I wasn't sure where to post it so feel free to merge it with another thread.
Attention, the following text could contain SPOILER!
Maestro
Attention, the following text could contain SPOILER!
Regards,Production Notes
The Fantastic Four meet their greatest challenge yet in FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As he races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery before all hope is lost. FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER is the second installment of the live-action film series based on what fans around the globe know as The Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine. Fantastic Four" directed by Tim Story and released in the summer of 2005, had a worldwide theatrical gross of $330 million and became one of Twentieth Century Foxs most successful DVD titles ever.
For FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, an intriguing element is added to the cast of characters of the 2005 hit the Silver Surfer. Academy Award® winning visual effects house Weta Digital (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong), working with the films visual effects supervisor Scott Squires (a three-time Oscar® nominee whose credits include Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace), created the ultimate computer-generated Silver Surfer, which will be true to the Marvel Comics character beloved by fans worldwide. Weta developed an advanced CG process to bring added dimensionality to the character. Doug Jones provided character and movement references for the digital wizards at Weta.
The Silver Surfer joins the returning family of superheroes from the Marvel Comics universe, including Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, who can stretch and contort his body into any shape he can imagine and, as the groups leader, is known as Mister Fantastic; Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, who is able to render herself invisible and to create and project powerful force fields as Invisible Woman; Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, known as The Human Torch, who can engulf his body in flames and take flight at will; and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm, whose freakish transmutation into a rock-like, superhumanly strong creature led him to be called The Thing. Julian McMahon reprises his Fantastic Four role as the Fours steely-eyed, iron-fisted nemesis, Dr. Doom. Kerry Washington is back as Bens love interest, the blind sculptress Alicia Masters.
Recent Emmy®-winner Andre Braugher joins the cast as General Hager, a tough Army official who seeks the Fours help in combating a global menace, and Beau Garrett, who appeared in Fox Atomics debut film Turistas, plays the generals aide, Captain Raye. And Oscar-nominee Laurence Fishburne, whose many credits include The Matrix and Mystic River, voices the Silver Surfer.
Fantastic Four helmer Tim Story returns, along with producers Ralph Winter, Avi Arad and Bernd Eichinger. The screenplay is by four-time Emmy winner Don Payne, a co-executive producer on The Simpsons, and noted author and screenwriter Mark Frost, who co-scripted Fantastic Four.
Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Scott Squires, who worked closely with Weta in creating the Silver Surfer, also supervised many of the films other state-of-the-art effects, including enhanced powers for the Four; mile-long, perfectly-smooth craters the handiwork of the Surfer; and the creation of Galactus (also known as The World Destroyer), another character long-known to comics fans as a being of incredible power and scale. It was a delicate balance meeting the comics fans expectations for the look of Galactus, and making him truly spectacular and cinematic to those not familiar with the character, says Squires.
In 2005, movie audiences worldwide were introduced to the Fantastic Four, the fabulous quartet of superheroes that have captivated comic book readers since their 1961 debut in Marvel Comics Fantastic Four #1, created by Marvel legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Headquartered in the world famous Baxter Building in New York City, the Fantastic Four are dedicated to the betterment of the world through scientific discovery and defense against evil.
With FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, the filmmakers are able to expand the scope of the first film and introduce new characters, and new adventures, for the worlds premiere superhero team.
Director Tim Story explains: Weve got a new character coming to the scene, the Silver Surfer, who is one of the coolest comic book characters of all time. So weve upped the ante with bigger stunts, more action, and more CGI characters and situations.
With the origin story firmly established, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER screenwriter Don Payne, a lifelong fan of the Fantastic Four comics, set out to take the next step with the series. I wanted this movie to be the rare sequel thats better than the original -- with more excitement, more drama, more humor, more action, Payne says. I also really wanted to explore where the characters are at this point in their lives. Theyre much better off financially, but theyre dealing with the downside of celebrity. Sue and Reed are moving on and trying to get married. Ben and Alicia are enjoying being a happy couple, while Johnnys got his own issues. So there are exciting things happening with characters and relationships. But most of all, Im excited about the dimension added by the Silver Surfer.
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER draws from an amalgamation of storylines from the Fantastic Four comic books, as well as new story developments and characters. The movie draws from the first appearance of the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four #48-50, says Payne. But were also using story elements from Fantastic Four #57-60, where the Silver Surfer encounters Dr. Doom. There are a couple of moments inspired by the recent Ultimate Extinction series as well.
The films main centerpiece from which the story unfolds is the sensational Wedding of the Century. Familiar to generations of comic book fans, the wedding between Reed Richards and Sue Storm, first depicted in Fantastic Four King Size Annual #3 in 1965, is the comic worlds equivalent to the historic wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Di.
But wedding plans ultimately go awry with the introduction of the Silver Surfer, when mysterious and destructive anomalies start appearing across the Earth and the Fantastic Four are called into action.
The Silver Surfer, the Sky-Rider of the Spaceways, made his debut on the pages of Fantastic Four #48 in 1966. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at the early stages of the 1960s counterculture explosion, the Silver Surfer soon became a mainstay of Marvel Comics, appearing regularly in the pages of the Fantastic Four, and eventually launching his own self-titled series.
The Silver Surfer, whose real name is Norrin Radd, is revered as one of the noblest and most tormented cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe. With his cosmic-powered board, he can absorb and manipulate the universes ambient cosmic energies.
I think the appeal of the Silver Surfer is that hes a complex, tragic character, says Don Payne. Hes got a Zen-like detachment from the world, but he still feels compassion. Hes heroic, having basically sacrificed his own life to serve Galactus in order to save his planet and the woman he loved. However, in doing so, hes also bringing about the destruction of other worlds and species -- so theres a real moral ambiguity to him. He looks at the world and humanity through an outsiders perspective, which people find fascinating.
We try to stay as close as possible to the Silver Surfer from the pages of the comic book, Tim Story adds. Technically, whats been great about this experience with the Surfer is, because hes a CGI character, were able to create him from scratch, meaning I can sculpt him to look exactly like the comic book character. Our Silver Surfer is the Surfer we all know and love. So I think the fans and everyone whos familiar with this character will appreciate that hes going to be living and breathing exactly how theyve always known him to be.
Fantastic Four saw the apparent demise of the Fours arch-villain, the tyrant Victor Von Doom, who was encased in a shipping container and exported back to his fictional home country of Latveria. Its a fantasy movie so characters can come and go, and die and resurrect, Ralph Winter explains about Dooms return. Doom has figured out how to come back. Hell be interacting with everyone; still making eyeballs at Sue, still trying to denigrate Reed and thinking that hes better than Surfer. Hes going to try and grab everything he can for himself.
For the first time Victor and the Fantastic Four must actually work together to achieve a specific goal, says Tim Story. At the end of the day well see that you can never trust Victor Von Doom. He always has an ulterior motive.
The plot and backdrop of FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER also reflect the global scope of the Fantastic Four. Whereas the first film was set entirely in the Fantastic Fours home base of New York City, the follow-up takes place on the international stage. Screenwriter Don Payne explains: Its significant because the Fantastic Four are facing a global threat -- not just a threat to themselves or New York, but to the entire world. Were painting on a much larger canvas.
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(FOX)
Maestro