Everything is pretty clear right now, as far as the rebooted Fantastic Four franchise is concerned: it is worse than the fans of Marvel's First Family predicted/wanted. Not only it failed to impress the critics (a 9% score on Rotten Tomatoes after just one day from release), but it also didn't attract the audiences.
In this way, people aren't calling the reboot worse than the initial Fantastic Four trilogy. They are calling it even worse than Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. And that says something, since that movie was atrocious (and this is an understatement).
But first things first!
Fantastic Four - predictions vs. reality
The box office predictions for Fantastic Four placed the movie's earnings during its first 3 days at around $50 million. Which was more than just a decent amount, considering the facts that the movie didn't have a huge budget and it didn't ignite the interest of the fans with its marketing campaign.
However, this threshold went down to $40 million for the first 3 days after the first reviews were released. With comparisons just like the one mentioned above, it is easy to see why.
But the reality was even grimmer than that, the movie making just about $2.5 million on Thursday (which is less than half of what Ant-Man did in the same amount of time, just as a comparison). So, now, it appears as if Fantastic Four will struggle to make $30 million in its first three days.
And the studio can leave aside the thoughts of taking the first place, because Tom Cruise's MI5 is doing well and is expected to reach this same amount with little to no problems at all.
So here are the reasons why Fantastic Four bombs - on the next page, a sudden change required by the fans!
Toby Kebbell talks a sudden change of name
Back when we didn't know anything about Fantastic Four (and that was about a couple of months ago), Toby Kebbell (who portrays Victor Domashev Doom) revealed that the director decided to change the name of the villain. Obviously, after the controversial casting choices, this change upset the fans even more.
What was the studio's reaction? They changed the name of the character during the reshoots. And you can imagine what this does to a film, to have a character changed during reshoots. In any way, the actor realizes now that the reveal he made about the villain's name might have ruined a surprise. But still - he isn't the one to blame, I believe.
Sure enough, changing it (although not significantly, as if from Doom to Bill Winklebottom) would have been controversial - but if you decided before actually shooting the movie on this change, then keep it this way! After all, it was a creative choice approved by the studio at first"¦ We can mention that not just the name was changed, but the character in its entirety"¦
You can find the full interview with Toby Kebbell (who is an excellent actor, in my opinion) at the end of this article.
On the next page, what the director says about the poor reception!
Josh Trank and the unmade Fantastic Four reboot
The Fantastic Four reboot is the first big-budget film directed by Josh Trank. After the unexpected success of Chronicle, the studio offered him this chance, apparently giving him the freedom to see the project through in any way that he wanted (hence Victor Domashev instead of Victor von Doom).
However, this wasn't the only liberty the director took with this film. Unfortunately, and apparently, we won't know what else he had in mind for the Fantastic Four reboot. As he said before the shooting began, the reboot was supposed to be heavily influenced by the work of David Cronenberg (The Fly) and was supposed to present the horrors the characters will face before becoming superheroes. Obviously, the horrors would be the sudden changes they will feel when their powers kick in.
And there are hints here and there in the movie - such as when Reed Richards is on the table, with his limbs stretching"¦ (this isn't a spoiler, since it was also in the trailers).
But we didn't see too much of this. After the film failed to impress, Josh Trank took it on Twitter and (in a way) explained what happened. Only a screenshot remains.
Most obviously, the director says that Fox interfered heavily with his work - it isn't too hard to believe, if keeping in mind that the studio decided to alter the main antagonist during the reshooting.
On the next page, the studio's comments!
What does the Fox say?
There is another side to this story too. According to sources from the studio, Fox isn't the one to blame for the debacle called Fantastic Four. In this way, Trank is the one that demanded sudden changes to the characters and plot, and not the studio.
In this way, the director had a meltdown, which made him become vindictive and, basically, and ass towards the studio, the crew, the stars, and so on. Should we believe Fox, especially when they say that this was also the reason why Josh Trank failed to seal the deal for the Star Wars Anthology film?
In a way, the studio is saying that they tried to shield the director from the public's reaction - they didn't want for the remaining fans to find out that he had a meltdown and he was ruining the movie. But then Josh Trank came and blamed the studio"¦
So, obviously, Fox decided to speak. Apparently, the director already filmed a terrible version of the Fantastic Four and the studio interfered only to make it better. Do we believe that? Do you believe that?
