by Ken Davis » Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:43 am
This has become one of those cases where the reviews have matched my expectations, and my initial decision to pass on this movie has been correct. I'm never going to bother seeing it, and will just ignore that it was ever made. I'm not curious about it, other that to read that it is something of a train-wreck. I'm not going to gloat over it either. We got a BAD Fantastic Four movie, when we should have gotten something far better.
The politics behind this movie are horrific, and extremely convoluted. It's a classic example of money, egos and policies interfering in a creative process. The end result is that the property is now damaged goods.
Make no mistake, there will NOT be another FF coming out from Fox---regardless of whatever drivel they spew about "commitment"--you'll find few to no investors interested in risking their money on another waste of time.
This film ( and the director) have burned them big time.
What will Fox do now? Will they surrender the rights back to Disney/Marvel?
Nope, I don't think so......at least not yet. There's some speculation that Age of Ultron wasn't quite the film that was expected ( despite it's box-office) and that the crest of the CBM craze has started to fall. X-men Days of Futures Past didn't do box office like the Avengers movies, and Fox is puzzled by this, and so they are watching and waiting to see what happens with the next couple of Marvel films. Civil War will be the next benchmark. If it is at all flat, then Fox might go with a deal with Marvel, just to cut their losses and get some money for the property.
That, OR............Fox might turn around and milk the FF in other ways......like an animated feature. It allows them to ignore all the other cinematic continuity and "reboot" yet again. Get some of the bodies that do the successful DC animated features and they can continue to exercise the rights, hold on to them for the foreseeable future and "drive the price up" to get the rights back.
They will likely NOT attach the FF to the X-men, because why drag down a winner with a 3-time loser???
But it is all speculation, and the next week will determine which direction it goes. If the box office on FF for this full week is abysmal, then it will really influence their thinking.