The Long-Awaited First Trailer for 'Fantastic Four' is Here!

Here it is! After months of literally nothing from Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot, yesterday we got our first official set photo and now the trailer has arrived weeks ahead of schedule. From the beginning it's been clear that Trank was working from a very different version of Marvel's "First Family" than fans were accustomed to, and with the melancholic, deep sci-fi flavor of this trailer he seems to have hit the nail on the head. And the best part is that it still keeps plenty under wraps to be discovered later. Impressive, but the key is going to be how the fanboys react.

The film stars Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm with Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom, renamed Victor Domashev. Here's the official synopsis:

FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

Fantastic Four opens August 7th.

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Check Out a First Look at Michael B. Jordan in His 'Fantastic Four' Costume

Is Josh Trank's Fantastic Four relaunch a disaster before anybody has seen a second of footage? Many have already begun to assume the worse since 20th Century Fox have passed up on every chance to show anything from the film. But the curtain is finally getting lifted now as Collider has provided the first set photo which shows Michael B. Jordan in his Johnny Storm costume.

By now it's become clear that this version of the Fantastic Four won't be like any version we've seen before. It's basically an origin story that Trank tells the site will be inspired by David Cronenberg  movies like The Fly and Scanners....

"Maybe the biggest influence for me in terms of an overall view and communicating tool to the various department was Scanners or The Fly. In terms of the feeling of what these powers are. Because the drama speaks for itself in terms of the script or the story but the look of the movie and the feel of the movie has to be more evocative.

I would say that the science fiction of it is a big thing that sets it apart from most of the other superhero genre films. I’m a huge David Cronenberg fan, and I always viewed Fantastic Four and the kind of weirdness that happens to these characters and how they’re transformed to really fall in line more with a Cronenberg-ian science fiction tale of something horrible happening to your body and [it] transforming out of control. And the potential for a hard sci-fi take on that material makes me really excited."

The Fantastic Four has always been rooted in hard sci-fi so it shouldn't be completely surprising that Trank is going in that direction. It sounds like he'll be taking an approach very similar to Chronicle, which begs the question if the film will be done with found footage. Some rumors I've heard are that it will be entirely in found footage, but that's still just a rumor. Trank did confirm that Philip Glass and Marco Beltrani are working on the score, while the final runtime could be be as long as 140 minutes. We'll learn more when the Fantastic Four trailer arrives next month ahead of its release on August 7th.

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'Star Wars' Details Possibly Revealed by Sony Leak

Sick and tired of all this Sony hacking stuff? Me too, and frankly I hope it all dries up and goes away real soon. The problem is that the stuff getting leaked would be news under any other circumstance, so distasteful thought it may be we're going to post about some of it, especially when the future of Star Wars gets drawn into it. Here come the spoilers, tiny though they may be.

Columbia Pictures' Mike De Luca, who already spilled some info on Warner Bros.' Aquaman movie, has probably drawn the ire of Lucasfilm by possibly revealing what's up with Star Wars. Here's what we think we know already: Rian Johnson is writing and directing Star Wars: Episode VIII and writing Episode IX, while Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are working on the spinoffs. How much do we know about any of them? Precious little, but here's what De Luca has to say about them in an email with Sony's Amy Pascal...

De Luca: "Star Wars: Any studio would have lost Josh Trank and Rian Johnson to this, it's freaking ‘Star Wars.’ Your ‘After Earth’ writer Gary Whitta is writing Gareth Edwards stand alone Star Wars film. Simon Kinberg is writing Josh Tranks. No one knows what they're about but Boba Fett is rumored to be the subject of one. Rian Johnson as you know is doing the main ones, episodes 8 and 9 of the Luke and Leia story lines, after J.J. [Abrams.] Not sure anything is gained by looking at what Lucasfilm is doing except we are stalking all these people too, except Whitta whom I think blows.”

Points for the dig at Whitta because he is pretty terrible.

So wait, are Episode 8 and 9 about Luke and Leia? Probably not given the ages of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Besides, Hamill himself recently stated these movies are about the youngsters, not the original crew. When asked by Yahoo! why he wasn't in the teaser trailer, Hamill said this...