On the next page, what do the director's collaborators say?
Max Landis defends Josh Trank
In a pretty lengthy comment, Max Landis (can be red at the end of this article) defends the director as far as his creative choices are concerned. In this way, the writer says that Chronicle was a fluke, simply because it had a rather low budget and because the studio didn't interfere at all.
In this way, Josh Trank and Max Landis were the only ones who decided as to what Chronicle is supposed to be.
Fantastic Four, on the other hand, was nothing like Trank's debut movie. It was a superhero movie in an age conquered by this genre. So, obviously, the studio wanted to make it a huge financial success. Hence the interference. Hence the rumored change of the director for the reshoots (which, basically, changed the movie entirely).
On the next page, why Fantastic Four seems rushed after the first act!
Major scenes deleted from Fantastic Four
As said, Josh Trank's vision of Fantastic Four was a dark one, which was supposed to describe what a normal person would feel at first when his body changed in such a manner as the one of the superheroes. It was supposed to be a tragic tale, with heavy horror accents throughout it.
And the studio agreed to this vision. At first, that is - because, mere days before the shooting began, Trank's vision was amputated of three major set pieces. And a movie is just like a puzzle - if you move the pieces around, you won't get anything at all. Or you'll get the Fantastic Four reboot.
In this way, it is said that the third act (which seemed to be the most rushed and panned one of the entire movie) wasn't even directed by Trank.
So what scenes were taken out? Nobody has any idea about it. But, as said, when the pieces are moved out of order"¦ (check out this link for more)
On the next page, the aftermath
Fantastic Four - not so fantastic
As said, Fantastic Four isn't expected to reach even $30 million in its opening weekend. But there is still a chance for the studio to recoup its money, on the foreign market.
As far as Josh Trank is concerned, his career may as well be finished after blaming the studio for the failure of Fantastic Four.
Will we get a sequel for the movie? Will Fox release another one in 2017? It is highly unlikely - and even if they do, will the fans go and see it? The simplest answer to these questions is this one.
No.
On the next page, the interview and the letter!
I’m not sorry for the long post
Max Landis: “HEY, it's 1 AM. You know what, [frick] it. Let's be real here. Chronicle was an incredibly rare and easy ride. I loved writing the script. I enjoyed our producer, John Davis, and our exec, Steve. I also loved collaborating with Josh, who I think is brilliant, and whose ideas inspired my script. I fought hard for him to direct. But Chronicle was a complete fluke. We had so much control because the movie was, in relation to other movies that year, TINY. Some holes opened up in Fox's slate and Chronicle was cheap and unique, so they were kind enough to make it. Only took six months. At the time, I was like "˜THIS IS F**KING INCREDIBLE I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING.' I'd sold scripts, but it was my first greenlight. Josh, who'd been for-hire editor and whose only experience behind the camera had been a web series, was a smart, fun collaborator. During the shooting of the film, I had almost no input, but I was lucky in that the studio and Josh stuck astonishingly tight to my script. But again, even this is a fluke. It was an original idea, a dark character movie with a first time director. Fluke. Freak of nature. But I didn't know that and I'm sure Josh didn't know that either. In the five years since I sold Chronicle, I've learned the hard way. You take huge hits in this industry, creatively, but that's only after you've been given the opportunity to take huge swings, which is rare. A movie like Fantastic Four, an assignment with a lot riding on it, was always going to have a tremendous amount of cooks in the kitchen. People always ask me when I'm gonna write a superhero movie. I have. I've gotten those jobs. They're very intense and stressful. As a writer, I've been lucky to work on many, many projects - and seen how different and how hard each road can be - for five and a half years. Josh didn't get that chance, and his second major project, after one with total freedom, was one with intense oversight. So I don't think anyone's wrong or right, necessarily, and I don't imagine anyone cares about my opinion. But I do think it's important to say that if you're not prepared going in to not FIGHT like hell, but WORK like hell, it's gonna get ugly. No one is trying to make a bad movie. This job is only very occasionally romantic. Don't let it own you, try not to let it hurt you. Because sometimes it's so much f**king fun. But it's still a job.” (via Comic Book Movie)
