Following the news that Fantastic Four has bombed at the box office around the world, it seems unsurprising that there has been a few reports about a very troubled production for Marvel’s First Family. On Friday director Josh Trank tweeted about a “fantastic version” of the film we’ll never see, while sources within Fox have said that it was Trank’s “combative behavouir” that was to blame. Well now a new report suggests that the studio agreed a layout for the film with Trank, but then pulled the rug from under his feet days before production, including the removal of three big action scenes.
“I’ve got a source, fairly close to the production of this film, who had told me that the movie that Josh Trank and Fox had agreed on making — included 3 really big action set pieces,” John Campea said on Collider Movie Talk. “That was all agreed upon, it was part of the flow of the movie. And a movie is like a puzzle, you have all the pieces in place. You start messing with pieces and suddenly the whole puzzle can look out of whack. And they had agreed upon this vision for a film. And days before production began, Fox came in and made him pull 3 main action sequences out of the film. I was also told, the ending of the film was not even Josh Trank’s. At some point they hijacked the editing bay from him. To the point that the editing of the film was done without him.”
Anyone else getting Alien3 vibes from all this?
SEE ALSO: Fantastic Four sequel reportedly postponed in favour of Deadpool 2
Fantastic Four sees Josh Trank (Chronicle) directing a cast that includes Miles Teller (Whiplash) as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara (House of Cards) as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Jamie Bell (Nymphomaniac) as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Doctor Doom, Reg E. Cathey (House of Cards) as Dr. Storm, and Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk) as Harvey Elder/Mole Man. Listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast review of the movie using the player below:
Originally published August 10, 2015. Updated July 2, 2023.
