Update: Fantastic 4 issues legit and led to Trank getting canned from Star Wars

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Inside a 'Star Wars' Firing: 'Fantastic Four' Problems Led to Director Josh Trank's Ouster


Indeed, producers on Fantastic Four, set for release July 30, are said to have faced great challenges pulling the film together given behavior described by one insider as “erratic” and at times “very isolated.” Trank did not offer clear direction, this person adds, saying, "If you've got someone who can't answer questions or who isn't sure or is in hiding, that's not good."

A Fox spokesman says the studio is “very happy with the movie and we can’t wait for audiences to see it” but acknowledges, “There were definitely some bumps in the road.”

Among those bumps: Trank has several small dogs who were left in a rented house in New Orleans while the film was shooting there. According to sources, as much as $100,000 worth of damage was done to the property. A source says the production considers any destruction of the property to be Trank's responsibility.

Citing Trank’s work on the 2012 found-footage superhero movie Chronicle, an insider says: “No question there’s talent there. You can’t do Chronicle by accident.” But Trank seemed “like one of these kids who comes to the NBA with all the talent and none of the character-based skills to handle it. There’s equipment he doesn’t yet have.”

According to sources, Trank was sometimes indecisive and uncommunicative. Producers Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker had to step in to help pull the film together, though sources stress that Trank was still on set and directing the film. (Were that not the case, the production could have run afoul of the Directors Guild of America.)

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The studio made the announcement with Trank on Friday.

Sources close to the situation tell Variety that Trank and screenwriter Simon Kinberg weren’t thrilled with the idea of working together again. The duo apparently clashed while filming 20th Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four” reboot, which opens later this summer, and Kinberg wanted another director.

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As for Trank’s next move, a rep for 20th Century Fox told Variety that no director or writer has been set for the “Fantastic Four” sequel. Starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan, the new “Fantastic Four” will be released Aug. 7.

A spokesman for Trank could not be reached for comment.

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