Of the three different versions of the “Fantastic Four” to have hit cinemas in the past two decades, easily the worst both critically and commercially was the middle child – 2015’s “Fantastic Four”.
The famously problematic production lost the studio an estimated $80–100 million, along with some terrible reviews. Just what went wrong, though, remains a debated topic to this day.
On the one hand, there was definitely some studio interference with major reshoots quite visible in the final product after the studio was said to be quite unhappy with director Josh Trank’s cut.
Multiple other sources spoke about “erratic behaviour” from Trank on set and Trank himself essentially disowned the film in his social media postings. Actress Kate Mara has previously spoken about the ‘horrible’ experience she had shooting the film.
This week, Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in the film, spoke with SiriusXM and was asked if the cast was aware how bad the film was when promoting it. He said the film’s failure came down to one person, but didn’t name them:
“I think it’s unfortunate for that, because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And honestly, maybe there was one really important person who kind of f—ed it all up. Yeah.
But no, […] especially as a young actor, at that time, it’s like, ‘All right, if you wanna be taken seriously as a leading man, you gotta get on this superhero train.’ And that was our chance, and the casting, I thought, was spectacular. I love all those actors.
When I first saw the movie, I remember talking to one of the studio heads, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in trouble.'”
It was widely speculated and reported that Trank did not get along with Teller, with some reports alleging that things nearly turned physical at one point.
