Inside Josh Trank’s Director’s Cut of Fantastic Four 

It's really funny that Trank correctly identified the correct writer in Slater, but couldn't identify that he wasn't the right director.

So basically Slater was the right guy to write it, but Trank was the exact wrong person to direct and hand over creative control to.

Honestly, Trank's idea of a body horror Cronenberg-style superhero film would be really interesting, but Slater was the right guy to draft a Fantastic Four screenplay

Fantastic Four (2015) is one of those movies in which its behind the scenes story is more interesting than the movie itself.

I can understand keeping a real world feel to it, but that doesn’t mean it has to be gloomy or dark. You can still make a bright movie and make it relatable

The Incredibles will always be the best Fantastic Four movie (for now).

Considering the state of the MCU now, if that F4 movie doesn’t deliver, then the IP is officially cursed in the movie format

Goddamn, the industry shat out Trank as quickly as it welcomed him.

"While the Snyder Cut movement was an incredible thing, it's also something that doesn't need to happen for every movie that suffers from studio interference, as sometimes movie studios have no choice but to step in" - Wiser words have never been spoken.

I wish more directors and studios would take inspiration from Raimi's Spiderman trilogy. It was able to be serious and campy. Had dark moments, but also light ones. Not everything needs to be dark and gritty all the time.

I feel like one thing people forget is while yes the Dark Knight Trilogy has darker themes, those movies have a good amount of humor and personality- I feel like a lot of directors just say the darker themes and did not see the humor and personality in those films

Everything about this film's conception was doomed from the get-go. Making it dark and gritty, taking inspiration from Cronenberg, only kickstarting it just to maintain film rights. Nothing about it said anyone's hearts were in the right place. In regards to Jeremy Slater's original treatment, it might not have been that good, but at least it sounded more interesting and entertaining than what we got.

Honestly that script with Annihilus and Mole Man sounds fucking awesome. Just a shame this isn’t the universe that movie was made in.

Awesome video! This really opened my eyes to Josh Trank. I was aware about how the fox studio had heavy involvement in the film, but I had no idea about his behavior on the project. Guess this explains why he hasn’t done any big movies in while.

I'm honestly amazed Hollywood could never understand that Batman was appropriate for a dark and gritty film but other superhero franchises were not. You can have variety and do some dark and some light depending on the source material.

I know people don't like the portal thing from this film, but it's not completely out of nowhere. It's more based on the Ultimate universe's Fantastic Four, where they got their powers via dimensional travel instead of space travel.

Slaters version actually sounds a lot more interesting than the snooze fest we got

This movie had a hellish production from start to finish.

My friends brother was the stunt double for Doom. He’s the one who was in all the reshoots.

Trank sounds like a nightmare. Why do the studios hire people who have contempt for the source material? It seems to happen often and usually results in a poor adaptation.

I remember seeing the trailers for this and thinking it looked awful. Seems like the studio and director share the blame on this one. Being caught off guard by the tone of the film is entirely on the studio for not monitoring more closely though

When whe movie began by presenting the mindset of a young Reed Richards, I thought I was in for a great movie. And that impression was enforced with the prototype scene in the basement. Then everything went south pretty quickly. The team didn't felt like a family, the movie was esthetically so dark, a lot of the story took place inside the same facility or whatever, there was a whole 5 year time jump in between that wasn't as impactful as it should have and Victor turned into a villain simply because he has to. This movie is like a nice mug that they broke and repaired using glue, with some pieces either missing or replaced, and no idea of what made it great initially.

man, what a nightmare. I can just imagine having to deal with all those problems, both as trank, and the other people trying to cope with all that craziness.

I think it was Honest Trailers that at one point said that a movie about the making of this movie would be more interesting than this version of Fantastic Four turned out to be.

Great video :) Just a small correction ... Chronicle was not made on the basis of Trank's own script. Max Landis was a screenwtiter on that one.

I recently watched some other RU-vidr's version of this, and yours is WAY better. Thank you. Keep it up!!!

The Incredibles is still the best Fantastic Four film to date. I don’t think any future projects will top it.

Some of these added scenes looked absolutely amazing. Would have liked to have seen that version

I remember watching this in theatres and sharply noticing how much I actually like the Trank First half, and then boom, when the studio recuts happen for the second half of the movie, I and all my friends stopped liking it. We didn't know it at the time and we just thought "Why was the second half of the movie so much worse than the first half???" and then I eventually learned about the reshoots and recuts and such. I wish they would have just let Trank cook. I was REALLY digging the horror inspired elements and I think experimentation is good. You wanna bright kid friendly F4? We got two of those in the 2000's. Go watch those. Ya know?

I still want this version of the film.

Nice. Another great video. Your videos are one of the highlights of my week man. Thanks as always!

As soon as Josh Trank decided to be a numb skull and not listen to/disregard Jeremy Slater who cooked up an absolute masterpiece of a script, this movie was doomed. Sad to see but can't say that it wasn't deserved.

Amazing breakdown 👏🏾can’t wait until the next video!

