josh Trank didn't endear himself to Fantastic Four fans when it was revealed by Kate Mara that the director encouraged the cast NOT to read any of the comic books. This gave off the impression that Trank wasn't fond of the source material, but apparently that wasn't entirely the case. Entertainment Weekly reports that Trank very much wanted to include H.E.R.B.I.E. and the Fantasticar, but was overruled by a Fox executive.

By all accounts, Trank dove in with zeal, devising plans that combined playful comic-book elements of the Marvel Comics characters with the darker, almost horrorlike tone that made Chronicle so bracing. The director had a healthy relationship with Emma Watts, Fox's president of production, who has a reputation for aggressive handling of filmmakers.

But Trank may have been too enthusiastic, constantly throwing new and bigger ideas into the mix and changing his own mind about major plot points, like the kinds of powers Doctor Doom should possess. Watts turned up her nose at geeky elements, like adding the squad's flying car or comic-relief robot H.E.R.B.I.E. She deemed Trank's ideas too scattered; he felt she wasn't getting it.

H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics) is a robot sidekick that debuted in the 1978 animated series and was conceived by Stan Lee and designed by Jack Kirby. H.E.R.B.I.E. replaced Johnny Storm/The Human Torch as the fourth team member. At the time, The Human Torch couldn't be used in the cartoon as the character was optioned for an unmade solo film. H.E.R.B.I.E. was introduced in the comics shortly after the cartoon made its premiere.

The Fantasticar is the flying car (aka bathtub) Reed Richards created to transport the team. It made its feature film debut in 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Fox Executive Rejected Plans To Put HERBIE And Fantasticar In Fantastic Four Movie

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 16, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Drops 69 Percent for $8 Million on 2nd Week

With reviews ranging from so-so to down right horrible, Fox's newest attempt at launching the Fantastic Four is looking to be anything but.

Premiering last weekend, it failed to capture the top spot of the weekend and only managed to get around $25.6M. This past weekend, Fantastic Four only garnered just an additional $8M, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which is a 69% drop. Fantastic Four also dropped two spots in the ranking, taking fourth place right below the recently premiered The Man From U. N. C. L. E. .

With an estimated budget of $200M, which includes marketing and distribution costs, Fox is definitely looking to take a hit on this one. The worldwide gross is a little more promising as it cracked $100 million over the weekend. Fantastic Four has made $41.9 million at the domestic box office and $60.1 million at the international box office to date.

Fantastic Four Drops 69% On Second Weekend At Box Office, Earning a Paltry $8 Million
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Update: August 14, 2015

Josh Trank and Miles Teller Nearly Came to Blows on FANTASTIC FOUR Set

There's been a lot of finger-pointing in the aftermath of the $120 million movie's disastrous $25.7 million opening weekend, which actually began with director Josh Trank's Twitter-diss of the film on the eve of its release. The latest behind-the-scenes allegations finds Trank almost throwing down with star Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in the Marvel mishap.

Trank initially fought hard to get Teller cast in the film, winning out over Fox's objections. But the director and actor's relationship later turned sour. According to a story in this week's Entertainment Weekly, Trank and Teller did not get along on the set of the film; Trank was allegedly withdrawn during production, and Teller is frequently sarcastic, making for a bad combination. Things got so bad at one point, in fact, that Trank and Teller's disagreement brought them chest-to-chest, daring one another to throw the first punch.

Neither man actually ended up throwing a punch, but it doesn't seem as if the rest of the shoot went much better; previous reports from sources from the set have sources calling Trank's behavior towards cast and crew abusive and cold, especially toward Kate Mara, who got the role of Sue Storm over his objections.

'Fantastic Four' Got So Bad, Miles Teller and Josh Trank Nearly Beat Each Other Up

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 12, 2015

More Troubling Details Surrounding the Making of FANTASTIC FOUR Surface

Multiple sources associated with the Fantastic Four reboot say director Josh Trank did not produce material that would have opened the way to a salvageable film. And by several accounts, he resisted help. "He holed up in a tent and cut himself off from everybody," says one high-level source. Literally, there was a tent on the Louisiana set. "He built a black tent around his monitor," says a crewmember. "He was extremely withdrawn." Between setups, this person adds, "he would go to his trailer and he wouldn't interact with anybody."

Sources say Fox believed in what one executive calls a "grounded, gritty version of Fantastic Four that was almost the opposite of previous versions" and initially thought Trank could deliver that. Several sources say Fox stood by Trank as he pushed a gloomy tone on young stars Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell. "During takes, he would be telling [castmembers] when to blink and when to breathe," one person says. "He kept pushing them to make the performance as flat as possible."

There were worrying personal issues as well. As THR reported in May, Trank and his dogs allegedly caused more than $100,000 worth of damage to a rented house in Baton Rouge that he and his wife occupied while the film was shooting there. Sources say now that after landlord Martin Padial moved to evict Trank, photographs of the landlord's family that were in the house were defaced. Padial made a complaint to the local sheriff's department and filed a civil suit in Louisiana that is sealed. Padial's attorney, Michael Bienvenu, declined to comment on the matter. The sheriff's department says the case was "closed as a civil matter between landlord and tenant."

A crewmember acknowledges that Trank bears much of the fault for the film's problems but also says the Fox studio should not escape blame. The movie was "ill-conceived, made for the wrong reasons and there was no vision behind the property," this person says. "Say what you will about Marvel but they have a vision."

As Fox hurried to put the project into production before rights to the material reverted to Marvel, the studio was scrambling with multiple rewrites and delays in starting the film. They "were afraid of losing the rights so they pressed forward and didn't surround [Trank] with help or fire him. They buried their heads in the sand."

Another source says the notion of firing Trank came up even before the cameras started to roll. But Fox put its faith in him because he had directed the studio's 2012 found-footage hero movie Chronicle, which grossed $127 million worldwide on a $12 million budget. Based on that, insiders say Fox executives thought they had found an "in-house director," a young talent who could become another J.J. Abrams. And the studio was trying to shake off its reputation for micromanaging filmmakers. So executives were reluctant to interfere on Fantastic Four despite warnings of trouble.

When the seriousness of the problems could no longer be ignored, says a key source on the project, it was too late to fire the director. "How do you ask someone to take over half of a movie shot by someone else?" he says. "You either hire somebody desperate for work or you [start over], write off pretty much the whole budget and lose the cast."

As filming wound toward an unhappy close, the studio and producers Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker engaged in a last-minute scramble to come up with an ending. With some of the cast not fully available at that point and Kinberg juggling X-Men: Apocalypse and Star Wars, a lot of material was shot with doubles and the production moved to Los Angeles to film scenes with Teller against a green screen.

"It was chaos," says a crewmember, adding that Trank was still in attendance "but was neutralized by a committee." Another source says the studio pulled together "a dream team," including writer and World War Z veteran Drew Goddard, to rescue the movie. Whether the final version of the film is better or worse than what Trank put together is a matter of opinion, of course, but the consensus, clearly, is that neither was good.

