Brad Bird and Pixar spoofed them in the animated smash hit The Incredibles, but now Marvel Comic’s first family of superheroes has arrived on the big-screen with an expensive, effects-driven movie of their own. Fantastic Four from 20th Century Fox has come to do battle with Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds in a bid to claim the top spot at the box office.
Directed by Tim Story (Barbershop, Taxi), Fantastic Four follows the exploits of a set of astronauts who gain superhuman powers through cosmic radiation exposure and learn to use their newfound abilities to foil the evil plans of Doctor Victor Von Doom. Actor Ioan Gruffudd, best known as TV’s Horatio Hornblower, plays the elastic Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards. Jessica Alba (Sin City, TV’s Dark Angel) steps into the tights of Susan “Invisible Woman” Storm, while Chris Evans (Cellular, The Perfect Score) is Johnny “Human Torch” Storm and The Shield star Michael Chiklis bricks up to play Ben “The Thing” Grimm.
To help bring the popular comic-book franchise created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to the big screen, Marvel CEO Avi Arad and fellow producers Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Bernd Eichinger and Ralph Winter called on the talents of effects houses Soho VFX, Meteor Studios, Giant Killer Robots, Stan Winston Digital, CobaltFX, Pacific Title, CaféFX, Hydraulx, Pixel Magic, Kleiser-Walczak, SW Digital, CIS Hollywood.
Stan Lee serves as exec producer on this adaptation of his beloved series, which has been written for the screen by Michael France (The Punisher, Hulk) and Mark Frost (TV’s Twin Peaks). Hanna-Barbera first brought Fantastic Four to the small screen with an animated series in the late ’60s, but its trip to the big screen has been about as rocky as The Thing’s complexion. Schlock genius Roger Corman took the first stab in 1994, but the pic he exec produced was never released, not even on home video. Lee has revealed in interviews that the version was never intended for release and was made only because New Horizons was going to lose the film rights if it didn’t start production by a certain date.
Fantastic Four is set to return to TV sets with a new animated series co-produced by Moonscoop, the new umbrella banner for France Animation and Antefilms Production, and Cartoon Network Europe. The toon will blend 2D character animation with 3D backgrounds, vehicles and other elements. Moonscoop and Cartoon Network Europe plan to have the new show ready to air by September of 2006.
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