The "Keep Hope Alive" (that the rights can revert back to Marvel) thread - Part 8

[Serpico Jones]

Who is that they're referring to? And who is Drew McWeeny?

Internet movie blogger. Longtime writer for AICN.

 

[justanotherguy]

well el mayimbe is on the case.

https://***********/elmayimbe/status/547523181498863616

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Drew McWeeny also hinted on his blog yesterday that Trank was fired. He praised the hiring of Justin Lin for Star Trek 3 because he was a veteran that the studio could trust not to go awol like another young director of a tent pole who is no longer accepting calls from the studio as they search for someone to take over for re shoots.

well el mayimbe is on the case.

https://***********/elmayimbe/status/547523181498863616

It appears we're approaching critical mass.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

Drew McWeeny also hinted on his blog yesterday that Trank was fired. He praised the hiring of Justin Lin for Star Trek 3 because he was a veteran that the studio could trust not to go awol like another young director of a tent pole who is no longer accepting calls from the studio as they search for someone to take over for re shoots.

LOL, good luck. It's not like anyone was lining up to direct this movie to begin with, they're not going to do it now and get saddled with this mess.

well el mayimbe is on the case.

https://***********/elmayimbe/status/547523181498863616

So that's Mayimbe, McWeeny, and maybe Faraci (if this is the "disturbing" news he's heard about that he won't expound on) that are more or less leading credence to the rumors of Trankgate from that forum.

 

[Eddie]

Drew McWeeny also hinted on his blog yesterday that Trank was fired. He praised the hiring of Justin Lin for Star Trek 3 because he was a veteran that the studio could trust not to go awol like another young director of a tent pole who is no longer accepting calls from the studio as they search for someone to take over for re shoots.

Just read the blog. If I had to put a dollar on it I'd say he was definitely talking about Fantastic Four. IIRC, he didn't directly address FF on Twitter, but he did retweet that Faraci tweet I brought up yesterday. I can't even think of another project he could be alluding to. Interesting to see the blind defense from the Fox fans if it's true.

Y'know, interesting in an aggravating sort of way.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Who is that they're referring to? And who is Drew McWeeny?

You might know him as Moriarty.

 

[Dark Raven]

I don't know how much of a difference Trank being fired will make to this movie though. He was always just a puppet of Fox. The only thing is that Fox won't be able to talk about the movie in a positive light about how Trank made this "great" movie called Chronicle and they wanted to do something similar here, because "it's Josh".

You might know him as Moriarty.

Where? In Sherlock?

 

[Serpico Jones]

The question I have is where is Matthew Vaughn in all of this? Did he just attach his name onto this movie for a paycheck?

 

[justanotherguy]

Vaughn is busy casting his next baby mama.

 

[Eddie]

The question I have is where is Matthew Vaughn in all of this? Did he just attach his name onto this movie for a paycheck?

DING DING DING! We have a winner.

Happens all the time. Stephen Chow attached his name to DBE. He had **** all to do with DBE and the cast didn't even meet him.

 

[marcvader]

I don't know how much of a difference Trank being fired will make to this movie though. He was always just a puppet of Fox. The only thing is that Fox won't be able to talk about the movie in a positive light about how Trank made this "great" movie called Chronicle and they wanted to do something similar here, because "it's Josh".



Where? In Sherlock?

Moriarty from Ain't it Cool News.

 

[JAK®]

I didn't have the highest hopes for another Fox-produced FF film, but I thought with the way the X-films have recently improved that there was a chance it could be good. I never expected this situation.

 

[marcvader]

So are things starting to come to a head?

 

[Eddie]

I didn't have the highest hopes for another Fox-produced FF film, but I thought with the way the X-films have recently improved that there was a chance it could be good. I never expected this situation.

The fine folks who rented Fox a home to house Josh Trank never expected it either, yet here we are.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I don't know how much of a difference Trank being fired will make to this movie though. He was always just a puppet of Fox. The only thing is that Fox won't be able to talk about the movie in a positive light about how Trank made this "great" movie called Chronicle and they wanted to do something similar here, because "it's Josh".

One big difference I see is something like this could very well be actionable for Marvel's attorneys.

There has to be some wording in the contract to ensure a competent effort by licensees when it comes to handling these characters. Firing a director and then scrambling to patch the film together in time for a release deadline has to violate the spirit of the agreement.

 

[Eddie]

So are things starting to come to a head?

It appears so. Say what you will about Latino Review, but they've had some legit scoops this year. El Mayimbe specifically referring to a director wrecking a house is pretty damning, especially when you consider Devin and Drew (also legit scoopers) implying the things they're implying.

I'm on allrecipes as we speak looking up recipes for Fox fanboy tears. I hear they're delicious.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

"But... but... there hasn't anything official released yet. It's all hearsay and speculation by geeks in a forum and no-name bloggers. Just something the fanboys would desperately cling to so they can continue their circle jerk of hatred."

I'm on allrecipes as we speak looking up recipes for Fox fanboy tears. I hear they're delicious.

Hater. I'm sick of your negativity blocking my constructive criticism and forcing me to hideout in the X-Men boards. I'm reporting you to the mods.

 

[Eddie]

I seriously considered trying to figure out which house Trank was using when that rumor first cropped up, but the Louisiana studio uses a few different housing providers, and they have tons of homes. Still, though, the potential companies are public knowledge. Quick, somebody, make a billion phone calls!