'Fantastic Four' Blame Game: Fox, Director Josh Trank Square Off Over On-Set "Chaos"

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 8, 2015

Every Easter Eggs, Cameo and References for FANTASTIC FOUR


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Update: August 10, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR B-Roll Footage Reveals Unused Fantasticar Scene

Shame they had to drop the Fantasticar idea because I thought it's a pretty cool scene since they referenced a flying car kid Reed Richards was working on at the very beginning of the film. From the looks of the footage, they used the Fantasticar to get to Planet Zero for the final battle with Doom.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 9, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Gets Worst CinemaScore Ever for Studio Superhero Movie

The news just kept getting worse for Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot as it began rolling out in theaters. Not only were reviews scathing - resulting in a 9 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes - audiences on Friday night gave the $120 milliion Fox tentpole a C- CinemaScore, the worst grade that anyone can remember for a marquee superhero title made by a major Hollywood studio. (CinemaScore, based in Las Vegas, was founded in 1979.)

In 2008, The Spirit, based on the comic strip and directed by Frank Miller, likewise received a C- CinemaScore, but that film was produced and financed independently by OddLot Entertainment, and cost far less to make, or roughly $60 million.

For the weekend, Fantastic Four, starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, topped out at a dismal $26.2 million from 3,995 theaters in North America, one of the lowest openings of all time for a Marvel Comics film adaptation.

Audiences have rarely given superhero movies variations of a C grade, even those that have failed at the box office. The Green Hornet, flopping in 2011 with a $33.5 million debut, received a B+ CinemaScore, while duds Elektra, Catwoman and Daredevil earned a B. Exceptions include Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance (C+), Batman and Robin (C+) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (C).

Fox's 'Fantastic Four' Gets Worst CinemaScore Ever for Studio Superhero Movie
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Update: August 9, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Flops With $25.7 Million on Opening Weekend

In a major blow for 20th Century Fox's plan to secure the fate of a key superhero franchise, controversial director Josh Trank's Fantastic Four opened to a dismal $25.7 million from 3,995 theaters at the North American box office after being rejected by critics and audiences alike.

That's one of the lowest openings of all time for a big-budget studio superhero movie, and, in a twist Hollywood didn't see coming, the $120 million tentpole lost the weekend crown to holdover Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.

Overseas, where Hollywood tentpoles often make up ground, the news was mostly grim as Fantastic Four launched to a tepid $34.1 million from 43 markets for a global bow of $60.3 million.

Fantastic Four was no doubt hurt by scathing reviews and a C- CinemaScore, as well as drama whipped up by the director. On Thursday, Trank tweeted that the final version of the superhero was not his own and that his version would have gotten better notices. (He later deleted the tweet.)

Heading into the weekend, Fantastic Four was expected to clear at least $40 million, although many expected it to approach $50 million. No one's sure what the film's start means for the sequel, which is already dated for June 2017.

Fantastic Four came in well behind the first two films, Fantastic Four ($56.1 million) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ($58.1 million). The $120 million film will mark one of the worst debuts for a Marvel Comics film adaptation. In 2012, Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance, from Sony, launched to $22.1 million (that movie cost notably less to make).

In terms of a big-budget superhero movie, Marvel or otherwise, Fantastic Four did even less than 2011 flop The Green Hornet ($33.5 million).

Box Office: 'Fantastic Four' Flops With $26.2 Million, Loses to 'Mission: Impossible'

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 7, 2015

New Details on Josh Trank's Bizarre Behavior on the FANTASTIC FOUR Set

EW's sources close to those films say, without question, director Josh Trank was fired from the movie after Lucasfilm executives investigated rumors of his behavior on the Fantastic Four set and feared he would be too chaotic to trust with one of the stand-alone movies.

Trank's tweet as Fantastic Four hits theaters unraveled the entire facade. Based on his own words, we now know that Trank had been removed from the film, was not happy with the final cut, and he wanted the world to understand that the movie being demolished by critics was not the one he wanted to make. That reshot climax, by the way, is the main thing singled out in many reviews for being out of sync with the rest of the film and the character development that came before.

Several high level sources close to Fantastic Four - spoken to independently of each other - have told EW the rift on set was not about creative differences but rather destructive and combative behavior Trank demonstrated toward the crew, producers, studio and even the stars. When he was wooed by Fox for Fantastic Four, the movie had no set limits. But as the green-light loomed, Trank was indecisive and repeatedly requested sweeping changes that caused studio confidence to plummet. During photography, Trank's personal disputes - involving accusations of deliberate damage done to the house he was renting, as revenge over a dispite with the landlord - which sources say eventually manifested on set as hostility and frustration toward the cast and crew.

Not all these new sources agree, however. Some who worked on the film say Trank broke, for sure, but was driven to the breaking point by the studio, and that his clash was not with Kinberg but Fox production president Emma Watts. According to several individuals who worked on the movie, the studio delayed casting and script approvals, slashed the budget by tens of millions from what was originally promised during the development phase, and tried to force last-minute script changes to the film just as principal photography was beginning.

There was uncertainty about who should star. Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm was set from the start, but the studio wanted a different actor than Miles Teller for Reed Richards. Trank won that battle, even though he later developed a mutually disdainful relationship with the actor but Fox insisted that Kate Mara be given the role of Sue Storm, and Trank treated her badly as a result. Some say he was cruel, others say merely cold. No one says they got along.

Different sources say Trank was indecisive, others say the studio was hemming and hawing on his choices. Either way, the script was not finalized until late in preproduction, and continued to change right through reshoots, which stalled crew workers who were trying to build sets, make costumes, props, and prep the movie. This created confusion and stress from the get-go that often boiled over among department heads trying to put together pieces of a movie that was still in flux. That's not in doubt, but the question is: who was at fault?

Sources tell EW that, yes, the studio was desperate to protect the movie and didn't want the story to focus on how the studio and producers were rehabilitating a troubled project, but they and Trank's representatives were also trying to protect the filmmaker from public embarrassment. With his angry tweet, many outsiders interpreted it as Trank biting the hand that fed him, but several individuals who worked on the movie now say he was actually biting the hand that shielded the public from his meltdown and vindictive behavior.

Details on Josh Trank's Destructive and Combative Behavior on Fantastic Four Set

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 7, 2015

Critics' Reviews for FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes: 9% Approval Rating (13 out of 149 critics like it)

Consensus: Dull and downbeat, this Fantastic Four proves a woefully misguided attempt to translate a classic comic series without the humor, joy, or colorful thrills that made it great.

