3 Directors Vie For The Fantastic Four Reboot
Fox fully intends on holding onto their rights for the Fantastic Four, and, if you had hopes that they’d let them revert back to Marvel and Disney, prepare to be disappointed… oh, and to be called an idiot, too… because it’s not going to happen. After the first 2 films made a little bit of money in the process of making fans of the characters pissed at how awful they were portrayed, the studio has set forth on a course of action that would see them traveling the reboot route… because, when you run out of ideas or fuck things up badly enough, the best thing to do is definitely start over.
That means the original cast is out, with Fox on the lookout for new versions of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, The Thing, and Dr. Doom, with all sorts of rumors floating around right now. It also means a search for a new director to get behind the wheel of the reboot after Tim Story did such a bang-up job. According to ComicBookMovie.com, Fox may be closer to making a choice than you’d have thought. While no negotiations are underway with any candidates, 3 names in particular seem to be high up on their short list – James McTeigue (NINJA ASSASSIN, V FOR VENDETTA), David Yates (the last 4 HARRY POTTER films, including both parts of DEATHLY HALLOWS), and Joe Carnahan (THE A-TEAM, SMOKIN’ ACES). And I’m not sure that 3 absolutely different styles of filmmaker could have been chosen, if they are indeed amongst the names Fox is considering.
Outside of the POTTER series, the brunt of Yates’ experience rests in directing British television. But his Hollywood debut couldn’t have come on a bigger project. There is no question that ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, and what we’ve seen on DEATHLY HALLOWS have looked fantastic, but there have been tremendous complaints from the Potter-verse about how some of the various plot points have been approached and translated from page to screen. I personally found the conclusion of HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to be emotionally hollow, and that’s a major problem for a film that should have been more impactful than what it was.
In a completely different direction, Carnahan delivers quick-hitting, fast-paced action. He hasn’t done anything since NARC with such deep character work, but, in watching SMOKIN’ ACES and THE A-TEAM, you knew exactly what you were getting when you watched them, and he delivered that. Now, whether or not that’s a good or bad thing depends on you, but it’s impossible to say the action was lacking in either.
And then there’s McTeigue, who is a mixture of both. He has a very visual style, as evidenced by his first 2 films. NINJA ASSASSIN is all action, all the time. After all, it is a ninja movie. How much character development could you possibly expect? However, V FOR VENDETTA is incredibly layered, and there is a lot more to that film than what’s on the surface.
However, the common thread between them is ultimately how different they are, making for 3 completely different interpretations of FANTASTIC FOUR, all of which are likely better than what we previously had to suffer through. The script is ultimately going to determine which is the best fit, and, if either of the 3 is selected, that should give a strong indication as to what type of FANTASTIC FOUR film Fox is interested in making, or at least what direction they want to take the reboot in. It won’t be more of the same… that’s for sure. By bringing these 3 names into the discussion, it’s fairly clear that we’ll get a drastic change with the reboot. That doesn’t mean it won’t suck, if Fox still can’t put the right people in the right situations with a good script. However, there is at least some reason to be hopeful for this next film, as it could go a long way in wiping out the memory of the last 2 movies.