 

[Eddie]

"But... but... there hasn't anything official released yet. It's all hearsay and speculation by geeks in a forum and no-name bloggers. Just something the fanboys would desperately cling to so they can continue their circle jerk of hatred."



Hater. I'm sick of your negativity blocking my constructive criticism and forcing me to hideout in the X-Men boards. I'm reporting you to the mods.

I have it on good authority some of them want a few good tear recipes. Something that can go in a nice crock pot dip for the New Year.

 

[Dark Raven]

One big difference I see is something like this could very well be actionable for Marvel's attorneys.

There has to be some wording in the contract to ensure a competent effort by licensees when it comes to handling these characters. Firing a director and then scrambling to patch the film together in time for a release deadline has to violate the spirit of the agreement.

But is it that different from the latest Star Trek movie where Orci was fired and then they hired another director in time for the release in 2016? Of course, nothing was filmed with the new director yet, but then, nothing's been filmed with Josh Trank either.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

But is it that different from the latest Star Trek movie where Orci was fired and then they hired another director in time for the release in 2016? Of course, nothing was filmed with the new director yet, but then, nothing's been filmed with Josh Trank either.

Well, Orci didn't get high and trash private property.

 

[Eddie]

But is it that different from the latest Star Trek movie where Orci was fired and then they hired another director in time for the release in 2016? Of course, nothing was filmed with the new director yet, but then, nothing's been filmed with Josh Trank either.

Considering how close they allegedly were to the deadline with the rights situation, not having a director actively working on the film could make things very interesting. If a substantial amount needs to be re-filmed, an argument could possibly made that they really didn't meet the deadline.

Not getting my hopes to high for that particular scenario, but I am hoping this fiasco starts getting more attention. Fox could be an a scenario where simply holding the rights could become a volatile situation. Regardless of what they say, there is such a thing as bad publicity.

 

[Serpico Jones]

Well, Orci didn't get high and trash private property.

Instead he got drunk and wrote bad scripts.

 

[Dark Raven]

Well, Orci didn't get high and trash private property.

Maybe he trashed his own when he went back home to drown his sorrows.

Considering how close they allegedly were to the deadline with the rights situation, not having a director actively working on the film could make things very interesting. If a substantial amount needs to be re-filmed, an argument could possibly made that they really didn't meet the deadline.

Not getting my hopes to high for that particular scenario, but I am hoping this fiasco starts getting more attention. Fox could be an a scenario where simply holding the rights could become a volatile situation. Regardless of what they say, there is such a thing as bad publicity.

I'm wondering if we'll have a similar situation to Richard Lester and Richard Donner for Superman 2. Wouldn't a director who comes on board want to put his name on the film or have sole director credit? Otherwise the movie will have to say directed by Josh Trank and X Director. But in order to get sole director credit, he or she would have to refilm a certain percentage which would be a substantial amount, even if it's refilming the same thing exactly (which is what Lester did for some scenes).

Edgar Wright leaving as director from Ant-Man got some bad publicity but that was before anything was filmed but imagine the bad press for this movie. What are Fox going to say? At least with Marvel they had an out where it was easy to say that there were creative differences.

Here Trank has already completed the movie. Either they have to come out and say he was unprofessional about the whole thing, thereby bad mouthing him, or they have to make up some other crap to cover their asses. Whatever happens though, they'll still look like they had poor judgment in the first place for hiring Trank and then praising him for being this fantastic auteur director.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I'm wondering if we'll have a similar situation to Richard Lester and Richard Donner for Superman 2. Wouldn't a director who comes on board want to put his name on the film or have sole director credit? Otherwise the movie will have to say directed by Josh Trank and X Director. But in order to get sole director credit, he or she would have to refilm a certain percentage which would be a substantial amount, even if it's refilming the same thing exactly (which is what Lester did for some scenes).

Edgar Wright leaving as director from Ant-Man got some bad publicity but that was before anything was filmed but imagine the bad press for this movie. What are Fox going to say? At least with Marvel they had an out where it was easy to say that there were creative differences.

Here Trank has already completed the movie. Either they have to come out and say he was unprofessional about the whole thing, thereby bad mouthing him, or they have to make up some other crap to cover their asses. Whatever happens though, they'll still look like they had poor judgment in the first place for hiring Trank and then praising him for being this fantastic auteur director.

One interesting thing here is, according to the Moriarty report, he's 'not taking Fox's calls'.

If there's enough bad blood between Trank and Fox, that could become a legal issue in itself. Trank could potentially sue to prevent them from releasing a film that doesn't complete his artistic vision after he was the primary director.

If they try to attach his name to it, he could sue to prevent that. If they try to release it without his name on it, he could claim they're not giving him proper attribution. I can even imagine the DGA getting involved to make sure director's rights are protected and not trampled by studios who may choose to push director's aside and take over on future projects if Fox isn't stopped in this case.

Take a look at this for some food for thought: http://www.dga.org/Contracts/Creative-Rights.aspx

If he has the sort of ego he seems to have, he could make things difficult for Fox. I can imagine him throwing up legal blocks to them releasing this film. . . and with a deadline looming, simply taking this to court could prevent Fox from meeting their contractual obligations. Trank has some leverage to make Fox squirm if he chooses to.

This all could get very interesting.