Entertainment Weekly - That's a pretty terrific group of actors but they are given precious little to do in this clunky origin story. And, in fairness, the film is not bad bad, although it might have been more fun if it were. Mostly, Fantastic Four is just hard work, a reflection, one assumes, of its famously difficult production. Trank's previous movie, 2012's found-footage superhero film Chronicle, had a nicely light step. Fantastic Four is as heavy-footed as Ben Grimm once he gets turned into The Thing. To quote one character, the talent involved has "the potential and the IQ to do so much more." C-

Rolling Stone - The latest reboot of the Fantastic Four - the cinematic equivalent of malware - is worse than worthless. It not only scrapes the bottom of the Marvel-movie barrel; it knocks out the floor and sucks audiences into a black hole of soul-crushing, coma-inducing dullness. And, guess what, it's an origin story. That's right. A gifted young cast (Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan) has been hired to freshen the plot, like an old whore trying to pass as jailbait. No go. Nothing about this misbegotten, cynical attempt at franchise-rebuilding is fantastic. 0/4

James Berardinelli - Those who are able to divorce Fantastic Four from the source material may be more forgiving than long-time aficionados of one of Marvel's oldest series. As a superhero movie, it falls into the "adequate" range of the spectrum - neither memorable nor forgettable. There are hints of a more compelling story but they are never developed and the movie as a whole seems like the unhappy marriage of competing agendas. Nothing new to see here - move along. 2.5/4

Forbes - It would be easy to just write off Fantastic Four as a laughable disaster or an epic whiff. But the truth is more complicated. Truth be told, there is 1/3 of a good movie sprinkled here and there throughout. The opening sections show genuine promise. But the movie as a whole is a mess, with the halfway decent first 45 minutes or so giving way to a stupefyingly generic and wrongheaded superhero origin story. I wish the whole film were as terrible as its final 2/3, because there is just enough promise, just enough good acting and interesting dialogue, that I started to hope that the hype was wrong. 5/10
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Update: August 7, 2015

Fox Reportedly Cut 3 Action Scenes from FANTASTIC FOUR

During Collider Movie Talk, John Campea revealed that multiple sources had informed him that 20th Century Fox had agreed to let Josh Trank (Chronicle) film his vision of the Fantastic Four, but days before the director was to begin filming Fox pulled the rug from under Trank's feet by taking out several big set pieces. Campea's sources also verified that Fox took over the third act from Trank and removed the director from the editing room.

"I've got a source, fairly close to the production of this film, who had told me that the movie that Josh Trank and Fox had agreed on making - included 3 really big action set pieces. That was all agreed upon, it was part of the flow of the movie. And a movie is like a puzzle, you have all the pieces in place. You start messing with pieces and suddenly the whole puzzle can look out of whack. And they had agreed upon this vision for a film. And days before production began, Fox came in and made him pull 3 main action sequences out of the film."

"I was also told, the ending of the film was not even Josh Trank's. At some point they hijacked the editing bay from him. To the point that the editing of the film was done without him."

Fox Cut 3 Action Scenes Days Before Josh Trank Started Filming

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 6, 2015

Josh Trank Suggests That Fox is Responsible for FANTASTIC FOUR Bomb

With the new Fantastic Four reboot getting some of the worst reviews of any comic book movie in recent history - currently 9% on Rotten Tomatoes - director Josh Trank (Chronicle) took to Twitter to address the negative reviews.

Trank tweeted, "A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would've received great reviews. You'll probably never see it. That's reality though." Of course, the tweet certainly seems to suggest that the director might have been dissatisfied with changes that were made to his film, presumably at the direction of 20th Century Fox.

That's a pretty damning tweet, and it re-raises the question about whether or not the film was taken away from him for re-shoots. And if he was in charge of re-shoots, then it definitely sounds like he wasn't happy with what had to be recut. A couple minutes after Trank made the tweet, he deleted it. However, as is often the case with Twitter, the tweet was screencaptured and is being retweeted.

It's rare for directors to cite an earlier cut when their movies get panned, but Trank's name has already been dragged through the mud. The rumors said that Trank was erratic and indecisive on set and that there were costly rental property damages from his dogs.

Josh Trank Claims His Fantastic Four Version Would've Received Great Reviews
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Update: August 6, 2015

Fox's FANTASTIC FOUR and X-MEN Exist in Parallel Universes

The possibility of a Fantastic Four and X-Men movie crossover may have just flamed out. While many thought that it was just a matter of time before Fox's two Marvel Comics properties crossed over, Fantastic Four producers Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker just complicated the matter. According to the two, the X-Men and Fantastic Four operate in different realities.

"They exist in parallel universes," Kinberg and Parker told The New York Daily News. "The Fantastic 4 live in a world without mutants. And the X-Men live in a world without the Fantastic 4."

That's a pretty big contradiction from earlier reports, which seemingly confirmed that the live-action X-Men and Fantastic Four lived in the same universe - much like Marvel's Avengers characters - and could potentially meet in the same film. In fact, X-Men director Bryan Singer said last month that such a crossover was definitely "in play."

Kinberg and Parker, however, seem to have different thoughts. "Crossing them over would be challenging," said Kinberg and Parker, "but we sure would love to see all those actors together, the way we had them on stage at (San Diego) Comic Con."

Producers Say Fox's FANTASTIC FOUR and X-MEN Movies Exist in Parallel Universes
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Update: August 6, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot Is Rated Even Lower Than Original

Remember how much fun you used to poke at Tim Story's goofy Fantastic Four film from 2005? Well, it doesn't seem so bad these days, now does it? As Josh Trank's rebooted Fantastic Four film endures one gut-punch after the next from critics, its Rotten Tomatoes score has officially dipped below the original's (but not the original original...that would be bad). While Story's Fantastic Four sits at a rancid 27% Rotten score, Trank's reboot is trapped at an irredeemable 9%.

There's still the slight chance that a few positive reviews could hit over Fantastic Four's opening weekend and hoist its score up, but its fate seems Doomed.

While Rotten Tomatoes' official consensus for the 2005 Fantastic Four reads, "Marred by goofy attempts at wit, subpar acting, and bland storytelling, Fantastic Four is a mediocre attempt to bring Marvel's oldest hero team to the big screen," its takeaway for this year's is even less forgiving, reading "Dull and downbeat, this Fantastic Four proves a woefully misguided attempt to translate a classic comic series without the humor, joy, or colorful thrills that made it great."

Josh Trank's Fantastic Four Is Rated Even Lower Than Original On Rotten Tomatoes

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: July 23, 2015

Bryan Singer Confirms X-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover Plans

Josh Trank's Fantastic Four hasn't even hit theaters yet, but X-Men director Bryan Singer already wants the rebooted First Family in his mutant sandbox. In a recent interview, Singer - who's busy filming next year's X-Men: Apocalypse - revealed that there's been initial talks of a live-action X-Men and Fantastic Four crossover.

“Those ideas are in play,” he says. “That would be a natural match-up because they’re both ensemble films and there is a natural mechanism by which to do it.”

And what might that “natural mechanism” (using the term “natural liberally, given that it’s a comic boo universe) be? Why, time travel, of course!

“It deals with time,” Singer revealed in an interview with Yahoo Movies. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Obviously, it wouldn't be Singer's first rodeo with time-travel. He first played hop-scotch with the time stream in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, bending all sorts of continuity rules along the way.

Bryan Singer Confirms X-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover Plans Involving Time Travel
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Update: June 4, 2015

Josh Trank Denies Reports of FANTASTIC FOUR Set Troubles

Speaking publicly about his departure from the Star Wars spinoff film for the first time, director Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) says he wasn't prepared for just how nasty things would get. Trank adamantly pushed back against allegations of his erratic behavior on the set of Fantastic Four. "None of those facts were true and any of the facts that were true were spun in such a maliciously wrong way," he said in an interview with The Times.

