Simon Kinberg Says Fox Still Wants to Make Another Fantastic Four Movie

Simon Kinberg is all over the geek media landscape, as a writer and producer for Star Wars live [...]

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Simon Kinberg is all over the geek media landscape, as a writer and producer for Star Wars live action and animation, and the guy largely in charge of Fox's Marvel movie offerings. Well, at the X-Men: Apocalypse junket, Kinberg got asked about the future of the non-mutant Marvel characters in 20th Century Fox's bullpen.

"We didn't make a good movie," Kinberg told DenOfGeek about 2015's Fantastic Four. "The world voted, and I think they probably voted correctly. And you can't make a good movie every time out - not everybody does. We actually have a pretty good batting average, all things considered. But I think we made many mistakes when we made that movie - mistakes that we learned from and we wouldn't repeat."

"Wouldn't repeat" may sound like they still have plans for another, despite Fox taking the Fantastic Four Sequel off their production and release schedule, and that's the case, Kinberg says.

"We want to make another Fantastic Four movie. We love that cast," he said, calling out all four of the actors in the critical and box office flop. "I love the comic, I mean I love it almost as much as X-Men. We'll try to be truer to the essence of Fantastic Four, which is largely distinct from the X-Men, which is brighter, funner, more optimistic in tone."

The writer/producer said it was a mistake to "make a darker Fantastic Four movie" that ignored the "DNA of the comic."

Ultimately, it's hard to think how exactly 20th Century Fox would be able to market a Fantastic Four sequel that lived in the same universe and had the same cast. The film cost $120 million in production budget alone (not counting likely around 60 mil for promotion), and made $56 million at the US box office. It had a spectacularly low 9% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes, and unlike some low-rated films on the aggregator, the audience score reflected the same with only 19% liking it. Nevertheless, Kinberg thinks there's a way to save the franchise at Fox.

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