I do like this movie, or at least what it set out to do. The minimalist beginning leading into 90s Sci-fi wonder into pure body horror is legitimately great and reminded me a lot of Ang Lee's Hulk, which I also really liked. It's when it has to be a superhero movie is when it goes wrong and it goes wrong hard and fast

This is what I’ve been waiting for - hell yes!!

I heard there was different ideas for X-Men Dark Phoenix before that film was made. Presumably there was an alternate ending of the film that was made where the X-Men fought the Dark Phoenix outside the United Nations building. Maybe you could do a video on that in the future.

Awesome video! I watch all your videos when I'm stuck in traffic on the way & back to work! Keep it up! 🙌🏻

This movie is so unmemorable, I'd watch it again but in a week I'll probably forget what happened

Thanks for the vid! I've still never seen this movie, though I always wanted to know more of the behind the scene story.

In the comics, it took the Fantastic Four a little time to become a full-blown super hero adventure comic. Back then Marvel was pumping out monster stories and others like the Twilight Zone, and when the FF started, they retained a lot of the flavor of the other stories. In their first issue they fought a monster. They didn't get their costumes until the third issue I think.

I like Chronicle a lot and I really like the idea of the Scanners/Fly mix, but there was no way this film was going to end well. The studio wanted one thing and Trank another. I imagine if there actually is a Director cut out there, it's maybe fine. If he'd been able to execute his vision it might have been good, but just so different from what they wanted

There was an article about this ages ago I could never find again so thanks for this

Thank you for making this, I've been recently telling everyone how compelling the pre-production and concept art for Fant4stic was. I really like the idea of a superhero body horror so it's a shame Fox fumbled that.

Absolutely love this series! Another awesome video dude! However it does suck to hear that this is one film that sounds like it would not have had any sort of good cut with who was at the helm of the project.

The gift that keeps on giving.

It sounds as though Trank wasn’t the right fit from the jump. I like the idea of the superhero-transformation -as-body-horror film he wanted to do and it could have been a great piece. However, the studio clearly had something altogether different. This is a story of the city mouse and the country mouse trying to live happily in the suburbs: it doesn’t work for either one

Another great video from a dude that never misses.

Another great video!

Trank had no right not to take his anger on Kate because he was forced to cast her she didn't do anything wrong she even went to do research on her character Sue Storm but was told not to do that.

While maybe not the best idea for a Fantastic Four movie, I liked the idea of a “body horror” F superhero film and would of liked to have seen Trank’s original version

Your RU-vid is probably one of the best for cancelled movies I didn't know a lot of the things about this film

great video. Thanks!

Honestly, i would have loved to see tranks version, it seems like a great and refreshing take, but i also would have loved to see slaters. Both could have done really well and been great movies if they could have been done in their own

Trank sounds like the Edgy teenager that writes gritty and "mature" stories based on Sesame Street.

It’s not just this film, there are other good Fantastic 4 scripts like the mid-to-late 90s Michael France version and the early 2000s Doug Petrie one, but for some reason the movies don’t work. They could make good What Could Have Been videos, as they’re both online to read

Oh yay! You finally released it. Ask and I shall receive. Unless you were already making this video when I was asking for it. Hahaha! Great video, looking forward to the next one! 👍🏻

Thanks for this, it really wraps everything up. I was very hopeful for this film when it was announced. I loved the idea of the negative zone (planet zero) instead of cosmic rays in space. Novel in the early 60's, but another dimension is the new frontier. I loved the slightly more serious, gritty tone, something I liked in general about Fox's superhero films versus the more comedy-driven MCU films. But there's no denying the movie falls apart after little more than half an hour. With 20/20 hindsight, it would have been better if Trank had trusted the writer he hired and gone with the story he developed, and done his rewrites off of it, as opposed to being in such opposition to every element of the story. I mean, Annihilus, Doom, Galactus and Mole Man in one film!!! Fox double-downed on the problems by slashing the budget and thinking they could somehow cobble together a film post principal photography. Fox's superhero films are characterized by good characters and strong action - you can't beat the opening to X2, or Quicksilver in DOFP. But this film had a dizzying lack of action, coherence, and ultimately shows what you get when no one in the production trusts anyone else in the production.

The Doom head pops were pretty sweet 👍

Great video. Very in-depth

Great video. Keep up the awesome work. much loves

A Cronenberg-esque Body-Horror-Version of this Movie actually sounds interesting and there *are* some bits of that left in the movie, like Reed coming across half reformed and panicking Ben trapped in his cell or the shot of Reed being experimented on and his limbs streched in all directions. I'd be honestly curious to watch this version of Fant4stic. Alas, if will probably never happen. Shame, since the general Idea is interesting in concept and I actually like the Cast.

I always kinda enjoyed the 2015 as a guilty pleasure. Wish we could have seen Trank’s cut.

Thanks for the amazing information

If Josh Trank taught us anything, is that you can't go from a low-budget movie to a big-budget movie You need to go from low to medium, and then from medium to big Is all about gaining credibility. You never know when a studio is gonna think they can control you. You need to show them that you know what you're doing better than them.