The director strongly disputed charges that he was isolated and indecisive on the set of Fantastic Four. "If you ask anybody by name who I've worked with, from Simon to [producer] Hutch [Parker] or my crew or anybody else, they'd be like, 'We've been working really hard on this movie and we've had an excellent time working together,'" he said. "It's been a challenging movie for all of the right reasons."

Trank also denied reports that, during the filming of Fantastic Four in New Orleans, his dogs had caused as much as $100,000 in damage to a house he was renting. "Please it's crazy and it's not true," he said. "I have three pugs and a little Boston terrier... that's all I'm saying. They're fine. I've been living in another house for over a year now and there's literally no problem. I love my landlord."

As for rumors that he was behind an angry, defensive rant that surfaced last week on the anonymous Internet bulletin board 4Chan, Trank said that was simply a bizarre hoax someone perpetrated at his expense. "Everybody wanted to go out there and say, 'Josh has lost his mind,'" he said. "It's just been an avalanche of things."

But after months of intense scrutiny and sometimes blistering criticism from many in the fan community over Fantastic Four - including his decision to change the race of the Johnny Storm character - Trank said he couldn't imagine taking on another giant franchise right away.

"I want to do something original after this because I've been living under public scrutiny, as you've seen, for the last four years of my life," he said. "And it's not healthy for me right now in my life. I want to do something that's below the radar."

Josh Trank Sets the Record Straight on Why He Left the 2nd 'Star Wars' Spinoff Film
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Update: July 15, 2015

X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, GAMBIT and DEADPOOL Casts Assemble

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Update: July 11, 2015

X-MEN, DEADPOOL and FANTASTIC FOUR Casts Assemble for Largest Superhero Selfie

The X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool Casts assemble for largest superhero selfie at Comic-Con.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: May 28, 2015

Kang the Conqueror and the Shi'ar Movie Rights Belong to Fox

After the immense success of Marvel's space epic Guardians Of The Galaxy, which grossed a cool $774 million last year, its sequel quickly became one of the more hotly anticipated films of 2017. Director James Gunn only recently began working on the script, and has been fairly open about his process, teasing fans with vague hints about potential new cosmic characters, which may or may not include Nova and/or Adam Warlock.

Based on a recent Facebook reply by Gunn, it looks like there may be a few characters he won't get a chance to play with anytime soon. And it looks like one major Avengers villain and one major alien race won't be setting foot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the foreseeable future. Check out his reply below:

So, yeah, the rights to both Kang the Conqueror and the Shi'ar belong to 20th Century Fox, which considering Kang's familial ties to the Fantastic Four makes sense, but it is somewhat disappointing as Kang is also one of the Avengers more formidable foes. However, there may be somewhat of a silver lining as having the rights to both Kang and the Shi'ar could potentially open up a cosmic universe for the X-Men and/or the Fantastic Four. It would certainly be an interesting path to take following Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse.

Don't Expect To See Kang And The Shi'ar Race In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
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Update: May 22, 2015

Michael B. Jordan Responds to Human Torch Casting Criticisms

Michael B. Jordan: "You're not supposed to go on the Internet when you're cast as a superhero. But after taking on Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four - a character originally written with blond hair and blue eyes - I wanted to check the pulse out there. I didn't want to be ignorant about what people were saying. Turns out this is what they were saying: 'A black guy? I don't like it. They must be doing it because Obama's president' and 'It's not true to the comic.' Or even, 'They've destroyed it!'

It used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore. I can see everybody's perspective, and I know I can't ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books. But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, 'You're good. I'm okay with this,' who am I to go against that?

Sometimes you have to be the person who stands up and says, 'I'll be the one to shoulder all this hate. I'll take the brunt for the next couple of generations.' I put that responsibility on myself. People are always going to see each other in terms of race, but maybe in the future we won't talk about it as much. Maybe, if I set an example, Hollywood will start considering more people of color in other prominent roles, and maybe we can reach the people who are stuck in the mindset that it has to be true to the comic book.' Or maybe we have to reach past them.

To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer. Go outside and walk around. Look at the people walking next to you. Look at your friends' friends and who they're interacting with. And just understand this is the world we live in. It's okay to like it."

Michael B. Jordan Fires Back at Internet Trolls Angry Over His Human Torch Casting
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Update: May 1, 2015

FANTASTIC FOUR Troubles Led to Josh Trank's STAR WARS Firing

According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, reports of the director Josh Trank's unusual conduct during the making of Fox's upcoming Fantastic Four movie had raised alarm among Lucasfilm executives that were entrusting him with the second Star Wars standalone film.

Trank, 30, had raised eyebrows in April when he didn't appear as scheduled at a Star Wars celebration in Anaheim. At the time, both Disney and the director cited illness as the cause but multiple knowledgeable sources say the studio had asked the filmmaker not to attend while considering whether to proceed with him on the second spinoff in a planned series of films.

Indeed, producers on Fantastic Four, set for release July 30, are said to have faced great challenges pulling the film together given behavior described by one insider as "erratic" and at times "very isolated." Trank did not offer clear direction, this person adds, saying, "If you've got someone who can't answer questions or who isn't sure or is in hiding, that's not good."

Among those bumps in making the Fantastic Four movie: Trank has several small dogs who were left in a rented house in New Orleans while the film was shooting there. According to sources, as much as $100,000 worth of damage was done to the property. Production considers any destruction of the property to be Trank's responsibility. Trank was sometimes indecisive and uncommunicative. Producers Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker had to step in to help pull the film together, though sources stress that Trank was still on set and directing the film.

Kinberg, who is producing the second Star Wars standalone project (the first, Rogue One, is being directed by Gareth Edwards for a December 2016 release), is said to have communicated his displeasure with Trank to Kathleen Kennedy and the team at Lucasfilm. As the Star Wars brain trust heard more about Trank's behavior and working style, they became less confident in handing over the film to him.

Inside a 'Star Wars' Firing: 'Fantastic Four' Problems Led to Josh Trank's Ouster
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Update: April 19, 2015

2nd Extended Trailer for FANTASTIC FOUR Officially Released

20th Century Fox has released the second extended trailer for director Josh Trank's Fantastic Four. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell star as Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Sue Storm, and Ben Grimm respectively, who become Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing after a disastrous trip to another dimension.

But the biggest reveal in the new Fantastic Four trailer isn't a superhero but a supervillain. This serves up our first look at Toby Kebbell's Victor Domashev, both in and out of the mask. Left behind in the alternate dimension, Domashev eventually morphs into the superhero quartet's main adversary Dr. Doom. And there's much more of the team in action, including new shots of the Thing.

There's been a lot to like in the promos released so far, but they've been missing a key component of the film's appeal: the characters themselves. Thankfully, the latest Fantastic Four trailer offers a bit of course correction, playing down the philosophical soliloquies in favor of character beats. And with that, we get an even better sense of the film's overall vibe. Fantastic Four opens August 7, 2015.



