During the filming of Fantastic Four, plenty of unconfirmed stories were going around about director Josh Trank (Chronicle) not showing up on set, getting high, and trashing his rental house, but his being given the responsibility of directing a Star Wars standalone film wouldn’t make any sense if those rumors were true. Then, Trank didn’t show up at a panel for Star Wars Celebration; he said he had the flu, while the Hollywood Reporter said he “was asked by Disney executives not to attend the event.” Two weeks later, Trank pulled out of directing a Star Wars film.
Hero Complex was able to score an interview with Trank to give his side of the story. Two days ago, they published the first part of the interview, wherein Trank talks about his Fantastic Four casting decisions. Now they’ve published the Star Wars-related material. It’s the first interview in which Trank has discussed his departure from the Star Wars directing chair.
Trank said it was “the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” and that he avoided speaking on it until now because he thought “it will blow over.” (Uh… he knows it’s Star Wars, right?) He told Hero Complex that he feels like he’s in a Paddy Chayefsky script:
“Every misconception that could possibly be made about this has been made to a hilariously satirical degree. And it’s people who haven’t met me before. If they met me – I don’t know, I feel like I’m a pretty harmless person.”
So, what are his plans now that he’s finished Fantastic Four and doesn’t have another franchise to move on to?
“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.”
Original material, eh? Perhaps a movie about a flu epidemic that’s as devastating as crashing a vintage fighter plane?
https://twitter.com/mikeryan/status/589866676449103872
(Via Hero Complex and Los Angeles Times)