Hamill: “This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing. It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. “I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story. Because we had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This must be our offspring and the current generation, with us there lending the kind of support that Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness did in the original.”

Keep in mind all of this is coming from a guy who doesn't have anything to do with Lucasfilm or Star Wars, so his info could be out of date or just plain wrong. Either way, this probably will get De Luca's name taken off Kathleen Kennedy's Christmas card list.  [TheDailyBeast]

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Is this the Plot of the 'Fantastic Four' Reboot?

What are your feelings on the Fantastic Four reboot right now? For the most part, each piece of new information has brought about nothing but anger and consternation in fans of Marvel's "first family" of superheroes, reaching a fever pitch last week when Toby Kebbell revealed that Doctor Doom would be an angry blogger. No cool "ruler of Latveria" thing, just a guy whose Internet handle is "Doom". Well, if that was enough to get people raging then they're sure to hate what's next.

What appears to be the entire plot of Josh Trank's Fantastic Four has found its way online, appearing on Reddit and a few other sites. It could all be a fake, but we've seen other leaks from the closely-guarded production already. Without going into too much detail, this lays out the story basically from start to finish including the relationships between the Fantastic Four, their encounters with Doom, the creation of the Negative Zone, and more.

So check it out, and decide for yourself whether it's legit.  Fantastic Four stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, and Toby Kebbell, opening on August 7th 2015.

Reed is a genius convenience store clerk with Ben. Reed's parents don't care about him, and Ben's dad is abusive. They're good friends and have each other's backs. Reed writes a paper for community college on teleportation that attracts the attention of Dr. Franklin Storm, CEO of the Baxter Building research center.

Storm has a son, Johnny, and an adoptive daughter, Sue, whose father, Storm's old partner, died in an experiment gone wrong. Johnny and Sue are party kids, and Sue is particularly disdainful of science. Reed and Sue don't get along at first.

Victor Doomashev is a anti-social Eastern European computer programmer and hacktivist who calls himself "Doom". He hates the 1%, particularly Storm, whom he claims corrupts science for profit.
Storm uses Reed's paper to complete some equations on a machine to access another dimension, the N-Zone. Reed invites Ben to watch the machine being turned on. Sue and Johnny are also there. Doom manages to hack into the Baxter Building's servers and use a computer virus to damage the machine, which explodes. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are exposed to otherwordly energy and become mutants with powers that they can't control.

Storm takes them to the Baxter Building and creates containment suits for their powers. They begin to train. Reed and Storm also begin developing a way to revert the accident. Sue blames Reed for everything, but they eventually become friends and then a couple. Ben can switch off his powers when he's not in danger. Johnny changes colors based on heat intensity, and Sue has some borderline telekinetic thing. Reed is pretty much Reed.

Doom finds out that the four have acquired powers and becomes angry it's not him, so he comes up with a plan to break into the Baxter Building to access the N-Zone through the rebuild machine. As a distraction, he reprograms a bunch of stolen military drones, the "Doombots", to attack the building. The four come together as a team for the first time and save people.

Doom activates the machine and gets technopathy powers or something, basically energy blasts and making machines obey to him, and a fight ensues. The machine goes critical, and, in order to prevent it from exploding and destroying the city, the four push into it and Storm shuts it off.

There's a countdown before it reaches critical mass. Inside the N-Zone, the four battle Doom again, and manage to leave him trapped there after he disfigures himself soaking up too much power. The Four manage to escape, but Ben gets the blunt of it to protect Reed and can't switch back.

The machine is destroyed, Doom is gone, the four have learned to work as a team, and Reed vows to find a cure for Ben. And it ends there.

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Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan Talk 'Fantastic Four' Changes; Marvel Refuses to Help Promote Film

In case it hasn't been made pretty clear already, Josh Trank and 20th Century Fox's version of the Fantastic Four is going to be totally different from anything we've seen before. And that includes anything we've seen in the comics pages. And it goes far beyond the mixed casting of Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell as Marvel's "first family" of superheroes; they are going to be different in other fundamental ways. And at least according to Teller, who will play brainiac Reed Richards, it's because of those changes that he was convinced to come aboard. He recently told Vulture...

