It is widely considered one of the worst superhero movies of all-time, having sunk without trace at the box office and suffered derision at the hands of critics and fans on social media. But according to writer-producer Simon Kinberg the infamous comic-book turkey Fantastic Four remains on course to get a highly unexpected sequel.
A followup to Josh Trank’s film was pencilled in prior to release, with 9 June 2017 the latest proposed date. But observers had expected studio 20th Century Fox to allow the rights to the series to lapse amid industry reports its latest attempt to reboot the famed Marvel Comics quartet could lead to a $60m writedown.
Kinberg, it seems, has other ideas. Speaking to MTV News at the Toronto film festival, he said he was “disappointed” at the response to the film but remained “really focused on the next one”. The producer, who co-wrote Fantastic Four with Trank and Jeremy Slater, said: “I was most disappointed that fans didn’t like it. I care more about them than I do anyone else. But I haven’t done a full deep dive on it. Do I think it was unfairly treated? I don’t know.”
Kinberg said the film-makers had set out every day to make a great movie, but noted the waves of negative publicity surrounding the film, which even Trank himself dismissed via Twitter in the week of its release.
“I’ve been on plenty of happy movies that don’t turn out to be very good movies, I’ve been on a lot of unhappy, difficult sets that turn out to be great movies,” he said. “There was a lot of attention on the process of making that movie. It’s hard, when you’re making a movie, movies are hard to make. It’s just the reality.”
He added: “Every time you make a movie, you want to make a great movie. It’s a ton of time and effort you put in. We made that movie in the sweltering heat of summer in Baton Rouge and I was there every day of photography. You’re waking up every morning being like, I want to go make a great movie. It was an opportunity to do that. I do believe there is a great Fantastic Four movie that we’ve made with that cast. So I’m gonna figure out what that is.”
Kinberg said he hoped the main cast members, Miles Teller, Michael B Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, would return for the sequel. “We’re figuring out what that movie would be,” he said. “I’d like that to happen.”
Castmembers admitted in an interview with the BBC just prior to Fantastic Four’s release that they had not watched the movie, and Mara, who played Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, told the Times in a new interview that she had still not seen it. She also appeared less convinced than Kinberg about the likelihood of a sequel, telling the newspaper: “That’s the thing that makes me most bummed because we have no idea if we’ll ever make another one.”
Fans responding to MTV’s report on Kinberg’s comments via Twitter were predictably scornful, with many calling for Fox to allow the rights to return to rival studio Marvel. The Disney-owned firm recently agreed a deal with Sony to co-produce new Spider-Man movies after the latter’s recent attempts to reboot the wisecracking Marvel webslinger failed to find traction with critics.
@IGN looks like they're taking the fantastic four rights to their graves😑
— Michael Morris (@kcmorris95) September 15, 2015
@IGN oh my gawd why??? Please get a deal with Marvel like Sony did first!!
— Shinkansen (@Tru_Inferno) September 15, 2015
@IGN Hahahhaha. Lmao. Good luck with that #FantasticFour sequel Fools. Just give the rights back to marvel.
— Echo Doctrine (@EchoDoctrine) September 15, 2015
@IGN This isn't even a cash grab. This is stupidity. YOU WILL NOT MAKE YOUR MONEY BACK.
— Cole Vick (@vick_cole) September 15, 2015