New Extended Trailer for 'Fantastic Four' Reveals Doctor Doom
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Update: February 13, 2015

David Cronenberg's Thoughts on Influencing FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot

A few weeks ago, director Josh Trank told Collider that he was a huge David Cronenberg fan and those films inspired his take on Fantastic Four. Trank especially wanted to bring Cronenberg's style to the transformation scene to convey "something horrible happening to your body and it transforming out of control." In a new interview, Cronenberg gives his thoughts on the fact that his work influenced the new Fantastic Four movie.

"Once you’ve contributed your voice to the cinematic conversation, it’s out there and it’s up for grabs, absolutely. So I don’t complain. In fact, I take it as a compliment." He later added, "When you come up with something original and it really strikes a chord in people, it’s going to imitated, it’s going to be appropriated, and it’s actually kind of nice when someone just flat out admits it. That’s actually pretty good. Not everybody does."

"As far back as Alien, for example, which totally ripped off things from my movie Shivers -Shivers featured a parasite that lives in your body, bursts out of your chests, jumps onto your face, and jumps down your mouth, and suddenly you see this in a studio film, which was hugely successful, Alien," Cronenberg said. "The writer of the script, Dan O’Bannon, had seen Shivers, we know that he had seen my movie and, shall we say, appropriated it. So this is not new stuff for me."

David Cronenberg on Josh Trank's The Fantastic Four Being Inspired By His Films

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: January 27, 2015

First Trailer for Josh Trank's THE FANTASTIC FOUR Released

20th Century Fox has finally released the first official trailer for Josh Trank's The Fantastic Four. The project has been hounded by criticisms and controversy for the past two years from the Human Torch race switch to the unconventional cast to the rumored script details. It didn't help quell the pessimism when there were little to no set photos available and lack of footage from the film with the release looming.

The official trailer has now debut and it looks fantastic (pun intended). I've already resigned a few years ago to the fact that this adaptation will be a reimagining to the source material. Nicely conveying the tone and mood without giving much away, the trailer gives off a very somber space explorers vibe and the music I assume is from Marco Beltrami sounds amazing. The film stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Johnny B. Storm, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Tim Blake Nelson and Reg E. Cathey. The Fantastic Four opens August 7, 2015.

Synopsis: The Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.


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Update: November 11, 2014

Toby Kebbell Provides More Details on His 'Doctor Doom' Role

Yesterday, Fantastic Four fans received some upsetting news about the new reboot. Toby Kebbell, who plays Doctor Doom, revealed that his character is named Victor Domashev who he describes as an anti-social programmer and called Doom on blogging sites. IGN has released a video interview with Kebbell where the actor provides more details on the reboot and his Victor Domashev character.

"This is, thankfully, a very realistic, low-fi attempt at a super hero movie. Josh Trank, who did Chronicle, did that kind of realistic...well, regardless off what you think of it, he did a lot with very little. And that's the same approach that was taken on this one."

"I can tell you a couple of things. He's not Von Doom: He's Domachev. My whole thing was getting his voice just right. I've seen the cartoon and watched so much. Now, we've got him as Doom because he's a programmer. And wherever he is, in chatrooms, he's Doom. And those are the only solid bits I can give."

"When I was a kid, that voice I imagined, that was what I tried to portray. That voice of a person who's been in a country. When I was a kid it was an Eastern European who's been in England. They kind of have an English accent, but you can tell they're not from there. And so now this is Von Doom, or Domachev as we've got him in this movie, and he's in America and so I did the American accent with that hint, that element. But that voice for me was so vitally important."

Toby Kebbell Talks About His Doctor Doom Role in THE FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot
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Update: November 10, 2014

Doctor Doom is an Anti-Social Blogger in New FANTASTIC FOUR

Fans know next to nothing about Josh Trank's The Fantastic Four, opening August 7, 2015. We know they've casted young, changed a character race (African-American Michael B. Jordan plays Johnny Storm, who is Caucasian in the comics), and strongly hinted at upending what fans expect from an adaptation of the long-running comic series. Unsurprisingly, those changes will also extend to the film's antagonist, Doctor Doom, who is being played by Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). In an interview with Collider, Kebbell said:

"I'm excited to see it too, and my nerves really... The only thing I can tease you about is what I worked on most was the voice because nobody - even in the cartoons, when I was watching them I was like, 'So where's he from?' There's a mild change and I'll tell you because of our history."

"He's Victor Domashev, not Victor Von Doom in our story. And I'm sure I'll be sent to jail for telling you that. The Doom in ours... I'm a programmer. Very anti-social programmer. And on blogging sites I'm 'Doom'."

"Yeah, it was cool man. Josh, the whole deal, the lo-fi way he did it, the ultra-real. It was just nice to do that. It was nice to be feeling like we had to come to terms with what was given by this incident."

Toby Kebbell Reveals Doctor Doom’s Radically New Origin in THE FANTASTIC FOUR
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Update: December 14, 2014

FANTASTIC FOUR and X-MEN Team-Up Apparently Confirmed

Fox will apparently pursue a Fantastic Four/X-Men team-up movie, according to The Daily Beast. It comes -- as has basically every seemingly-big story this week -- from e-mails leaked from top Sony executives who, while they aren't directly connected to many of the films being reported on, are in discussions with filmmakers and executives who share privileged information about them.

In an October e-mail from Michael De Luca, co-president of production for Columbia Pictures, to Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, it certainly seems as though the plan was to bail on Andrew Garfield in favor of a relationship with Marvel Studios...and that Fox is working on an X-Men/Fantastic Four mash-up.

"[Simon] Kinberg told me Fox is steering X-Men and Fantastic Four into an eventual team up film," wrote De Luca. "Seems to me maybe, since the Spider-man universe itself is deep, you guys should look at Sinister Six, new Spidey, female movie and Venom as linked pieces leading to eventual mega movie ala Feige and Fox and not stand alone single films. It's early in all these and you can still map out a blueprint for connective tissue."

Fox Apparently Working on a Fantastic Four/X-Men Team-Up Movie in the Future
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Update: October 12, 2014

Michael B. Jordan Talks Casting Backlash and Human Torch Suit

In a recent interview with the New York Daily News, rising star Michael B. Jordan discussed his role as Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch, in The Fantastic Four movie, suiting up for the first time, among other things. About the negative response to him playing the originally-white character, the Chronicle actor doesn't think about it. "Can't make everybody happy," he said. "I don't think anything about it."

What he does think about, on the other hand, is how major it is to be a part of the rebooted Fox/Marvel franchise. "I loved comic books; Japanese animation, cartoons," he said. "So to be able to play a character that I always fantasized about and always wanted to be -- to have powers and stuff like that -- and to be a part of Marvel's family, it's a huge deal for me. I geek out about it."

About suiting as the Human Torch for the first time, Jordan admits, "I was like, 'This is a lot tighter than I expected.'" On his preparation for the role, Jordan says, "I've known about this character and playing this role for almost two and a half years now. So when I get all these new questions about how I'm feeling about it, I'm like, 'You know, I'm feeling pretty good about it.'"