Teller: “It’s different in every way. All those actors were a lot older, their characters were in different places. The tone of this film is completely different: We don’t have Michael Chiklis in a big Styrofoam thing, and I think that [a more grounded approach] is what people are into — X-Men: First Class is doing that. You’re dealing with these characters but you’re making them real people in how they exist day-to-day. People wanted it to be taken more seriously than the kind of Dick Tracy, kitschy, overly comic-book world.”

He went on to talk to MTV about how Trank had to really fight for the cast he wanted, and sell Fox on the approach.

Teller:  “I ended up meeting Josh [Trank] a year before and the script was going through some stuff. Then I tested for the role of Reed Richards; I think I'm the only person that did. But absolutely, it took a lot of convincing. For me with Reed Richards, I know Josh [Trank] really had to [pull for me]. Josh did for all of the characters. For Jamie [Bell], he really vouched for [him]. For [Jordan], he was like, ‘This is my guy’ from the bat. He was very specific on who he wanted to play these characters. I was his guy for it."

Trank might have known Michael B. Jordan was his guy, but having an African-American as the typically white Human Torch has pissed a lot of people off. Then again these are the same folks who cried about Idris Elba as Heimdall. Friggin' Heimdall. Nobody cares about Heimdall. Anyway, Jordan has always taken the criticism in stride, and he continued to do so while speaking with the New York Daily News...

Jordan:  “I don’t think about it. Can’t make everybody happy. I loved comic books. Japanese animation, cartoons, so to be able to play a character that I always fantasized about and always wanted to be — to have powers and stuff like that — and to be a part of Marvel’s family, it’s a huge deal for me. I’ve known about this character and playing this role for almost two and a half years now. So when I get all these new questions about how I’m feeling about it, I’m like, ‘You know, I’m feeling pretty good about it.’”

Short of a couple of set photos showing the Thing and Toby Kebbell's Doctor Doom, Fantastic Four has been kept completely under wraps, not even making an appearance at Comic-Con. And perhaps that's because Trank wants to keep the team's new look a secret for as long as possible because according to Jordan even the costumes will be different. He tells ABC News...

Jordan:  "It's a new look. We are all in containment suits. The costume process definitely took some time to get in and out of that thing, especially since I was bulking up. It was a little more snug during filming. We got through it man. It was a process, but we did it. It was hard work."

So basically, don't count on anything being as you remember it. And don't count on Marvel giving this movie much in the way of support. Rumors have been swirling for months that Marvel/Disney would be ceasing any promotion of the Fantastic Four so as not to help their rivals at Fox, who own the film rights. Marvel's decision would include cancelling the Fantastic Four comic book, removing the characters from posters, toys, promo art, everything. Bleeding Cool has now confirmed this to be true, and it's an unprecedented move for the company to make. And at least in my opinion it's the first shot across the bow at studios who took advantage of Marvel's bankruptcy years ago and acquired the rights to some of their prominent characters.

Of course, it's easy for Marvel to do this with Fantastic Four because the comic doesn't sell all that much, but would they dare do the same with Spider-Man, whose rights are now owned by Sony? What about the X-men, another Fox film property? Probably not, but then again they did just kill off Wolverine, the X-men's most popular character.

Anyway, the Fantastic Four reboot is set to open August 7th 2015.

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Andres Muschietti Directing 'Shadow of the Colossus', David Frankel Takes 'The Priority List', Morten Tyldum Helms 'Pattern Recognition'

Sony has been building an adaptation of their hit video game, Shadow of the Colossus, for the last five years and had Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) on board to direct since 2012. But he's far too busy for that now, and so Andres Muschietti (Mama) will take over. The classic Playstation game centers on a young man who must defeat 16 monstrous colossi to bring his dead lover back from the dead. [Deadline]

David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) has come aboard to direct The Priority List, with Jonathan Tropper (This is Where I Leave You) on board to write the script. Steve Carell is headlining the adaptation of David Menasche's life-affirming memoir about a cancer-stricken English professor who goes on a cross country journey reconnecting with all of the students he taught over 15 years. [Variety]

And Morten Tyldum, riding high on the positive festival reviews for The Imitation Game, has lined up his next project. The Scandinavian director is set to helm Pattern Recognition, based on sci-fi author William Gibson's book about a woman with a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols reacting to events following the 9/11 attacks. Consider me intrigued and this book added to my Kindle.

