20th Century Fox had two goes at turning Marvel
Comics’ Fantastic Four into decent movie characters and, for many (if not most)
they failed miserably twice. Just about the only decent things to come out of
either 2005’s Fantastic 4 or 2007’s Fantastic 4: Rise of The Silver Surfer,
were Chris Evans’ Human Torch, Michael Chiklis’ The Thing and the Teaser for
Rise of The Silver Surfer.
However, whilst the sequel’s gross – negative reaction combo
was considered a poor enough mix to end the first run of FF movies, the films
still grossed $330,579,719 & $289,047,763 so Fox were never likely to let
that potential golden goose fly away. The vagaries of their licensing deal with
Marvel (Which I’m sure both Marvel Studios & their ‘new’ owners Disney wish
would destroyed in a super villain attack now that they are successfully making
their own films) means that they can keep on making Fantastic 4 films (and
X-Men films, and Daredevil films) as long as they keep making them. Hence the
upcoming restart of Daredevil too. (A similar deal explains the impending
return of the Ghost Rider next month and The Amazing Spider-Man this summer,
both from Sony.) Universal considered their attempt at The Hulk so unsuccessful
that they effectively gave the character back to Marvel, allowing them to
rehabilitate the character with the general public in 2008’s The Incredible
Hulk; and have him be a major part of The Avengers, due this April / May.
So on to the ‘new’ Fantastic Four film. Possibly worrying news
is that the person currently writing the script also wrote last year’s Green
Lantern film! Of course Michael Green was only one of several writers on that
film (which I’m on record as saying was weak, but nowhere near as terrible as
many critics tried to say) so maybe all the good bits are down to him. He also
wrote some of the better Heroes stories and should get the benefit of the doubt
for that alone. According to Variety Fox
have been in talks with Joshua Trank, whose first feature film ‘Chronicle, they
are releasing on the 3rd of February, for some time and, assuming things
to according to plan with that film, he’ll be directing the Fantastic Four. Chronicle
has building up a very positive buzz for months, due to some well put together
trailers and marketing, and the finished product is apparently very promising.
Of course none of that means that the film will either be well received, or a
success, let alone both; but what isn’t in doubt is that the film has
sufficiently impressed those in charge that they fell Trank is their man. Of
course, the people in charge were sufficiently impressed with Tim Story’s
Fantastic Four that they let him direct its sequel, so... Trank has written
& directed several episodes of TV show ‘The Kill Point’.
Chronicle Synopsis...
“Three high school students make an
incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their
understanding. Even as they learn to control their abilities and use them to
their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control because their darker
sides begin to take over.”
So are you looking forward to this new FF film with optimism?
Or are you one of those who participated in the ‘Boycott’ of Fox’s, surprisingly
excellent, X-Men: First Class because you really just want studios to follow
Universal’s lead and just let Marvel have the movie rights to their characters
back, so that Marvel Studios (Iron Man 1 – 3; The Incredible Hulk; Thor 1 – 2;
Captain America: The First Avenger; The Avengers) can make their own film with
ALL of their characters?
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