Josh Trank. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. It’s been announced that he’s going to direct a new film, “Send A Scare,” starring Victoria Justice (Suits) and Robbie Amell (Upload).
Written by Trank and Andrew Ryan, from an original story by Andrew Ryan, “Send A Scare” centers on an interactive horror startup. Investors decide to host a demonstration, but the experience gets hijacked by a real masked killer with a deadly agenda.
This is set to be Trank’s fourth directorial effort. He’s had a tumultuous career, starting off with 2012’s “Chronicle,” a found footage superhero cheapie that ended up becoming a well-reviewed hit.
The promise Trank showed in his debut got him promoted to direct 2015’s now-infamous “Fantastic Four,” which ended up going through a horrendous production that included an inordinate amount of reshoots and “erratic behavior” on the part of Trank.
When it was finally released, “Fantastic Four” bombed at the box-office and earned a tepid 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. That, somehow, didn’t stop 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.”
What I can tell is there are TWO different movies in one movie competing to be that movie. 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.
Since then, Trank has only released one film, 2020’s “Capone” starring Tom Hardy, which went straight to VOD during the pandemic, earning negative reviews from critics.
So, five years after “Capone,” which was actually shot in 2018, Trank is ready to get back on a movie, albeit with a film that sounds like a low-budget B-movie, but at this point in his career, he’ll take it.
Following “Air,” this is Affleck’s latest stint behind the camera. He has cast himself in the lead role, alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”).