It was less than two weeks ago that the news first broke of Fox’s plans to reboot The Fantastic Four film series; after the mid-level response to the 2005 film, and the outright distain earned by it’s ’07 sequel Rise of The Silver Surfer; but it seems as if those plans are already gathering steam, as rumours of both possible directors, and cast members, are already starting to crop up.
On the directing front, those rumoured to be in with a chance of helming the reboot of this Marvel comic-book franchise are James McTeigue (director of Ninja Assassin), Joe Carnahan (who’s recently proven his talent for producing flashy summer popcorn flicks with the A-Team movie), and David Yates (the man behind the two latest Harry Potter films), although as of yet none of the three seem to be edging in front of the pack, and as the film is still in the embryonic stages of pre-production there’s always the possibility that another unexpected director may step in and raise it as his own.
And while we’ve previously reported that both Adrien Brody (Predators) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Shelter) are being considered for the part of Reed Richards (the stretchy leader of the group, who’s also known as Mr. Fantastic), alongside possibly Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) or Amber Heard (The Stepfather) as Reed’s wife Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), the latest rumours concern the other two members of the group; Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm.
The latest name to be put forward for the role of Johnny Storm; the Human Torch that was previously played by Chris Evans (who will still be popping up in the Marvel universe, as Captain America, next year); is none other than Stephen Moyer, who’s best known for playing Bill the vampire on HBO’s True Blood; a solemn character who’s the complete opposite of the brash, and human, Johnny Storm; but is a name that comes almost as unexpectedly as Bruce Willis (Surrogates); who may be next in line to play the final member of the superhero troupe, Ben Grimm.
Grimm; aka The Thing; was previously portrayed by The Shield’s Michael Chiklis, and is the stand-out member of the group; seen as how he has grown significantly in size, and had his skin has turn into a permanently orange rock; and is a character that Fox are reportedly very keen to see played by Bruce Willis.
There’s no word from Willis either way on this one as of yet, although it’s far from the sort of part he usually takes (as evident by his last big-screen appearance; as CIA agent ‘Church’ in The Expendables), but may prove to be attractive, as the studio plans to recreate The Thing entirely in CG; meaning that he could potentially earn a fairly large wage, for only a couple of days voice work, and a short amount of pre-orange filming.
While at this stage, pretty much everything, except the news that reboot is moving ahead, is an unconfirmed rumour that’s subject to change at any time, and there’s no details on the film’s plot or shooting schedule as yet, although the new Fantastic Four movie has definitely been scheduled for release at an as yet unconfirmed date in 2013.