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Josh Trank to Direct Future 'Star Wars' Spinoff

Disney clearly following a similar plan of attack with their Star Wars properties as they have with Marvel, hiring a big name director for the main franchise, while hiring fast-rising stars with huge potential for the satellite films. J.J. Abrams is the driving influence leading Star Wars: Episode VII, while red-hot Godzilla director Gareth Edwards is on the first spinoff set for 2016. And now you can add another rising star to the mix with the addition of Chronicle and Fantastic Four helmer, Josh Trank.

Trank has been tapped to direct a future standalone spinoff, and that's all we know right now. No release dates have been set and no details on which character will be at the center of it, but given his experience with movies centered on younger characters perhaps the rumored young Han Solo film is the plan?  Here is the official announcement:

In addition to the episodes of a new Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney continue development of multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. The newest director to come on board is Josh Trank.

"We're thrilled to welcome Josh into the family," says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars, and for this new slate of movies that reach beyond the core characters and storylines of Episodes I through IX."

Trank states, "The magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood. The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time."

Trank captured imaginations worldwide with his critically lauded directorial debut Chronicle, a fresh and engaging take on the superhero genre. Trank is currently at work on The Fantastic Four for 20th Century Fox.

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'Fantastic Four' Reboot will Proceed Unchanged

Considering we ran the story about Fox possibly looking to replace Josh Trank on the Fantastic Four reboot and possibly do away with the cast, it's only right that we post what looks to be a semi-retraction of that claim. A couple of days ago our friends at Bleeding Cool reported that the studio was not only looking to make those major changes, but do away with Simon Kinberg's script. It was met with some pointed denials very soon afterwards, not the usual mealy-mouthed responses studio reps usually offer. And now Bleeding Cool has updated their story by saying...

We are in no doubt that Fox are going ahead with their current production plans with Fantastic Four.

Right now. But, last week we were also in no doubt that they’d been looking to junk it all. And these aren’t mutually exclusive notions.

 They have a point that it's totally possible Fox was looking to go in a different direction some days ago and have since changed their minds. Perhaps they got cold feet after hearing the knee-jerk reaction to the casting of Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, and Kate Mara, only to re-evaluate and proceed ahead. Whatever the case, it looks like Fantastic Four is going to hit its April start date. Last we heard before all of this was that Sam Riley, Domhnall Gleeson, Eddie Redmayne, and Toby Kebbell were vying for the role of arch-nemesis, Dr. Doom.

Fantastic Four opens June 19th 2015.

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Is Fox Looking to Drop Josh Trank and Re-Cast 'Fantastic Four'?

There may be trouble afoot for 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. While the film has had some past issues with the script, those seemed to be relatively minor. There was the expected Internet uproar when Josh Trank cast Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell to play the superhero team, but that's sort of the nature of the beast when dealing with comic book fanboys. However, it's possible that Fox has taken the prior issues and the fan response to heart because a rumor has surfaced they are looking to make some sweeping changes.

Our friends at Bleeding Cool, who tend to be really good on this stuff, cite a "well-connected source" saying Fox is trying to remove Trank from the directing job, scrap Simon Kinberg's script, and they apparently have some problems with the cast.   This could be a fatal blow for a franchise that already has an uphill battle against Disney, Warner Bros., and the perception the Fantastic Four simply aren't cool.

On the other hand, Screen Crush has spoken to "high level studio sources" who say the entire story is false and Trank is on set. So who do we believe? We'll find out soon enough as production is to begin soon for release on March 6th 2015. If April rolls on and we haven't seen any photos, we'll know something is up.

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Josh Gad Eyed for The Thing in 'Fantastic Four'?

Is it "clobberin' time" time for Josh Gad in Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot? So far we've heard plenty of names mentioned to play Marvel's "first family" of superheroes, but with production only a couple of months away nothing has been set in stone. Gad, who recently voiced Olaf in Disney's Frozen and played Steve Wozniak in Jobs, is apparently the "number one choice" for the role of Ben Grimm aka The Thing, although Movies.com is quick to cite it as merely a rumor.

Trank, took to Twitter to send out a brief denial, saying  simply in response to a fan tweet...

