There was talk of 20th Century Fox rebooting the Fantastic Four franchise in March. Now people have actually been hired to make it happen.
From Variety:
Akiva Goldsman has been hired to oversee the reboot as producer. Michael Green, the co-exec producer of TV’s “Heroes” who co-wrote “Green Lantern,” will write the script for the new “Fantastic Four.”
Fox wouldn’t comment on its plans, but the moves are evidence that Marvel franchises do have enduring lifespans.
The 2005 “Fantastic Four” and 2007 sequel “Rise of the Silver Surfer” were directed by Tim Story and starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis. Since the deals for the reboot are just getting made, it is unclear if any of them will return.
20th Century Fox have a deal with Marvel which means they have to put the X-Men rights into use otherwise they go back to Marvel after 4 years (hence X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class), and they have a similar deal with the Fantastic Four rights. Fox had the decision of letting the rights go back to Marvel, or making another movie. Fantastic Four 3 wasn’t worth making, so they’ve gone for the reboot option.
I hope they make the movies more dark and serious. Last time round Fox tried to appeal to the kids and we just got two cheesy movies. I think they’ve learned their lesson.
