Back in 2012, the world was introduced to the name Josh Trank in a big, big way, thanks in no small part to the box office success of his found-footage superhero film, “Chronicle.” With a small budget and a ton of creativity, Trank and his cast and crew were able to create a film that still ranks as one of the better superhero films of the last decade. And that success opened up a lot of doors for the young filmmaker. Doors that he eventually slammed shut, including the possibility of working on a “Venom” film and the eventual “Chronicle” sequel.
In a new profile at Polygon (which is really great and worth a full read), Trank explains what happened with two of his more high-profile gigs that never came to be— “Venom” and “Chronicle 2.” And according to the filmmaker, the reasons why they didn’t work out are due to his own making.
In the case of the “Spider-Man” spin-off film, “Venom,” Trank just wasn’t ready to compromise his vision for studio approval.
“I didn’t like how [‘Venom’ producer] Matt Tolmach was coming at me in that situation, because it felt very kind of authoritative,” the filmmaker explained. “Well, if you don’t like what I’m doing, and you’re telling me that I have to do something along the lines of what you want, and you’re going to tell it to me in this way — sorry, but I have other things I can be doing.”
And just like that, Trank’s version of “Venom” died. Of course, we know that eventually the film would be made with Ruben Fleischer at the helm and Tom Hardy playing the lead. And that film went on to earn almost $900 million at the box office.
But “Venom” isn’t the only studio film that Trank pulled the plug on.
For years, a sequel to “Chronicle” was in development. We’ve known that Max Landis (who wrote the first film) had already written a sequel that focused on the hero from the first film, Matt, facing off with a young girl that builds a superpowered suit of armor, a la Iron Man. However, it always seemed that development would stall, with the hope of a “Chronicle” sequel eventually fading away. Apparently, Trank feels that he’s responsible for some of those issues.
READ MORE: Josh Trank Says Working On ‘Fantastic Four’ Reshoots “Was Like Being Castrated”
“I made it difficult for them to set up meetings,” said Trank. “I was dodgy about stuff. I did a lot of shitty things. Because I really didn’t ever want to see ‘Chronicle 2’ happen. That was my worst nightmare. First of all, I’m not doing it. Second, if somebody else does it, then you know it’s gonna be a piece of shit.”
For those film fans wondering why two Trank projects never made it to the big screen, there are your answers. And if you’re interested in seeing what the filmmaker has coming up, “Capone” is set to arrive on VOD later this month.