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Not a "Fantastic" Fourth for Fox
What was shaping up to be a Fantastic face off between two summer blockbusters has turned out to be nothing more than a close encounter of the studio kind.
Despite staking out the usually lucrative Fourth of July holiday first, 20th Century Fox has confirmed it's postponing the release of Fantastic Four, its superhero movie adapted from the Marvel comic book, from July 1 to July 8--ceding Independence Day weekend to a Martian invader--the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise (news) update of H.G. Wells' sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds. That film is scheduled to unspool Wednesday, June 29.
A showdown between the two high-profile projects had been in the offing since last August, when Paramount announced it was moving up production on War after Spielberg and Cruise cleared their calendars to work together on what will be as close to a surefire box-office hit as they come--a big-budget alien-invasion epic from the man who brought moviegoers 1977's UFO tale Close Encounters of the Third Kind and a host of other blockbusters with one of Tinseltown's most bankable stars leading the cast.
Not even four superheroes could thwart that kind of monster so it's easy to see why Fox blinked. Just don't tell that to studio executives.
"We are not running from War of the Worlds," Fox distribution head Bruce Snyder said, presumably with a straight face, to the Hollywood Reporter. "This [new] date just works better for us."
The Fantastic Four, starring Michael Chiklis and Jessica Alba (news), follows the adventures of a dysfunctional team of astronauts who gain superhuman powers after being exposed to radiation when their space voyage goes awry. Chiklis plays the rock-like Thing, Alba plays the Invisible Woman, Iaon Gruffud plays elastic team leader Mr. Fantastic and Chris Evans plays the Human Torch. Nip/Tuck's Julian McMahon is their nemesis, Dr. Doom.
Fox announced its intentions for a Fantastic Fourth way back in 2003. But that was before Cruise's third Mission: Impossible movie stalled, giving him a chance to ramp up working with his Minority Report director. Spielberg in turn shelved plans for his long-in-development drama about the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
As recently as last month, Fox was sticking with a July 1 release for Fantastic Four, even including a trailer with the studio's Elektra that played on the Independence Day release ("On July Fourth...4th...5 people will be changed...forever...4-ever" went the tagline).
However, the stakes were raised when Paramount premiered its own 30-second teaser for War of the Worlds during Sunday's Super Bowl.
The move should help protect Fantastic Four from getting blown away, especially since its pedigree doesn't match War's. The superhero flick has a largely unknown cast--Chiklis and Alba are the biggest names--and a relatively untested director in Tim Story, whose previous credits include two comedies--the 2002 box-office surprise Barbershop and last year's woeful Taxi.
Fantastic Four will now go up against Sony's Bewitched, starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell (news), and Universal's thriller, Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson.
Meantime, Fox will now try and counter the onslaught of War of the Worlds by rolling out on Roll Bounce on July 1 in Fantastic's place. The comedy features pint-sized rapper Bow Wow
Fox isn't the only studio doing the Hollywood shuffle.
Sony has also pushed back the debut of its Jim Carrey (news)-Téa Leoni comedy remake Fun with Dick and Jane from June 25 to Dec. 21, according to the Hollywood Reporter, to try to repeat the success of Meet the Fockers, which grossed $70 million-plus over Christmas week and whose cumulative haul now stands at $265 million.
Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.
Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.
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Originally posted by: Han Solo VS Indiana Jones
And why would Daniel Day-Lewis even look at this script? He's never shown any interest in the fantastical stuff before, so why start now with a half-assed relaunch of the Superman movies? How could this guy who claims he can only do roles he feels he can totally devote himself to, who turned down the role of the brooding Aragorn in the Lord of the Ring movies, see any potential for real acting in this movie?
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Originally posted by: Han Solo VS Indiana Jones
And why would Daniel Day-Lewis even look at this script?
Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
Ah, so I see Daniel Day-Lewis is following the steps of Marlon Brando. He is already a legendary actor, all he needs to do now is to become bizarre and anoying.