Sorry, True Believers! If you thought that the failure of Josh Trank’s ‘Fantastic Four’ at the box office during its opening weekend meant that the film rights to Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing would revert back to Marvel Studios, then you are mistaken. It turns out that 20th Century Fox isn’t giving up on Marvel’s First Family just yet.
While speaking to the New York Times, Fox’s President of Domestic Distribution Chris Arson declared that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the team at his studio. Because they had the rights for “more than a decade, before Marvel made its own movies,” Arson shared that they’re planning to make things work:
“We love these characters, and we will find ways to make use of them.”
But when it comes to Fox’s reaction to the immense failure of the latest FF reboot, they have considerably less to say (not that they really could say anything to justify the choices made in the end):
“There’s not much to say. I have never seen a confluence of events impact the opening of a movie so swiftly.”
Regardless of what they have to say, it sounds like they’re in it for the long haul with the Fantastic Four. Judging by the success of this incarnation that may mean another reboot rather than a sequel is on the way in the future. But if they do pursue that avenue, hopefully they will learn from Sony’s mistakes with Spider-Man. Or they could just follow exactly what Sony did with Spider-Man, which ultimately resulted in the two studios sharing the characters and working on a film franchise for that character set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Do you think that it’s wise for 20th Century Fox to keep the film rights to ‘Fantastic Four’ despite their incredible failure with their latest adaptation of the beloved Marvel Comics title? What do you think the studio will do next with the characters? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
