Actor Jamie Bell who portrayed Benjamin Grimm, aka The Thing, in the 2015Fantastic Fourreboot has recently said that he and the rest of the cast were “bitterly disappointed” with the way that the movie came out. As it turns out, the cast of the reboot were not the only ones to be disappointed in the movie. TheFantastic Fourreboot was a completecritical and commercial failure, which currently holds a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviews savaging the Josh Trank directed movie.
Bell recently sat down with theLos Angeles Timesand shared his thoughts on filmmaking as well as the flop that was the reboot ofThe Fantastic Four. There were a lot offingers being pointedwhen the movie came out and tanked in such a magnificent way, but Bell says that he and the cast were unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. Bell did say that the project started with the best intentions, while also pointing out hisdisappointment in the Fantastic Four reboot. He explains.
“There were several things on that movie I was clearly not privy to because I’m just an actor and I just do my stuff on set. But with something like that, everything starts with the best of intentions. A production begins with the idea to make something that’s unique and original and with integrity. I think the film really strived towards those goals. I don’t know what happened between the launch of the voyage and the arrival. I think we were all bitterly disappointed with that film. But that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
As Jamie Bell said, he is not alone in his disappointment for the project.Toby Kebbell, who portrayed Doctor Doom in the movie, has said that Trank’s cut of the reboot was much better than what eventually went to theaters, which makes sense since Trank has been very vocal about Fox’s interfering with the project, going as far as to claim that the studio was heavily involved with the post-production process. Miles Teller, who played Mr. Fantastic echoed Bell’s words saying that the movie started with good intentions, but lost its way in post-production. Kate Mora, who portrayed the Invisible Woman, was a little more candid and claims that she has never even seen the movie, which says quite a bit about the way the production ended up. While a lot has been said about Trank and his relationship with Fox, some point the finger squarely at the director.
As it turns out, sources close to the project have said that Trank is notoriously hard to work with, some going as far to say that he is “extremely” difficult. However, Bell, Teller, and Kebbell’s comments seem to contradict what the sources claim. Trank was supposed to helm the standaloneBoba Fettmovie under Lucasfilm’s guidance after the reboot, but it has been rumored that the catastrophic failure of theFantastic Fourreboot put a swift end to the director getting that chance.
While theFantastic Four reboot got trashed, many of the performances were praised after the dust settled. Though Trank did have a different cut of the movie ready to go, it will probably never see the light of day and probably wouldn’t get a fair chance if it were released. It might just be best to forget that the whole project ever happened at all.
