The Fantastic Four (2015)

The Fantastic Four (2015 film)
The Fantastic Four (stylized as FANT4STIC on promotional material) is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is the third theatrical Fantastic Four film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox and a reboot of the Fantastic Four film franchise. Directed by Josh Trank, the film stars Alex Russell, Saoirse Ronan, Miles Teller, Armie Hammer, and Eddie Redmayne. Simon Kinberg and Jeremy Slater wrote the screenplay from a story conceived by Kinberg and Trank. In Fantastic Four, the team must learn to harness their abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

In August 2009, the development of the film was announced. In July 2012, Trank was hired to direct and Slater to write the screenplay. In October 2013, Kinberg was hired as a co-writer. By January 2014, Kinberg finished rewriting the script and casting began. Principal photography commenced in May 2014 and concluded in August the same year. The film was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Fantastic Four is scheduled for release on August 7, 2015 in North America, in 2D and 3D theaters.

Premise
When four people teleport to an alternate universe, which alters their physical form and grants them new abilities, they must learn to harness their abilities and work together as a team to save the Earth from a familiar enemy.

Cast

 * Alex Russell as Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards: Russell said of the role, "When I read the script, I was reading this larger-than-life, incredible superhero tale. These are all very human people that end up having to become what is known as the Fantastic Four. For me it gives me an opportunity to play something different from my own skin."
 * Saoirse Ronan as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman: Mara said that she was supposed to read the Fantastic Four comic books for preparation. However, director Josh Trank suggested to her that it was unnecessary with writer Simon Kinberg adding, that the film is not based on a single issue of the Fantastic Four comic books. Mara has also said that she intended to focus on making her character "as real as possible".
 * Miles Teller as Johnny Storm/Human Torch: Teller said of the cast, "We're more or less a bunch of kids that had an accident and we have disabilities now that we have to cope with, and try to find a life afterwards – try to be as normal as we can."
 * Armie Hammer as Ben Grimm/The Thing: Trank said Grimm has a childhood element in the film who was an alienated kid from a "tough" neighborhood.
 * Eddie Redmayne as Viktor Von Domashev/Dr Doom: An anti-social programmer and robotics expert. Huston said that while playing the role, he concentrated the most on the voice of the character. He added, "on the animated series, they never got his voice what I imagined it to be when I read the comics as a little boy. What I spent the majority of my time doing was not just being a fan, but being a bit of pedant and making sure I got exactly what I always wanted to see."
 * James Remar as Dr. Franklin Storm:
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Harvey Elder

Development
"This Fantastic Four movie is sort of a celebration of all the Fantastic Four comics that have preceded it. We have elements from the originalFantastic Four that there's a sort of optimism and inspirational quality to the film. In some ways a comedy that was really distinct in the original Fantastic Four. Also, the notion of this dysfunctional surrogate family that comes together and has to work together is very present in the movie that owes a great debt to the originals and this idea that they are scientist and that it's almost like this science adventure, more than being superheroes... We also owe a lot to the  Ultimate' s and the current crop of Fantastic Fourcomics."[5]

—Simon Kinberg on adapting the Fantastic Four comic books into film.

In August 2009, 20th Century Fox announced a reboot of the Fantastic Four film franchise. Akiva Goldsman was attached as producer and Michael Green was hired to write the script. In July 2012, Josh Trank was hired to direct and Jeremy Slater was hired as screenwriter. In February 2013, Matthew Vaughn was attached as a producer and Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to polish the script. In October, Simon Kinberg was hired to co-write and produce the film.

Kinberg said that the film is a celebration of all Fantastic Four comic books and its inspired by its history. He added that Trank had a vision for the film to be more grounded, more character driven, more emotional, and a little more dramatic compared to the previously released Fantastic Fourfilms. According to 20th Century Fox's consultant for their Marvel Comics based films, Mark Millar, it would take place in the same universe as the X-Men film series. However, Kinberg contradicted his statement.

Casting
In January 2014, Kinberg has finished rewriting the script and casting for the roles of Reed Richards and Sue Storm began. Miles Teller, Kit Harington, Richard Madden and Jack O'Connell were tested for the role of Johnny Storm, while Kate Mara, Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie and Emmy Rossum were tested for Susan Storm. In February, it was revealed that Alex Russell would play Reed Richards/ Mister Fantastic and Ronan was cast as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman. In March, Eddie Redmayne was cast as Doctor Doom. Teller confirmed that he would portray Johnny Storm/ Human Torch and in addition to confirming Armie Hammer had been cast as Ben Grimm / The Thing. Sam Riley, Toby Kebbell, and Domhnall Gleeson were considered for Doctor Doom. In April, Tim Blake Nelson entered final negotiations to play Harvey Elder. In May, James Remar was cast as Sue's and Johnny's father, Dr. Storm 

Filming
Principal photography commenced on May 5, 2014 at Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and ended on August 23, 2014. The film was planned to be shot in Vancouver, Canada, but was moved to Louisiana due to the state's film production tax incentives. On August 15, actor Jaylen Moore tweeted a photo of a commemorative jacket he received from the producers for working on the production, revealing the film's title as The Fantastic Four

Post Production
The film is using OTOY for the visual effects. According to Josh Trank, with the use of cloud-rendering technology from OTOY, they can create visual effects at a much lower cost. The film will also be converted to 3D in post-production.

Music
In January 2015, Marco Beltrami was hired to compose the film's score. Philip Glass is also attached to compose the score with Beltrami.

Visual Effects
The film is using OTOY   for the visual effects. According to Josh Trank, with the use of cloud-rendering technology from OTOY, they can create visual effects at a much lower cost

Marketing
The teaser trailer for Fantastic Four was released on YouTube in January 2015 to generally positive reviews. Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter gave the trailer a positive review, stating that it's a "surprisingly strong step in the right direction for a faithful adaptation of an often-problematic property." Abraham Riesman of  New York' s Vulture also responded to the trailer positively, saying that the film "could be the most innovative and tonally unique marquee superhero movie.

Release
The film is scheduled for release in North America on August 7, 2015 in 2D and 3D theaters. The film was originally scheduled in December 2012 for a March 6, 2015 release date, and was later changed again in November 2013 to June 19, 2015

Sequel
A sequel is scheduled to be released on July 14, 2017.