He then went on to discuss Johnny Storm's race-change. "It's something that we kind of willed to happen, which was really important to me and Josh [Trank]," he said of The Fantastic Four director. "We're lucky we had a studio behind us that really supported our ambition and our want for change. Now we have something really epic."

Michael B. Jordan Discusses FANTASTIC FOUR, Human Torch Suit, Casting Backlash

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: October 12, 2014

Marvel Confirms Cancellation of FANTASTIC FOUR Comic Book

Marvel's First Family, The Fantastic Four, is officially ending. The news came at the tail-end of Marvel's panel at New York Comic Con today from Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and writer James Robinson. The announcement ends months of rumors and speculation that the publisher was going to cancel its oldest Silver Age team, presumably over rights issues between Marvel and 20th Century Fox. The series, written by James Robinson and illustrated by Leonard Kirk, just launched this February.

Robinson praised the many writers who have come before him (Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman and Mark Waid) and talked a little about bringing back the classic blue costumes and once again uniting the heroes as the team readers have always known and loved. "They're going to all come back and be the team that you love. Everyone will have their moment, from Sharon Ventura to Wyatt Wingfoot."

The writer would then go on to talk about the cancellation of the series, stating, "The book is reverting to its original numbers, and the book is going away for a while. I'm moving towards the end of 'Fantastic Four.' I just want to reassure people that you will not leave this book with a bad taste in your mouth." Fantastic Four" #642, the start of "The End is Fourever," will hit in January.

Marvel Officially Confirms End Of Fantastic Four; Series Is "Going Away For A While"
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Update: October 1, 2014

Miles Teller Reveals Struggles of Casting THE FANTASTIC FOUR

According to Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan joining as the Human Torch was the very first hire, due to his previous working relationship with Trank on Chronicle. The decision has definitely gotten some backlash by race-obsessed fans on the web, but Teller doesn't see the point. "I think it's great. It is a big thing," he said. "You're changing the race of a character. It's like, 'Why couldn't the Human Torch be black?'"

Even though he came on after Jordan, Teller still met with Trank a year before production started, supposedly the only person to do so for the role, but it took some effort to win over the studio. "It took a lot of convincing. For me with Reed Richards, I know Josh really had to pull for me," Teller said. "Josh did for all of the characters. For Jamie, he really vouched for him. For Mike, he was like, 'This is my guy' from the bat. He was very specific on who he wanted to play these characters. I was his guy for it."

But what about Toby Kebbell, the guy who stole Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and is taking over the role of Doctor Doom? He's got Teller's stamp of approval. "I think people are really going to dig what he did with it," Teller said. "He's just a good actor."

Miles Teller Reveals The Struggles Of Casting Josh Trank's ‘The Fantastic Four’ Reboot
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Update: September 30, 2014

Miles Teller Says New FANTASTIC FOUR Is Completely Different

Attention Fantastic Four fans who still bear emotional scars following Fox's first cinematic version of their favorite heroes. "It's different in every way," Miles Teller, who will play Reed Richards, explained to Vulture when comparing the Josh Trank-helmed movie to its 2005 and 2007 predecessors. "The tone of this film is completely different," he continued. "I think that a more grounded approach is what people are into... You're dealing with these characters, but you're making them real people in how they exist day-to-day. People wanted it to be taken more seriously than the kind of Dick Tracy, kitschy, overly comic-book world."

The actor, who appears in the movie alongside Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell, also said that he wasn't worried about audiences being bored by superhero movies before Fantastic Four hits theaters next summer. "It depends on the product," he said. "Guardians of the Galaxy was a really fresh take on it [and] I think people responded to that. In terms of where we are in the schedule, we're playing the same weekend they were playing. But it's a big summer: You've got Avengers, and my buddy [Whiplash co-star J.K. Simmons] is in Terminator, and you got Jurassic World. There's a ton of movies out there, so if people have an appetite for it, they'll see a couple, and if not, maybe they'll just see one."

Miles Teller Says Fantastic Four Reboot is Completely Different Than Previous Attempts
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Update: September 26, 2014

Marvel & Jack Kirby Heirs Amicably Settle Their Legal Dispute

On Friday, Marvel ended a long and bitter feud with the estate of comic book legend Jack Kirby, announcing a settlement just days before the U.S. Supreme Court had scheduled a conference to discuss whether to take up a case with potentially billions on the line.

"Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes and are looking forward to advancing their shared goal of honoring Mr. Kirby's significant role in Marvel's history," read a joint statement from Marvel and the Kirby family.

The settlement, which will surely please shareholders of Marvel parent Disney as much as it will disappoint many others in the entertainment industry, brings an end to a contentious lawsuit that started after Kirby's family, represented by attorney Marc Toberoff, began sending termination notices to Marvel and its licensees Sony, Fox and Universal over such superhero characters as Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and others. Marvel sought a declaration that the termination notices were invalid.

The case now ends, and hopefully, the terms of the agreement are told at a later date. Surely Kirby's estate got something (money, promise of credits or the return of original art). Meanwhile, the Hollywood unions and IP observers who hoped for some legal clarity will have to wait for the next superhero involved in an epic struggle that only the nine justices of the Supreme Court can solve.

Marvel and Jack Kirby Estate Settlement Brings End to High-Stakes Battle - THR
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Update: September 26, 2014

Origin Details on THE FANTASTIC FOUR; Sue Storm Is Adopted

Schmoes Know has got their hands on some new interesting plot details for the Fantastic Four reboot from a very reliable source. There's been some concern among fans about the status of the Storm family in the films following the casting of Michael B. Jordan, an African American, as Johnny Storm and Kate Mara, a white actress, as his sister, Susan. The site reports that it is actually Mara's Sue Storm who is adopted in the film, with her and Michael B. Jordan's parents being African American.

The site also hears that instead of the group gaining their powers from a failed scientific mission in outer space like in the original comics and existing films, this time the group's origin story will be much more like their Ultimate versions. In the film, the team will gain their powers through a lab experiment gone wrong in a way, where they create a portal to another world or dimension (its not clear) and they get their powers after the exposure to this other dimension/planet. Much like how the group gets their powers in the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics, after they are engulfed in a failed teleporter experiment.

The other small tidbit of news that Schmoes Know have is that the film is going to be VERY character-driven. This first installment is much more focused on setting up the characters and their relationships with each other and their nemesis Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell) than it is about making things blow up in big action set pieces.

Fantastic Four Reboot Will Have Different Origin, Sue Storm Will Be Adopted

Comments: The news that this movie will be very character-driven doesn't surprise me in light of the fact that there is barely any set photos available while they were shooting a few months back.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: August 27, 2014

First Look at Doctor Doom, Thing for FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot

Several images from the filming set of The Fantastic Four reboot land online courtesy of Geek Pride. One of them shows what appears to be a first look at Doctor Doom and Human Torch. Another picture sees the villain facing off a pre-CGI Thing. Dr. Doom wears an all-black ensemble complete with a mask and a hooded cape, while the pre-CGI Human Torch dons a glowing attire. Both are seen hanging on the wires in a green room. Meanwhile, a big tall male is standing in place of The Thing. Toby Kebell (Wrath of the Titans) is set to play Doctor Doom in the film. Click HERE to see the Doctor Doom image.

