"I knew it was going to get ugly," Josh Trank tells the LA Times about the storm of words swirling around this summer’s "Fantastic Four," and it certainly hasn’t been pretty. Persistent rumors have plagued the film about Trank’s supposed behavior on set (which both he and producer Simon Kinberg have denied), which was only fuelled by his exit from directing a "Star Wars" spinoff film (which he has explained). However, the director remains optimistic that despite the chatter, he’ll wind up proving the doubters wrong.
"I made every single choice knowing that people would question it," he said. "And what better reaction than to have people then go see the movie and understand it and feel like maybe they’ve learned something about the world, to not question the next thing they think is going to be stupid or weird. I think that’s my purpose right now in my life."
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Meanwhile, Kinberg hasn’t left Trank’s corner through all of this and states that fans of the comic book heroes have "a bit of a chip on their shoulders about the franchise." However, it’s somewhat justified given the previous goofy and unsatisfying big screen attempts in 2005 and 2007. However, the comic book landscape has changed drastically in that time and the producer is pragmatic about what the ingredients are to succeed.
"People are religious about comics the way people are religious about the Bible," he explains. "But I think it’s true for a lot of movies that you can take license with adapting the underlying material and you will be forgiven for it if it’s good—and you will not be if it’s bad."
Simple enough, but right now, fans are concerned that it’s more the latter than the former. There is still much convincing to do and only about a month left to go before "Fantastic Four" opens on August 7th. Check out the new posters and photos below.
