Very few people would argue that Fantastic Four and Rise of the Silver Surfer weren’t terrible movies. But that’s what you get when you rely on a cast of actors that aren’t very good to handle comic book characters that aren’t exactly perfect for the big screen. Simply put, some people love the Fantastic Four comics and some people hate them.
Based on the success of Marvel’s The Avengers, though, and our ongoing theme that every studio with a comic book property is using Paramount’s blockbuster as a blueprint, it was only a matter of time before 20th Century Fox rebooted the story of Reed Richards and Co. And FF fans should be relieved, because the new director doesn’t have Taxi and Barbershop on his résumé.
Fox has officially set Chronicle helmer Josh Trank to direct the reboot of Fantastic Four, and the film will be the next Marvel property to be slated for production and dated for release by the studio. Fantastic Four, which will include a new cast, falls into line after The Wolverine sequel that starts production shortly, and the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class, which is also on a fast track. (Via Deadline)
Chronicle was a very, very pleasant surprise, so this is good news for the people who were holding out hope that the Fantastic Four would get another chance after Tim Story’s unfortunate efforts. And I don’t mean for it to seem like I’m crapping all over Story, because there weren’t many directors who would have been able to make a quality FF movie with a stable of TV actors and a screenwriter whose biggest accomplishments were episodes of “Hill Street Blues” and “Twin Peaks”.
But before we stretch our arms all over the place for handjobs, let’s remember that the reboot will be written by the guy who gave us Green Lantern, so let’s go ahead and assume this thing will star Topher Grace, Amanda Bynes, the guy who played Hurley on “Lost”, and Mike Epps.