Justified Films tweeted a behind-the-scenes photo which depicts a molded bust of The Thing, the Hulk-like member of The Fantastic Four made entirely from stone. The green screen in the background and the motion-capture markers tell us this is a pre-CG rendering of the character, though no other information was given, so take this leak with a grain of salt for the time being. However, it's pretty cool nonetheless. Jamie Bell (Jumper, The Eagle) is set to play Ben Grimm/The Thing in the film, which is said to be an entirely different take on Marvel's first family. Click HERE to see the The Thing image.
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Update: August 23, 2014

Josh Trank Confirms Johnny and Sue Are Siblings, Suit Details Revealed

After months of radio silence, director Josh Trank is finally opening up about the Fantastic Four movie. Earlier today, Trank released the first official image of The Thing, confirmed the movie had wrapped, and took part in a Q&A with fans. Ever since the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch and Kate Mara as Invisible Woman, fans have been wondering if the duo would still be brother and sister like in the comics. When asked if Johnny and Sue were still brother and sister or if that was changed, Trank replied, "Minor change, they're still siblings."

When asked why he chose to make Human Torch/Johnny Storm black, Trank replied, "I didn't choose to make Johnny black. I chose to make Michael Johnny." As far as the Fantastic Four suits, Trank didn't offer many details. However, he did indicate that they're not tight suits. As far as Jamie Bell, Trank confirmed that he did the motion capture for his role at The Thing.

Trank revealed that the Fantastic Four will not be a found footage film, as some have suggested. Trank also indicated that the first look at the film would be later this year. As far as similarities to Trank's Chronicle, the director insisted, "This isn't a Chronicle sequel or reboot. It's a Fantastic Four origin. Same feel, maybe."

Director Josh Trank Reveals FANTASTIC FOUR Details on Storm Siblings, Suits and More
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Update: July 14, 2014

Kate Mara Was Told Not to Read FANTASTIC FOUR Comic Books

Kate Mara: "I don't feel more responsibility with this role that I've felt with others. I understand that there are many fans of Fantastic Four and I guess they expect a lot from me, but I prefer not to be pressured by that. We are also trying to create a new way of seeing these superheroes, I'm focusing on making her (Susan Storm) as real as possible."

"I was excited, but I only focused on doing the best I could. I think there are roles you get if that's what needs to happen. I kept everything in perspective although expected to stay with the paper, because the movie has great actors like Michael B. Jordan (who will be the Human Torch)."

"I've never been a fan of comics, I've never actually read one. I was going to for this movie but the director said it wasn't necessary. Well, actually he told us that we shouldn't do it because the plot won't be based on any history of anything already published. So I chose to follow his instructions. The one fact is I am a fan of comic book movies, so it's very exciting to be part of a movie like this."

Kate Mara Says 'Fantastic Four' Reboot Won't Be Based on Any History of the Comics

Comments: Inb4 Rama blows a gasket upon hearing this.
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Update: May 30, 2014

Rumor: Marvel to Cancel FANTASTIC FOUR Comics to Snub Fox?

Last night, Bleeding Cool reported that Fantastic Four and Ultimate FF would soon be cancelled, and that promotional material featuring the characters would disappear from Marvel's offices and upcoming publications, as CEO Ike Perlmutter believed that any work to promote the team in comics would serve to elevate the profile of their upcoming, Fox-produced film, presumably at the expense of other superhero properties from Marvel Studios proper.

Bleeding Cool says that it received an e-mail from an anonymous artist who was given rather strict guidelines for creating Marvel sketch cards. "I do a number of sketch card projects for Upper Deck and Rittenhouse using Marvel characters," the source wrote. "The most recent projects from both companies, one billed as Marvel 75th Anniversary, gave specific guidelines to NOT use any FF characters or supporting cast such as Dr Doom, Galactus, Surfer, Skrulls etc..." A photo of the memo purportedly reads, "All Marvel characters related to Fantastic Four are now off-limits and will be immediately rejected by Marvel."

Comic Book Resources read the BC story and followed up with their own sources, with potentially-alarming results: CBR cannot confirm the exact future of Fantastic Four and Ultimate FF, but has confirmed with multiple industry sources speaking on the condition of anonymity that a hiatus for the property is planned, at least as of recently. Plans can change, something that's potentially more likely now that the situation has been made public. The Fantastic Four characters are said to continue appearing in other Marvel titles, just not in a specifically branded Fantastic Four series.

Marvel Senior Editor Tom Brevoort took to his blog today to defend the company against accusations that it was intentionally downplaying characters whose film and TV rights are tied up with 20th Century Fox. When one fan asked Brevoort to deny the rumors and cut them off at the knees, the editor responded, "My denying rumors isn't likely to keep anybody who's prone to paranoia from panicking. But really, does this even seem remotely plausible to people? Does it make any sense? Folks have a very strange idea as to the way a business is run."

Rumor: Marvel Planning to Cancel Fantastic Four Comics to Snub 20th Century Fox?

Marvel Senior Editor Tom Brevoort Comments on Fantastic Four Cancellation Rumors
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Update: May 12, 2014

FANTASTIC FOUR and X-MEN to Exist in Discrete Universes

Last year, it was reported that writer-producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) had been tapped to write a "Marvel-style" universe that would bring together 20th Century Fox's two major superhero properties, X-Men and Fantastic Four because that's what The Avengers hath wrought. Speaking to ScreenCrush recently, Kinberg explained that there's a logistical problem of having the X-Men and the Fantastic Four inhabit the same on-screen world because their powers come from different sources:

"Because none of the X-Men movies have acknowledged the notion of a sort of superhero team - the Fantastic Four. And the Fantastic Four acquire powers, so for them to live in a world where mutants are prevalent is kind of complicated, because you're like, 'Oh, you're just a mutant.' Like, 'What's so fantastic about you?'"

The X-Men franchise is already budding into a shared universe itself, with rumors of solo films for several characters and a possible X-Force spinoff in the works. Meanwhile, Fantastic Four is just trying to reboot itself into viability after two past cinematic failures. As it is, both franchises have plenty of challenge on their plate without trying to orchestrate a shared universe. They might want to ask the good people over at Sony how that "more-is-better" calculation worked with The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Writer Simon Kinberg Says Fantastic Four and X-Men to Exist in Discrete Universes

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: May 8, 2014

Reg E. Cathey Joins FANTASTIC FOUR as Johnny and Sue's Dad

Reg E. Cathey has joined the cast of 20th Century Fox's The Fantastic Four reboot. Cathey, who is best known for his role as Norman Wilson on HBO's The Wire, will play Dr. Storm, the scientist father of Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) and Sue Storm (Kate Mara). That likely means Sue will be Johnny's adopted sister or a step-sister since genetics and her appearance makes it unlikely she's an actual blood relative of Dr. Storm.

The Marvel superhero film will serve as a reunion for Cathey and Jordan, as Jordan got his start on The Wire. Cathey appears on both Cinemax's Banshee and Netflix's House of Cards, a series that also featured Mara.

