Doctored and Doomed: How Pre-Production Ruined Fantastic Four

Sep 4

Sep 4 Doctored and Doomed: How Pre-Production Ruined Fantastic Four

Some say The Fantastic Four’s 2015 reboot was a promising project that’s struggles during production led to its box office demise, but my research suggests that the film was doomed before production began; the later struggles only dug a deeper grave.

Director of the film Josh Trank, known for his previous work directing the low budget film Chronicle, was chosen to work on the movie in hopes that he would present an original take on the series. Trank’s success on the film would prove that he could bring his originality to the screen with a big budget and established characters, sealing the deal for him to lead the, now-cancelled, stand alone Boba Fett film (3). 20th Century Fox had the largest financial stake in the film and needed the reboot to be a bigger success than the films from 2005-2007. The greater pressure on Fox, however, was to release the movie quickly. Fox’s deal with Marvel for the franchise’s movie rights was only set to last until 2016, therefore, if the series had not been rebooted and released by the end of 2015, they were going to lose all rights to Fantastic Four (6). While Marvel was not involved in the making of the film, their stake in the film is just as important to note. Both Trank and Fox needed the Fantastic Four reboot to succeed, but Marvel needed it to fail as much as possible. As Marvel had given up the rights to the franchise, only upon failure could the series be returned to their hands and be given the Marvel Cinematic Universe touch that has put them at the top of the superhero craze.

When it comes to the actual production of the film, clashes and conflicts occurred at every turn. The original concept for the film that Fox intended was to go for an older cast, with well-known actors like Adrien Brody and Keifer Sutherland to give the action film some star power (9). However, once Trank was chosen as the director, it was clear that there were key creative differences at play. Trank had envisioned the film as more of a sci-fi storytelling film, intending it to set up the characters for greater adventures in the next two films of the trilogy (2). Fox, however, wanted the film to be a blockbuster; filled with action and plenty of Michael Bay-esque explosions and special effects. Anyone who is familiar with the series knows that Fantastic Four is all about their family dynamic and story rather than action and angst (2).

Disputes over whose take would be more successful locked the script in perpetual limbo, leaving cast and crew lost in the mix. Without a finished script, costumes could only vaguely be designed and sets focused on the simplicity of the concrete and cinderblock rooms seen throughout the majority of the film (4). When the script was finally settled, they had decided to loosely base the movie around the Marvel Ultimate Series version of the Fantastic Four. These incarnations of the team are much younger and by casting younger actors, Fox hoped to lure in a younger audience (6). On top of giving the franchise a more youthful feel, the general grit included in Hollywood in recent years gave Fox what they thought was the kingpin they were looking for. The film’s screenwriter Simon Kinberg began rewriting the script with more angst, hoping that this new serious tone would balance perfectly with character’s lighthearted banter. As the script was still being changed when shooting began, the greatest detail was spent on smaller aspects of the film that were definite, like the layout of the lab and the travel pods, while a rushed job was done on costumes. This meant that Dr. Doom would have a poorly made plastic mask, Johnny’s suit would not match Sue’s or Reed’s and The Thing would not have any shorts. Throughout filming, it was said that Trank was very volatile and unpredictable, getting angry at actors and telling them, “when to blink and when to breathe” as well as arriving late and disappearing from set for days on end (5). It is also reported that the director and Miles Teller did not get along on set and that many Fox executives wanted him removed. After seeing an early cut of the film and being dissatisfied with it, Fox decided it was due to set Trank loose and began reshoots (8). The rush of re-shoots is once again shown in costumes as the wig used for Sue’s hair is too blonde and doesn't match the ombre style seen earlier in the film (1).

Now we have to think about the tragic commercial failure of the film. An early sign that the final product was well below expectations came when the studio withheld early reviews of the film, only allowing them to be published three days before the theatrical release. This began a storm online among critics and excited fans alike, putting more media coverage on the supposed failure before anyone could judge it for themselves. If this wasn’t a big enough reason for moviegoers to stay home, Trank himself tweeted, “I had a fantastic cut of Fantastic Four a year ago, too bad you'll never see it” the day before its nationwide release (3). As seen in the behind the scenes footage there were scenes involving the Fantasticar and Johnny Storm’s involvement in building it (1). There were also scenes that suggest greater closeness of both Sue and Johnny’s characters as seen when he appears to be injured and she is holding him in her arms. Greater support of Trank’s claim comes from the trailers that imply a greater exposition on the characters of Ben, Sue and Johnny, and not just a focus on Reed.

While it is possible that the idea that fans would never get to see the better film turned them off from seeing the disappointing version, I believe Marvel’s lack of involvement really hammered the last nail into the film’s grave. Once Marvel knew a Fantastic Four reboot was in the works, they canceled the production of the Fantastic Four comic, stating that they didn't want to make any new characters or storylines that could be used in the new films (6). In addition, Marvel did not allow Fox to do their own merchandising for the film (7). While this may not seem like a huge loss at first glance, think back to the most recent Star Wars films. People were raving about BB-8 and cosplaying Rey months in advance of the trilogy’s original release even though they had no clue who these characters were. Mass marketing is essential to superhero and action films geared towards a younger audience and Fox missed out on all of that possible traction, and, at the least, product revenue.

In the end, the Fantastic Four was a flop because no right decisions were made from start to finish. Well…maybe the choice to cast Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm was this film’s golden moment, but the work of one person is not nearly enough to save this film from its downfalls. Now that years have passed and the flop status of the film has hurt the franchise, it is difficult to tell if the film rights returning to Marvel’s hands will be enough to make the upcoming film taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a success (10), but we can cross our fingers and hope that there is a better continuation to the Fantastic story that could redeem the franchise ahead.

Bibliography

1. Behind the Scenes and Trailer shots

http://www.slashfilm.com/fantastic-four-cuts/

2. SourceFedNerd Superhero Round-up Podcast

https://youtu.be/-MuJpRIcZVQ?t=33m55s

3. Trank’s Tweet Entertainment Weekly

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/07/fantastic-four-josh-trank-tweet

4. Andre “Black Nerd”: Fantastic Four Review

https://youtu.be/MfP_kVpmluY?t=4m27s

5. Cast and Crew Comments on film

http://defamer.gawker.com/which-fantastic-four-cast-member-told-its-director-that-1723680624

6. SourceFedNerd: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Fantastic Four