As a big fantastic four fan I remember being so hype watching this not caring how actually bad the film was. I just wanted a sequel so bad 😂

I did enjoy a lot of ideas from this fantastic four but goddamn was it all over the place. I honestly would’ve like to see Transks full vision just to see how unique it would’ve been. I doubt I would’ve enjoyed that version of the film but I would’ve loved to see what a complete unhinged creative freedom looks like

I would have love to see Trank's vision on full display. I think the idea of making a more grounded story with a little inspiration from Chronicle is why he was hired in the first place. If there was issues on set with actors then that's a different story.

oh wanted to say conrgats i joined at 20k not long ago now 45K lets gooo you deserve it fully

From what I remember, the film would've been too dark for a decent 3D post conversion, as 3D hates the dark and Trank was obviously going for a dimly lit horror motif.

I remember being so hyped for this... As Trank had made one of my favorite movies of all time: Chronicle. Not to mention Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller being totally awesome actors. The first trailer looked so good. Whatever happened to Miles Teller? Feels like he disappeared after J.K. Simmons shouted at him in Whiplash.

Great video buddy, would’ve loved to see his true version of the film before I see the potential

I remember reading a little story about this film online and little Herbie was in it and was taken down very fast was brilliant hearing what you found out about this mess of a film look forward to your next 1 🎥🍿

This film was one of the first films I left the theatre saying “my god that was terrible”

Trank is example of why you shouldn't hired an up an coming director to work on a major IP like F4. Especially one with temper and over grandiose ideas like him.

Great job can't wait for more Bullets and blockbusters

Having been a fan of the Fan4 for my whole life, its sad to see what has happened with the live action portrayals, even though I somewhat like them all in their own way. The ‘94 unreleased movie was a perfect adaptation of the origins if you overlook the shotty special effects and animation. The 2000’s was campy and lighthearted, with fun chemistry and good vibes, but terrible galactus portrayal. But Fan4stic just feels unfinished and doesnt bring the love of the team like the comics do. I’m happy you made this video because now I can at least appreciate what Trank tried to do with Slater on the project, but its a shame his vision wasnt produced the way he wanted.

I'd love to see Trank get to have his director's cut in the future.

It should have been a red flag, as soon as he didn’t have a interest in comic books lmao

They should have shot Slater’s version, no matter how expensive it was gonna be. Sounds amazing.

The most interesting thing about this film will always be the production nightmare. I think Trank wasn’t a good pick imo. No clue how the F4 is so hard to adapt but man the MCU can only do better.

Could you do a video about the original script for Prometheus? It was called Alien: Engineers and was was written by Jon Spaihts. It eventually became Prometheus after rewrites by Damon Lindelof, most known as the writer of Lost, Watchmen HBO, the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies, and World War Z among other things

The original origin of Dr Doom in the comics is probably the greatest villain origin story of all time (I read it in Bring On The Bad Guys at least 100 times as a kid)… why do people insist on f@cking with it? It’s perfect.

Hello, where did you get the action choreography footage of the deleted Thing action sequence?

I'm really curious to see the director's cut. I even do the #releasethetrankcut back in the day

I was never a fan of Fantastic Four but I did like Trank's Chronicle. When I first heard about his darker take on Fantastic Four I was genuinely intrigued to watch it as I liked the more science horror direction versus the brightly lit camp we were used to. I think it's honestly a shame he couldn't finish his vision for it as Fox was selling off to DIsney anyway and this would be the only chance for a darker take on the material.

The concepts for the movie all sound very interesting and have a lot of potential. If there was a better director and writer on the project the movie would've been much better.

That first script would have been amazing. Adding Annihulus would have been such an awesome movie. Especially with his control rod being the thing to create victors armor. Such a shame man.

If you are subscriber to Midnight's Edge, you will remember that this was the movie that led to the channel's creation - this was the first picture they covered in the months up to release.

So Josh Trank is the problem. Imagine hiring a guy that has no interest in comics let alone fantastic 4 itself and creates a toxic environment, no wonder it bombed. His version is even worse

I am definitely on Josh's side. A professional can see the potential of the movie behind the horrendous theatrical cut.

Another great video! This whole thing is such a shame because maybe instead we could have got another original Josh Trank film and a more accurate Fantastic Four. One good thing that came out of was Jamie Bell meeting Kate Mara, and now they're married and have kids!

I saw this while waylaid at a hotel room in Boston in 2016 and thought this had potential. Then Dr. Doom showed up.

Cape movies have so much drama attached to production

Why do they hire directors who want to change the source material

I can imagine him on set, listening to Good Charlotte and throwing everything on the ground.

I would love to see Trank's vision, it sounds really interesting.

Lesson to be learn from this never hired a directors who only make one movie should hired the one who have already direct alot and have enough experience

Trank not considering Slater's version after hiring him for his comic book knowledge feels really dumb. Why hire someone if you're gonna just reject all their proposals?

This movie feels like a fever dream

I can, if I squint, see Tranks vision. It was a superhero movie as body horror. And I'll say this - it would have been interesting to see... not necessarily better but more interesting than the blander thing we got.