In 2015, Fox released their Fantastic Four movie, a reboot with an all-new cast that attempted to take the comic book property in a more grounded and serious direction. However, the movie was plagued with production troubles and the version that ultimately hit theaters was essentially dead on arrival. The film was ridiculed by critics and moviegoers alike, and those close to production recognize that it was not as good as they were hoping it'd be. Jamie Bell, who played the Thing in the reboot, admits that he too was disappointed by the quality of the film.
There were several things on that movie I was clearly not privy to because I'm just an actor and I just do my stuff on set. But with something like that, everything starts with the best of intentions. A production begins with the idea to make something that's unique and original and with integrity. I think the film really strived towards those goals. I don't know what happened between the launch of the voyage and the arrival. I think we were all bitterly disappointed with that film. But that's just the way it goes sometimes.
Fantastic Four (orFant4stic, as some people like to call it on the internet) was intended to launch a new superhero franchise for Fox, but ended up forcing them to go back to the drawing board. Obviously when an actor signs on for a project, they have little idea how it will be received upon completion. Jamie Bell told the Los Angeles Times that he had hoped for better things from Fantastic Four. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie, and while Bell admires what they had tried to do with Fantastic Four, somewhere along the way things became muddled. But sometimes that's just the way the cookie (or rock man) crumbles, and the only thing you can do is move on to the next project.
True, Fantastic Four was not close to the success that Fox had been hoping for. With the strong cast of Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Bell, with the addition of up-and-coming director Josh Trank, hopes had been high -- though critics questioned the motivation for the reboot. Fox's rights for the Fantastic Four were close to going back to Marvel if they did not make another film with the property soon, which led to the fast tracked reboot. The movie went through heavily publicized reshoots, with rumors circulating about behind-the-scenes drama and quarrels between Josh Trank and the higher brass. Ultimately, Trank hammered the final nail himself with a tweet essentially denouncing the movie the night before it released.
Fox is still trying to figure out the Fantastic Four formula, but at least Jamie Bell has accepted his losses and moved on. You can next see him in the historical drama film 6 Days, which is in theaters right now.
