Director Josh Trank appears to be Hollywood (and the internet)’s favorite punching bag.  Trank had previously received raves for his low-budget super hero film ‘Chronicle,’ before being entrusted with Fox’s reboot of its ‘Fantastic Four’ franchise.  He was slated to helm one of the upcoming ‘Star Wars’ anthology movies, but Trank announced that he was stepping down from the project.  Then came  the rumors that he was actually fired and that this was largely due to erratic and undesirable behavior during the filming of ‘Fantastic Four’.

Rumor had it that other creators, including producer Matthew Vaughn were being pulled in to reshoot parts of ‘F4,’ just months before its release. To cap things off, the latest buzz is that Fox was scrapping the 3D release of the movie in order to funnel that cash into these reshoots.

But those close to ‘F4’ are quick to jump to Trank’s defense.  Tim Blake Nelson plays Harvey Elder in the film, described as an “eccentric and socially awkward scientist,” who also happens to be the alter ego of the comic book FF’s enemy the Mole Man, refuted the negative rumors declaring “[‘Fantastic Four’ is] written by Simon Kinberg and… directed by Josh, and these are two very strong-willed, opinionated people, so I can’t imagine there’s gonna be some wild departure from what they had in mind when they first set out to collaborate.”

Nelson didn’t deny that reshoots had been filmed, but dismisses the idea that they were to salvage the film or make it more accessible, stating “I think it’s probably going to be an effort to underscore what the movie is all about. And Josh … is not afraid to take his own perspective on what it is to be a young, eccentric person in a normalizing world and explore that, and that’s what ‘Fantastic Four’ is all about, just like ‘Chronicle’ was.”

Trank isn’t content to let others fight his battles for him, popping up on Twitter to refute these allegations:

Trank had one last message for movie-goers:

So who is to be believed?  Is ‘Fantastic Four’ really as troubled as the rumor mill would have us all believe?  Or is this just a malicious attempt to sink this film in viewers’ minds before it even hits theaters? In the meantime, check out the new international trailer below!

‘Fantastic Four’ starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell hits theaters on June 19, 2015.

Source: Collider