Josh Trank, director of The Fantastic Four, has admitted he regrets a tweet that cost Fox $10 million. The comic book adaptation, which opened in 2015, was a box office bomb, making only $56 million domestically against an estimated budget of $120 million. The film was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from fans and critics alike, leading to a litany of behind the scenes information coming to light that factored into the maligned finished product.
The Fantastic Four wasn't Fox's first attempt at bringing the popular comic book characters to life on the big screen. Before Trank came into the picture, the studio had made two previous attempts: Fantastic Four and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both films were financially successful, the first grossing $333 million worldwide while its sequel reeled in $301 million globally. Trank was coming hot off the heels of his beloved box office hit, Chronicle, a film that made an impressive $126 million worldwide against a budget of just $12 million. Trank's take on the reboot teleported the beloved characters to an alternate dimension, where their physical forms are altered in stunning ways, giving them their well-known abilities. The film starred Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell.
In an interview with Polygon, The Fantastic Four director revealed he regrets a negative tweet he made about the film is estimated to have cost Fox $10 million. The tweet he refers to is the one that reads, "A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would've received great reviews. You'll probably never see it. That's reality though." Viewing the tweet in retrospect, the director admitted that it was speaking ill of his collaborators who had attempted to make his version of the film work and ended up causing a falling out with friends he had in the industry.
The behind the scenes drama pertaining to the film has been overwhelming. One of the more notable tidbits had to do with the extensive reshoots on the film, due to the film's lack of a satisfying ending. Trank has recently revealed what really happened in Fox's reshoots, revealing some shocking information about the production process. It was even rumored that Trank had cut his own version of the film after battling with the studio, but it was recently revealed that The Fantastic Four's director's cut doesn't fully exist. Another reboot of the comic book property has been teased by Marvel's Kevin Feige, with actor John Krasinski already expressing he'd love to play Mr. Fantastic.
The director has since moved on from his failure, set to release his new film, Capone, on VOD May 12th. The film follows Al Capone, played by Tom Hardy, after his ten year stint in prison, as he begins to suffer from dementia and trauma from his violent past. The film is Trank's first project since The Fantastic Four, the director possibly hoping to earn back back some good will from film fans and critics. When the Capone trailer was released, he commented on the film's title change and made a subtle reference to his production woes on the The Fantastic Four by saying, "Different title. My cut."
Trank proved he was a director with substantial talent when he made his debut with Chronicle. The film showed a firm grasp on character and the director also fully utilized a modest budget in order to tell an offbeat, unique superhero origin story. The Fantastic Four was a notable misfire, a film that had a tonal identity crisis, paper-thin characters, and embarrassingly poor visuals. However, considering the film's troubled production, the notion of Trank directing a small-scale film about Al Capone is appealing and certainly more in his wheelhouse. However the film turns out, Trank is clearly happy to put The Fantastic Four in his rearview mirror.
Source: Polygon