Miles Teller and Jamie Bell round out the adventuresome quartet that gains incredible superpowers. Josh Trank is directing the film, which is currently filming in Louisiana. Toby Kebbell is set to play Victor Von Doom and Tim Blake Nelson as Harvey Elder, aka The Mole Man. The Fantastic Four is set for release on June 19, 2015.

THE WIRE Alum Reg E. Cathey Joins THE FANTASTIC FOUR as Sue and Johnny's Dad
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Update: April 30, 2014

Tim Blake Nelson to Play the Mole Man in THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Tim Blake Nelson is in final negotiations to join the cast of 20th Century Fox's reboot of The Fantastic Four. Josh Trank is directing the movie, which once again focuses on the Marvel Comics quartet of scientist-adventurers Reed Richards (Miles Teller), aka Mr. Fantastic; his best friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), aka The Thing; his girlfriend Sue Storm (Kate Mara), aka The Invisible Woman; and her brother, Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), aka The Human Torch. Toby Kebbell is playing the villain, Doctor Doom.

Nelson will play Harvey Elder, an eccentric and socially awkward scientist. In comics lore, Elder is actually the Mole Man, shunned by humanity and leader of a subterranean group of monsters known as the Moloids. Sources say the Mole Man will not appear in this movie but Elder's appearance does set up the character to be the villain in future installments of the franchise. Simon Kinberg wrote the script and is producing with Hutch Parker.

Nelson already has past Marvel experience having played a key character in 2006's The Incredible Hulk. The actor, known for his eclectic indie fare, has several pics in the can, including Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman and Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner, among them.

Tim Blake Nelson in Final Talks to Play the Mole Man in 'The Fantastic Four' (Exclusive)
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Update: April 1, 2014

Toby Kebbell to Play Doctor Doom in FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot

The last significant piece of the new Fantastic Four puzzle is set. The character Victor von Doom, more commonly known by his only slightly more evil-sounding name Doctor Doom, will be played by Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans, Prince of Persia). Deals are being finalized, but assuming everything goes according to plan, he'll join Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell in the film. Variety reports the deal without offering many more details about how Doom will end up on screen in this version. But it can't be worse than the Julian McMahon version in the 2005 film, right?

We do know that the Josh Trank film, scripted by Jeremy Slater and rewritten by Simon Kinberg, is leaping off from Marvel's Ultimate Fantastic Four comic series. The characters will be younger than the traditional versions, and some precise origin details will likely differ from the original story written by Stan Lee in the early '60s.

The Ultimates version of Doom actually has the "regular" name Victor van Damme. (Variety specifies the "von Doom" name, but that could be incorrect.) He is an aristocrat who is descended from Vlad "the Impaler" Tepes. He's involved in the same scientific program as Reed Richards, and is instrumental in the accident that gives the Fantastic Four their powers. How many of the Ultimate details will end up in this film? We don't know at this point.

Toby Kebbell to Play FANTASTIC FOUR Villain Doctor Doom in Josh Trank's Reboot
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Update: February 19, 2014

THE FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot Cast Has Been Revealed

Fox is in the final stages of finding its actors for Fantastic Four. Sources tell THR that the studio is making deals with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell to star in the project that reboots the Marvel superheroes. Josh Trank is directing. Fox has been working furiously on the reboot (slated for release on June 19, 2015), which almost came together with a cast last fall before rewrites delayed it. The project has gone through its fair share of writers but now has a script execs and filmmakers are happy with. That generated a new round of tests and chemistry reads in earlier in February.

Jordan, who is playing the Human Torch, has been involved with the project for a while as the studio has on option on the actor due to his starring in the found footage sci-fi hit Chronicle, also directed by Trank. (Jordan's involvement, first revealed last year, initially rankled comic purists since the character, Johnny Storm, is a blonde-haired white young man but is being reconceived in this version.)

Mara won the role of Sue Storm aka Invisible Girl via a round of screentests previously reported by THR. The come-from-behind actor here is Bell, who emerged as the choice for the role of Ben Grimm, aka the forceful rockman named The Thing after initial tests failed to produce a candidate execs could agree on.

Teller, meanwhile, would play Reed Richards, aka the stretchable Mr. Fantastic, but that's if scheduling issues can be worked out. Teller is coming off starring in the Sundance hit Whiplash but even before then was emerging as an in-demand actor. The John Belushi biopic which is due to shoot this spring is one of the projects vying for his attention.

The new cast may not be household names or A-listers but in terms of a next gen "best of" class it can't be beat. Teller is on the rise and fielding multiple offers, Jordan is nominated for an Indie Spirit for his acclaimed work in Fruitvale Station, and Mara has cachet due to co-starring in House of Cards. Brit thespian Bell is one of the stars of Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac.

Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell to Star in Fantastic Four Reboot
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Update: January 13, 2014

First Trailer for Roger Corman's Fantastic Four Documentary DOOMED!

Just in time as Fox's Fantastic Four reboot is preparing to start filming this March, the trailer for DOOMED!: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four, has been released online. Following the saga of famed schlock producer Roger Corman's quest to make a Fanastic Four movie in order to save the rights from reverting away from 20th Century Fox, the documentary speaks with the cast and crew of one of the most notoriously-awful comic book movies ever made and sees that two decades later, it still means something to them.

Corman made the low-budget flick in 1992 because German producer Bernd Eichinger wanted to retain the rights, and although filming was completed, the picture was never officially released. Naturally, this has led to all sorts of speculation and conspiracy theories as to why it was buried, and Marty Langford's documentary DOOMED! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four promises to go behind-the-scenes and provide some answers to what really happened with this unreleased oddity. The trailer looks promising, especially if you've never seen Corman's lost superhero picture and want to know more about it.



DOOMED! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: July 14, 2012

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting Vol. 2.1: FANTASTIC FOUR

With 20th Century Fox fast-tracking their Fantastic Four reboot (lest the rights revert back to Marvel) and attaching Chronicle director Josh Trank to helm the project, I thought it would be fun to play casting director. I already mapped out my FF quadrilogy with the Mole Man being the villain in the first movie, just like in their comic book origins. Doctor Doom would make an appearance but would only be the main villain in the second movie. Namor would be the main antagonist in the third movie centering on the Atlantis invasion. Aside from their acting talent, age was also a factor in my casting choice as these actors have to portray the same characters for a number of years. So without further adieu, here's my dream casting for the FF movie:

Links to all Dragonlord's Movie Adaptation:

Dragonlord's Movie Adaptation: Old Man Logan

Dragonlord's Movie Adaptation: Captain Marvel 2.0

Dragonlord's Movie Adaptation: Namor: The Sub-Mariner


Links to all Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting:

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Old Man Logan

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Captain Marvel

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Namor: The Sub-Mariner

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Fantastic Four

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Spectacular Spider-Man

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Justice League

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: X-Men Reboot

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Daredevil

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Inhumans

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Ant-Man

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Guardians of the Galaxy

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Black Panther

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Doctor Strange

Dragonlord's Fantasy Casting: Preacher