Josh Trank, director of the very poorly-received Fantastic Four, gives more insight into what happened with Fox's reshoots. Fresh off his highly-successful sci-fi thriller Chronicle, Trank found himself as one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. While several studios wanted him for their various projects, Trank was hired by Fox to direct their latest Fantastic Four reboot. The studio had previously made two films about Marvel's first family that starred Chris Evans and Ioan Gruffudd, and while they performed decently at the box office, they earned mixed reactions from fans and critics. Trank's Fantastic Four looked to provide a comic book film that didn't feel like a comic book film at all, while also rebooting the beloved characters.
Starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell as the titular group, Fantastic Four was plagued with terrible reviews right from the start, as well as a hugely underwhelming box office performance ($167.8 million worldwide). Just ahead of the film's release, Trank tweeted a statement indicating control of the film had gotten away from him, something that had been supported by rumors of intense reshoots. Fantastic Four's reputation has not improved in the years since, and Trank has openly distanced himself from the film.
Now Trank has opened up a bit more about his experience working on the film in an interview with Polygon. When it came to the extensive reshoots ordered by Fox, Trank was unable to go into too much detail because of various NDAs and his own minimized participation. After the first cut of Fantastic Four took Fox executives by surprise and made them "uncomfortable," they quickly moved into reshoots. The ending needed to be completed within those shoots, as it wasn't done beforehand. Additionally, Fox hired new writers to come up with pages for the reshoots, but they never came into contact with Trank.
According to Polygon, Trank "wrote pages himself in hopes of putting his voice back in the film, and the pages were dutifully ignored." Trank then went to the Director's Guild, saying his union rights weren't being respected. This led to Trank cutting a new deal with Fox in which "he would reedit the movie while Fox worked on its own cut, and both versions would screen for test audiences." However, it seemed less and less like Fox was interested in Trank's cut, instead putting more focus on their version being edited by Stephen Rivkin. When describing the whole process, Trank said, "It was like being castrated," as he watched other people take over his set.
Trank's experience is hardly the only time a director has been forced to battle studio influence, but it does feel like one of the most extreme examples. The entire situation partially led to Trank removing himself from the Star Wars Boba Fett spin-off. Trank's latest film (and the first since Fantastic Four), Capone, arrives on VOD next week, and it sounds like he likes this one a lot more than his last.
Source: Polygon