The embattled "Fantastic Four" opens today, and the vultures are already circling to pick apart the bones of the movie’s battered corpse which has received nothing but savage reviews (here’s our take). The film has been dogged by rumors that the studio wasn’t pleased with the low-key, character-driven approach Josh Trank had taken with the superheroes, and that reshoots done late last year were a way of trying to add some blockbuster pizazz. Watching the movie, which runs a slim 100 minutes, it does feel like there’s a clash of visions and that there could be another half hour somewhere that was left on the cutting room floor.
Tweeted last night and quickly deleted, Josh Trank wrote that he had a "fantastic version" of the movie at one point, that "you’ll probably never see it." Moreover, he claims it would’ve received "great reviews." For a director who has kept a low profile during the press run for the movie, mostly conducting joint interviews with producer Simon Kinberg where they’re insisted the working relationship was great, this is certainly the most pronounced statement he has made in his own defense.
Meanwhile, "Chronicle" screenwriter Max Landis hit Twitter last night and in a series of tweets, reflected on Trank’s breakout movie, saying he was a "fluke" insofar of the mostly hands-off approach of the studio. Landis also said that the "intense oversight" that likely greeted Trank on "Fantastic Four" is par for the course, and perhaps an atmosphere the filmmaker should’ve been aware of.
Landis has said he’ll be deleting his tweets, so they’re below, but you’ll have to read them from the bottom up. And be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section.
Josh Trank’s deleted tweet regarding #FantasticFour pic.twitter.com/3UCTBz1t8z
— Digital Spy Film (@digitalspyfilm) August 7, 2015