@devincf first i'm hearing of this... it's not true.
— Josh Trank (@josh_trank) January 28, 2014

Of course, Trank has been less than forthright in his past denials so who knows what the truth really is. Gad does fit in the same age bracket as the other rumored stars, such as Miles Teller for Reed Richards (he may have confirmed it, actually), Michael B. Jordan for Johnny Storm, and Allison Williams and Saoirse Ronan for Sue Storm. While Gad isn't the first person I think many would have thought of for the role, he's an incredibly sympathetic actor as evidenced recently in Thanks for Sharing. That's a quality necessary to capture Ben Grimm's predicament as a man trapped behind an ugly, orange, rocky exterior.

 Whatever happens, some decisions need to be made soon. Fantastic Four is set to open on March 6th 2015.

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'Chronicle 2' Happening but Without Max Landis or Josh Trank

Chronicle was more than just a surprise hit when it came out last year, it was a shot in the arm to the comic book movie genre and launched the careers of director Josh Trank, writer Max Landis, and star Dane DeHaan. Unsurprisingly, Fox ordered up a sequel pretty quickly, but as everybody moved on to other projects it seemed like Chronicle 2 took a backseat. Last we'd heard, Fox wasn't really a fan of Landis' screenplay, and wanted to go in a different direction. Now the always-candid Landis has taken to Twitter and revealed he's been off the project for some time, and that Trank was never fully on board...

" I've been off Chronicle 2 for months now. Fox had a different direction they wanted to take the series, Josh was never attached."

"Chronicle 2 is still probably happening, just not with my involvement as of now. It's a bummer, but there are no real hard feelings."

Landis is likely right that Fox will push ahead, but this has to take a lot of steam out of the project, which was successful largely because of the talent behind the camera. Landis has plenty to do, though, as he has a Frankenstein film with Daniel Radcliffe on the way, plus his directorial debut, Me Him Her.








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Matthew Vaughn to produce Josh Trank's 'Fantastic Four' reboot

Matthew Vaughn may have decided to bail on directing X-men: Days of Future Past, handing over the reins to Bryan Singer, but he's far from done with Fox's corner of the superhero universe. With his buddy Mark Millar serving as Fox's chief comic book consultant, it makes sense that Vaughn would come aboard one of the studio's biggest titles, Josh Trank's upcoming Fantastic Four relaunch.

Millar took to Twitter to announce Vaughn's joining the film as a producer, and the news was then confirmed by Deadline. There's nothing more to the story, but let's speculate a little bit. This could mean one of two things: Vaughn could be a bridge to crafting a larger shared universe that includes the X-men and other Fox properties. Could we see an X-men/FF crossover at some point?

Or this could be Fox's way of driving a wedge between the X-men and FF universes. Millar, who actually wrote the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic for a time, could begin working with Vaughn on that corner of the line, while Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Schuler Donner handle the X-men side.

Whatever the case, Vaughn is a solid addition and a veteran presence for Trank's film. As good as Chronicle was, this will be his first major high-profile project, with a budget to match. Vaughn can only help make the process smoother. Fantastic Four hits theaters on March 6th 2015.

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Comic-Con News: 'Fantastic Four' reboot lands a writer

Even though Fox faces potential disaster if they can't get a Daredevil film started rather quickly, they're in a pretty good position with the other Marvel properties they hold the rights to. The X-men franchise is stronger than ever, and as we learned a few days ago, they're moving full steam ahead with Josh Trank(Chronicle) directing a Fantastic Four reboot. Bringing on such a youthful, energetic director was a bold move, and now they're doing the same by bringing in a rising star to pen the script.

THR reports that relative newcomer, Jeremy Slater, has been hired to write the adventures of Marvel's oldest family of superheroes. Slater's been on a roll lately, with Universal recently scooping up his script for teen sleuth comedy, My Spy, with Jake Kasdan set to direct. He also has an H.P. Lovecraft-style film titled Tape 4 which is over at Lionsgate. This is the biggest job he's had yet, though, and he's got his work cut out for him. The Fantastic Four, as great as they are, haven't been cool in a long time. I just finished reading some of Jonathan Hickman's current run on the comic, and it's probably the best the book has been in years. Don't be surprised if Slater bases much of his ideas on it.

