Seth Grahame-Smith joins 'Fantastic 4' Reboot

Will re-write the script for director Josh Trank

By Corwin Neuse Feb 26, 2013 10:08PM

Anybody who saw 2005's "Fantastic Four"—or worse, its 2007 sequel, "Rise of the Silver Surfer"—knows that rebooting said franchise is a dicey proposition at best. It's not just that the "Fantastic Four" is the least popular Marvel title outside of "Ghost Rider" or... Or that the first two flicks were so horribly botched that they soured the general public on the whole idea, possibly forever. It's just that... No, wait, it is those things.

So, we suppose that it can only help that Fox is stacking the deck for their forthcoming reboot, enlisting the help of all sorts of creative up-and-comers. First was "Chronicle" auteur Josh Trank, who will hopefully lend the project the same sense of realism, the accompanying heightened stakes, and the kinetic action that made that Dane DeHaan-starring flick so memorable. Then came producer Matthew Vaughn, late of "X-Men: First Class" and "Kick Ass." Now—according to The Hollywood Reporter—the latest to join the party is "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" scribe Seth Grahame-Smith.

Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the "Dark Shadows" remake for Tim Burton last year, will reportedly rewrite a script by Jeremy Slater. No word as yet whether the reboot will be another origin story, a la the first "Fantastic Four" or the recent "Amazing Spider-Man." Also yet to be seen? Which acting luminaries—or D-list nobodies, as the case ma be—Fox hires to play the titular foursome, now possibly the fourth or fifth most popular superhero team in moviedom. More details as they become available...

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7Comments

Best

Feb 27, 2013 8:33PM

Oh, and having the writer from "Dark Shadows" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" pen the script gives me NO HOPE at all!!!!! Both of those movies, especially the Lincoln one, were god awful!

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rusrock

Feb 27, 2013 8:30PM

The Fantastic Four has so much to draw upon from it's 50 year run with Marvel. The "out of the box" creativity Stan Lee and Jack Kirby infused in that book in its heyday should be a gauranteed hit on the big screen. But Fox allowed miscasting (Jessica Alba as Sue Storm????, a lame version of Doom, Michael Chiklas-who made a credible Ben Grimm- but as the Thing in a rubber suit?????, Johnny Storm was cast perfectly but now he's Capt. America) and horrible script writing derail a sure-fire franchise. Hope they have better luck the second time around.

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the Ab

Feb 27, 2013 2:18PM

It's hard for this franchise to hit any lower. I'm just hoping they do a better job with "Thing" this time around. After all the advancements in visual effects and CG, there HAS to be a better way to visualize the character than a rubber suit that looks like...a rubber suit....yeesh

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Orpheus

Feb 27, 2013 1:17PM

Seriously? The one responsible for the debacle known as "Dark Shadows" is in this mix??!!! Dr. Doom couldn't do as much harm to the Fantastic 4 as this.

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Mikestwin

Feb 27, 2013 1:05PM

Dark Shadows sucked. If Grahame-Smith does for FF what he did for Collins then it's bye-bye to the "World's Greatest Comic".