‘Fantastic Four’ Director Josh Trank Gives His Own Movie a Mixed Review on Letterboxd

Ryan Lattanzio

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Josh Trank suffered a raw deal when his 2015 Marvel movie “Fantastic Four” failed explosively at the box office and earned a dismal 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the “Chronicle” director has emerged on Letterboxd to comment on his own movie — which he reviewed harshly on the cinephile platform.

“The movie is ALRIGHT,” Trank wrote in his two-star review of “Fantastic Four,” which was a reportedly disastrous production involving reshoots and on-set drama that spiraled out of control. “I was expecting it to be much worse than it was. I literally haven’t seen it since like two weeks before it came out, and I was in a heavily fucking traumatized state of mind. Why? Eh, save that for another time.

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“Anyway, movie review: Great cast. Everyone in the film is a great actor, and overall there is a movie in there, somewhere. And that cast deserves to be in THAT movie,” Trank said, referring to an ensemble including Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, and Tim Blake Nelson.

“Everyone who worked on Fant4stic clearly wanted to be making THAT movie. But…. ultimately… It wasn’t. Did I make that movie they deserved to be in? To be honest? I can’t tell.” Then things get ominous, as Trank hints at a loss of creative control over the Fox reboot that cost $155 million and grossed $168 million worldwide.

“What I can tell is there are TWO different movies in one movie competing to be that movie,” Trank wrote. “Is there a #releasethetrankcut? Doesn’t matter. I’m not Zack Snyder. Zack Snyder is a storied, iconic, legendary filmmaker who has been knocking it out of the fucking park since I was in high school. Me? Then? I was 29 years old, making my 2nd film, in a situation more complicated than anything a 2nd time filmmaker should’ve walked into. That said… I don’t regret any of it. It’s a part of me.”

At the time of the film’s August 2015 release, Trank briefly tweeted that he had a “fantastic version” of the film that “you’ll probably never see it.” He later took the tweet down. Earlier in 2015, Trank was dropped from helming a “Star Wars” movie, reportedly in the wake of his fractious behavior during the making of “Fantastic Four.” Trank has not released a movie since, but is currently in post-production on the Al Capone drama “Fonzo,” starring Tom Hardy as the legendary criminal. His 2012 found-footage superhero movie “Chronicle” was a huge hit that earned nearly $130 million.

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