‘Fantastic Four’ Is Worst Reviewed Marvel Movie But Fox Still Committed To Franchise
This past weekend brought the release of 20th Century Fox’s latest iteration ofFantastic Four, and we already knew the first reviews weren’t very good, but no one was expecting it to be this bad.
First of all, the film landed at #2 at the box office behindMission: Impossible – Rogue Nationin its second week of release. It pulled in just over$26 million domesticallyand another $34 million internationally for a total of $60 million, hardly a runaway hit, especially for a comic book movie with a built-in fanbase, even outside of he Marvel cinematic universe.
Secondly, the reboot ofFantastic Fourhas actually turned out to be theworst reviewed Marvel film ever, even falling behind duds likeElektraandGhost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. However, Fox isn’t yet giving up on the franchise. Find out more about Fantastic Four reviews and the future of Marvel’s first family after the jump!
Over onRotten Tomatoes,Josh Trank’s reboot starringMiles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. JordanandJamie Bellhas gotten a 9% after 159 total reviews, putting it belowElektraat 10%, previously the worst-rated Marvel comics adaptation. Among the “Top Critics” the movie only has a 6% with an average review score of 3.4/10.
In addition, theCinemaScorefrom audiences on Friday night gave the movie a C-, making it the worst grade thatanysuperhero movie has received. And CinemaScore audiences are usually more forgiving, with previous dudsElektra,CatwomanandDaredevillanding a B. EvenGhost Rider: The Spirit of VengeanceandBatman and Robinearned a C+ withSuperman IV: The Quest for Peacepreviously being the worst graded with a C score.
But despite all the negative buzz, Fox is still trying to stay committed to the future of theFantastic Fourfranchise, which previously had asequel dated forJune 9th, 2017. 20th Century Fox’s domestic distribution chiefChris Aronsonhasn’t commented onJosh Trank’s since-deleted Twitter updatedistancing himself from the final cut of the movie that you’re able to see in theaters now, but he did tellTHRthat “studio fully supported Josh Trank’s vision for the film, as we do with all our filmmakers.”
In addition, despite the box office flop, which didn’t even meet expectations, Aronson also toldTHR, “While we’re disappointed, we remain committed to these characters and we have a lot to look forward to in our Marvel universe.” But that’s exactly what someone in Aronson’s shoes has to say, just to make sure he doesn’t hurt the box office return even more by denouncing the movie. After all, they still have Blu-Ray and DVD product to sell later.
However, there’s already a rumor fromThe Daily Superherothat Fox might be pullingFantastic Four 2from the planned 2017 release date. Take this with a grain of salt for now, but there may be discussions of fast-tracking aDeadpoolsequelto fit into that 2017 release date instead.
But if that’s true, then the sequel would need to start shooting immediately after the first movie is released in February 2016. And while fans are excited after the recent trailer release, the studio likely wants to wait to see how the box office results are with that R-rated risk before getting a sequel together so quickly.
In reality, it would be much easier for 20th Century Fox to just move upWar of the Planet of the Apesfrom theJuly 14th, 2017release or even push backGambitfrom theOctober 7th, 2016release. Those are just two other possible options, but Fox shouldn’t have any problem moving their schedule around instead of taking a potential risk by arrogantly planning a fast-tracked sequel for a movie that isn’t a guaranteed success.
Either way, don’t count on seeing a new Fantastic Four movie anytime soon. That doesn’t mean that you can expect a Marvel Studios deal to come about the way it did forSpider-Manand Sony Pictures, but at this point, that might be the only way to get fans back on board with Marvel’s first family.
What do you think about all this?
