I’ve written before about remakes and reboots. And since Reboot seems to be the vernacular coming off every studio exec’s tongue these days, everything under the sun is getting a re-do. Fantastic 4 is next in the firing line. Now I understand if something doesn’t work out the first time, if you have the means, then give it another go, but come on, F4??…
I think I can see where the studio got the idea for this in 4 letters…H-U-L-K. The first Hulk…HULK…missed the mark, I think, because Ang Lee tried an off-kilter approach towards the film. Going for more emotional/tortured soul plot rather than “HULK SMASH”, the audience got something they didn’t expect and got a little lost. The Edward Norton helmed “The Incredible Hulk” did better but box office receipts weren’t as high as expected. It did however leave a slightly larger and more lucrative door open to a sequel than Lang’s film, so the gamble on a reboot payed off. Plus when you consider the “Master-Plan” Marvel is attempting to weave for their Avenger’s line up, this got people excited and so again it payed off.
But now, Fantastic 4?…Brings to mind Daredevil and Elektra if you ask me. To me nothing in Fantastic 4 seemed to work (although Chris Evans is a talented rising star, he couldn’t save this one). It was typically a “pop-corn movie” that made some money. To studio execs that means “make a sequel”, to fans, it means “DON’T MAKE A SEQUEL”.
Basically I see the first Spider-Man as the template for making a modern Super-Hero movie (and series). If you don’t follow that format, a movie just seems doomed to fail. I think everyone but the people in charge of financing Rise of the Silver Surfer, knew that Fantastic 4 didn’t have the plot weight or box office receipts to guarantee abetter and solid second film. Spider-Man did, Fantastic Snore didn’t…end quote.
So it leads me to my question…Is anyone interested in seeing the Fantastic Bore get robooted?
