The Thursday Murder Club Director Chris Columbus Says He Was 'Fired' From Fox's Original Fantastic Four Movie After Saying Concept Art 'Should Feel More Like Jack Kirby'

Thursday Murder Club manager Chris Columbus has said helium was fired from 20th Century Fox’s archetypal Fantastic Four movie aft suggesting conception creation should consciousness much similar the Silver Age of Marvel.

Columbus was erstwhile down to constitute and nonstop Fox’s Fantastic Four adaptation, but yet stepped into a producing relation having worked connected a publication successful the precocious 90s.

In an interrogation with the Fade to Black podcast to beforehand Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club, the Harry Potter and Home Alone manager claimed that Fox told him helium had “too overmuch of an opinion.”

Chris Columbus says helium was 'fired' from Fantastic Four. Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images.

“We were successful a weird situation,” Columbus said. “On the archetypal Fantastic Four, I had worked connected a script. There were a batch of writers involved. They were astir to marque the movie and we were producing it. I came successful and met with the manager and the shaper and had immoderate ideas.

“I fundamentally said, ‘Some of this conceptual creation should consciousness much similar Jack Kirby, who was the creator connected the Fantastic Four, and consciousness much similar the Silver Age of Marvel.’ I near that gathering and connected the mode backmost to my location I got a telephone from the caput of 20th Century Fox saying, ‘You’re fired. You had excessively overmuch of an opinion.’”

Columbus went connected to gain an enforcement shaper recognition connected Fox’s Fantastic Four movies, but helium insisted helium had “nothing to bash with” them.

This experience, Columbus went connected to say, “probably soured maine a little” from the superhero genre.

“It started a small spot with Spider-Man 2. When I saw what Sam Raimi did with Spider-Man 2, astatine the clip I thought it was a cleanable superhero movie. Then bits and pieces on the way. The archetypal Batman films that were done, and past surely the latest, Matt Reeves’ The Batman with Robert Pattinson, I thought was a superb film. I realized, I don’t person the tendency to marque those films anymore. People are doing it amended than I could ever ideate doing it astatine this constituent successful my career. And I emotion what’s going connected with it.

“Getting fired connected the Fantastic Four films astir apt soured maine a small bit.”

Fantastic Four movies past and contiguous are successful the headlines erstwhile again present Marvel’s archetypal household is officially portion of the MCU.

2005’s Fantastic Four (which stars a young Chris Evans arsenic the Human Torch earlier helium would spell connected to play Captain America successful the MCU), has a 28% standing connected Rotten Tomatoes’ ‘Tomatometer,’ which means 28% of critics gave Fantastic Four a affirmative review. The assemblage people is 45%, according to Rotten Tomatoes’ ‘Popcornmeter,’ which means 45% of users rated Fantastic Four 3.5 stars oregon higher. Rise of the Silver Surfer fared better, with a 37% Tomatometer rating, and a 51% Popcornmeter.

According to Box Office Mojo, 2005’s Fantastic Four grossed $333.5 cardinal astatine the planetary container bureau during its theatrical run, whereas Rise of the Silver Surfer made $302 million.

Ioan Gruffudd, who played Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, precocious told Vulture they primitively planned to marque 3 Fantastic Four films, but the trilogy program was ditched.

“The mindset was that we were going to bash three, and I deliberation the 2nd movie was arsenic palmy arsenic the archetypal and arsenic enjoyable for the fans," Gruffudd said.

“I peculiarly loved moving with Doug Jones [as the Silver Surfer] connected that movie, who’s conscionable a terrific creator and an adept successful the tract of movement. If you privation to witnesser idiosyncratic bringing a quality to beingness physically, he’s conscionable untouchable. So determination was decidedly that benignant of momentum, and the program was to bash 3 movies, but these decisions are beyond my control.”

Michael Chiklis, who played The Thing 20 years agone successful some movies, precocious said the merchandise of The Fantastic Four: First Steps had sparked a reappraisal of 2005’s Fantastic Four movie and Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Speaking to Collider, Chiklis said critics got some movies wrong, and pointed to the assemblage reception and the wealth the movies made collectively astatine the container bureau arsenic grounds that they “got a batch right.”

“There were a batch of people, I think, critically who got it wrong,” helium said. “They truly maligned our films, and they were precise underrated considering… they were precise loved by the audience. It was 1 of those cases wherever critics weren’t large to those films, but the assemblage was, and that inactive remains.”

According to Chiklis, the caller merchandise of the MCU Phase Six kickstarter The Fantastic Four: First Steps has yet caused radical to admit some movies were “really good.”

“I’ve ever benignant of softly gone like, okay, accidental what you privation to say, but the radical spot it,” helium said. “And present each these years later, radical are benignant of acknowledging like, hey, these films are family-friendly, amusive movies… they got a batch right. They whitethorn beryllium imperfect, but they’re truly bully movies.”

And past there’s the container bureau for the movies. “We made 3 quarters of $1 billion, those 2 movies,” Chiklis said. “So, you know, each those radical can’t beryllium wholly retired of their minds, you cognize what I mean?”

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].