We won't be seeing the film go into production for awhile, though, as Fox is holding it until after The Wolverine and X-men: First Class 2. So filming could possibly begin in mid to late 2013.


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Josh Trank confirmed for 'Fantastic Four'; David Slade exits 'Daredevil'

It's appropriate that news like this would bust out just as Comic-Con is kicking into high gear, even though it follows two properties that haven't had a presence here in years. As we all know, 20th Century Fox holds a number of significant Marvel superhero properties. The most prominent of these are the X-men, and the two we're getting updates on now, Fantastic Four and Daredevil.

First, Fox has been keen on rebooting Fantastic Four, even though the first two movies performed well at the box office. Nobody really liked them, however, and the studio recently had their sights set on Josh Trank(Chronicle) to take Marvel's "First Family" in a new direction. Well, Deadline reports that he is now confirmed to direct the film, probably making it his next project. He's also attached to helm a Venom spinoff, and an adaptation of the Shadow of the Colossus video game.



As for Daredevil, Fox has been under the gun to try and get a reboot made on the blind lawyer/superhero's adventures, hiring David Slade(30 Days of Night) to direct. With a script already in place, Fox just hit a major stumbling block as Slade has now dropped out, citing upcoming commitments. The thing about these licensed properties is that they revert back to Marvel if nothing is done with them, which is why you see sequels to movies that probably didn't do so well in the first place. Fox apparently has until the fall to get Daredevil into production before they revert back to Marvel, and you know they won't hesitate to make him a part of their larger Avengers universe.

So these are two movies to keep an eye on for very different reasons. Trank is an excellent director with a lot of promise, and if things go as expected we'll see Fantastic Four in 2014. As for Daredevil, expect a mad dash to find a director in the next few days.


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Josh Trank to direct 'Shadow of the Colossus'; Scott Waugh races to 'Need for Speed'

Ahh, video game movies. It's funny to think about, but video game movies are right now where comic book movies used to be twenty or thirty years ago. It may be hard to fathom now, but there was a time when comic book films were the Hollywood dregs, back when the technology simply wasn't there to make for a quality adaptation. That all changed with the Blade films, of course, but the video game world is still looking for their Jackie Robinson to break through. It's kind of ironic, since in just about every way that matters, video games are the size and cost of the biggest Hollywood productions.

We could be on the verge of a sea change, however, as two big names are coming aboard for a couple of promising video game films. Deadline reports that the red hot Josh Trank, still riding high after Chronicle proved to be a monster hit, is set to direct Shadow of the Colossus. We first learned of Sony's plans to adapt their hit 2005 adventure game back in 2009, but it's been totally quiet since then. The story follows a warrior named Wander who must defeat 16 massive creatures in order to restore a girl's life. Justin Marks had been tapped to pen the script, but it appears nobody is aboard anymore.

Next up is Need for Speed, the Electronic Arts racing sim which Dreamworks recently announced plans to bring to the silver screen. Scott Waugh, who just scored a surprising hit with Act of Valor, is in talks to direct, based on a story by George and John Gatins(Real Steel). The most successful racing video game ever, there have been sixteen games released up to this point. The hope is to turn this into a Fast and Furious sized franchise. [Variety]

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'Chronicle' director Josh Trank takes on 'The Red Star'

Actors aren't the only ones who have to worry about getting pigeon-holed after memorable performances. It happens to directors as well, and it usually takes a big bold move to break free from that. For Josh Trank, who made a splash with the hit super powered teen flick, Chronicle, he's been fielding offers for comic book adaptations ever since, notably for the Fantastic Four and Venom. Well he's finally settled on what's next, and while it stays in the comic book realm, it's not a title most people are going to be familiar with.

Deadline reports he'll develop and direct The Red Star, created by Christian Gossett and initially published by Image Comics in 1999. Set in an alternate reality version of Russia where advanced technology works in concert with magic. The first issues followed a war between the Red Army and a mystical sorcerer powered by the deaths of his followers. The script comes from Jason Rothernberg, writer of the Matt Reeves directed reboot of The Twilight Zone.

