Variety is reporting that 20th Century Fox has signed on Akiva Goldsman to produce a reboot of the Marvel superhero franchise, the Fantastic Four. This comes on the heels of Marvel being bought by the Walt Disney Co., but Fox still holds the film rights to not only Marvel's 1st Family but also Daredevil, the X-men, and the Silver Surfer. Michael Green, who writes for the TV show Heroes and co-wrote the upcoming Green Lantern film has been brought aboard to pen the script.
Right now there's still no word on who if any of the previous films' stars will be returning, but it's clear that Fox has not been happy so far. Both movies took in nearly $300M combined in the U.S. but failed to latch on with audiences.
You wanna know why they didn't latch on? They weren't very good. I'll be the first to admit that the Fantastic Four is probably the toughest sell of all of Marvel's stable of characters. They have a Golden Age hokeyness to them, much like Superman, that makes it tough to bring them into a more modern age without compromising what makes them unique. I thought they finally were getting a handle on it with The Rise of the Silver Surfer, bringing big universe spanning sci-fi action that is supposed to be at the core of what the FF is all about. Despite my issues with the franchise, I hope they don't deviate too far. The cast isn't the problem. That's about as much of an endorsement for Chris Evans as you're gonna get out of me.
