Josh Trank (“Chronicle”) had a rough time making “Fantastic Four.” It reportedly went through a disastrous production, with many reshoots and supposed “erratic behavior” from Trank on the set of the film. When finally released, “Fantastic Four” bombed at the box-office and earned itself a tepid 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. That has, somehow, not stopped Trank from deciding to add his own negative review of the film on Letterboxd. “The movie is ALRIGHT,” Trank wrote in his two-star review of “Fantastic Four,” adding, “I was expecting it to be much worse than it was. I literally haven’t seen it since like two weeks before it came out, and I was in a heavily fucking traumatized state of mind. Why? Eh, save that for another time.
“Anyway, movie review: Great cast. Everyone in the film is a great actor, and overall there is a movie in there, somewhere. And that cast deserves to be in THAT movie,” Trank said, referring to an ensemble including Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, and Tim Blake Nelson.
“Everyone who worked on Fant4stic clearly wanted to be making THAT movie. But…. ultimately… It wasn’t. Did I make that movie they deserved to be in? To be honest? I can’t tell.” Then things get ominous, as Trank hints at a loss of creative control over the Fox reboot that cost $155 million and grossed $168 million worldwide.
“What I can tell is there are TWO different movies in one movie competing to be that movie,” Trank wrote. “Is there a #releasethetrankcut? Doesn’t matter. I’m not Zack Snyder. Zack Snyder is a storied, iconic, legendary filmmaker who has been knocking it out of the fucking park since I was in high school. Me? Then? I was 29 years old, making my 2nd film, in a situation more complicated than anything a 2nd time filmmaker should’ve walked into. That said… I don’t regret any of it. It’s a part of me.”
Trank hasn’t released a movie since “Fantastic Four,” but is currently in post-production on the Al Capone drama “Fonzo,” starring Tom Hardy. No cracks emerged from that production. It seems to have been smooth sailing for Trank. Hopefully, we all get to see it, as rumored, at Sundance this coming January.
At a Q&A this morning, Gray said "Two Lovers" was the first film he made with creative control. He was far less kind about the three before it, "Little Odessa," "The Yards" and "We Own the Night."