One of the cool things about the series was its heavy reliance on Russian history and folklore, with much of it pulling from the conflict between the nation and Afghanistan in the late 70s and 80s. The Red Star proved to be quite successful, even becoming a video game for the PS2 and PSP.

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'Chronicle' director Josh Trank in talks to helm Spider-Man villain film, 'Venom'

The most popular character in the entire Spider-Man universe, just a shade under the wallcrawler himself, is Venom. The symbiotic villain turned anti-hero turned villain again was last seen in Spider-Man 3 played by Topher Grace in the...underwhelming final Spidey film from Sam Raimi, and rumors of a spinoff have persisted since long before that. Back in 2009, Gary Ross(Seabiscuit) was set to lead the film, but with plans for Spider-Man 4 canned and Sony turning to Marc Webb for the current reboot, we haven't heard anything on it since. Now it's looking like the project is being revived, with one of the hottest young directors in talks to take it on.

Josh Trank, the 27-year old director who hit it big with Chronicle, a low budget flick centered on superpowered teens, is in talks to lead the Venom spinoff. In the wake of his success we've heard his name thrown into the ring for a possible Fantastic Four relaunch headed up by Fox, but it appears Sony may lock him up first. The plan is to find a new writer, ignoring the draft written by Jacob Estes a few years ago, and to also recast the lead role of Eddie Brock. Sorry, Topher Grace fans.

For those who may not be up on their Spider-Lore,  Eddie Brock was a journalist who was jealous and vengeful against Spider-Man. Becoming suicidal after being shown up by Spidey one too many times, Brock becomes merged with a gooey, evil alien symbiote becoming Venom. Venom would ultimately become a brain eating anti-hero, occasionally teaming up with Spidey, although his hatred would eventually resurface. It's that anti-hero version that would be the focus of the film, minus the brain eating. Probably.

Venom was a character who might've made for a great film a decade ago, but now I'm not sure sure. If Trank is going to stay in the world of super folks, Fantastic Four is probably the best way to go. Although it'll be interesting to see how much it would tie into The Amazing Spider-Man, if at all.  [24 Frames]

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'Chronicle' director eyed for 'Fantastic Four' reboot

Superhero movies are set to get a swift kick in the rear when Chronicle opens next month. Written by Max Landis and directed by newcomer Joshua Trank, the film is a departure from what we've seen so far, focusing on three high school friends who lose control after gaining miraculous superpowers.  Fox has shown a lot of confidence in the film so far, putting a good deal of marketing muscle behind it. Certainly more than you usually see out of anyone's directorial debut. In fact, the studio likes what Trank is doing so much that they may want him for another high profile comic book project.


While Marvel owns the rights free and clear to movies based on The Avengers, Iron Man, The Hulk, and Thor, it's easy to forget that other studios control some of their other A-list heroes. Fox has the rights to Daredevil, the X-men, and the Fantastic Four, with movies from all three reaching different levels of success. The most recent Fantastic Four film was only five years ago, but after two moneymaking but lackluster efforts, Fox recently began putting together plans for a relaunch. Now Variety reports they may be looking at Trank to be behind the camera.

First begun back in 2009, the relaunch once had superstar producer Akiva Goldsman aboard, but now he appears to no longer be involved. In a move that's not going to win anybody over, Michael Green(Green Lantern) has been working on the script and a final draft is on the way. There have already been a number of rumors about who could star, with names like Adrien Brody, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Bruce Willis, Amber Heard, and more mentioned. 

Tim Story directed the original films, which earned well over $600M total but nobody seemed to give a crap about them. That's despite featuring future Captain America, Chris Evans, and Jessica Alba. You'll notice nobody has exactly been in an uproar about a relaunch taking place so soon. People were going ape shit over Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man, and last I checked everybody thought Spider-Man 3 was terrible.

Marvel should really be worried about the lack of concern from fans, because an enthusiasm gap is something the Fantastic Four has suffered from for more than twenty years. They have a dated, corny premise, so it's really hard to make them cool. Perhaps the best way would be to embrace who the Fantastic Four are, and maybe take on an X-men: First Class model? Set the film in the 1970s or something?

A decision won't be made on hiring Trank until after Chronicle opens because clearly Fox wants to see how it performs. I think they'd be smart to give the new kid a shot and inject some new blood in this boring franchise.

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