The strip on the HT looks dumb, would look better is it was just the 4
heres a very reassuring interview!
***It sounds like from what Avi Arad and director Tim Story have said, you?re trying to do this treatment of ?Fantastic Four? the way the public deserves to have it done.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: That?s what it is all about. I - I think among us - was the fan of and the most aware of the ?Fantastic Four? growing up. Of course, that makes me the oldest (laughing). You know, I really truly was a fan and I think that we?re all aware of how rabid the fans are, how aware they are of every nuance and every aspect of this ? more familiar than we are about it. I?m a fan. Like I said downstairs in the press conference, I thought I was a fan until you come here and you realize people can quote just about every episode number. It?s taken to an extreme so, you know, I think we all feel the weight of it. But at the same time, we?re so thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in it that we?re just going to have a blast and we?re going to do it right and enjoy it.
***Jessica, can you talk about your character and the aspect of her being the peacemaker of the group? She?s always trying to mediate fights between Ben and Johnny.
JESSICA ALBA: Yeah, The Thing and Johnny - and keep Ben from strangling his best friend for making him the way he is, and from Doom, you know, becoming a maniacal, evil bad guy. She keeps trying to keep everybody together. She just wants everyone to be okay. It seems like when she?s trying to do that, everyone is so caught up in their problems that?s when she disappears. And so it?s very metaphorical. I love it. I?m not that familiar with the comic book and I read the script, and it?s just great. It?s just about family and it?s so hopeful. With so many families breaking up and with so many people so quick to sue people and to go and fight and go to war and do all these things, this is just about solving problems.
***What was it that the producers and director saw in you that related to your character?
IOAN GRUFFUDD: I?m a mathematical genius (laughter). Gosh, I don?t know.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I?m a thug that you want to hide from.
***They had so many people to choose from for these roles. Why do you think they chose you?
IOAN GRUFFUDD: I don?t know. I think getting to know each other a little bit today and you getting to see us today, we?re sort of down to earth people. And I think that?s the main attraction of these characters, that they are real people and you can associate with them. They?re just in these incredible situations. I think that?s the main attraction and possibly we?d like to think we?ve been cast because of that.
***What was it that the producers and director saw in you that related to your character?
IOAN GRUFFUDD: I?m a mathematical genius (laughter). Gosh, I don?t know.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I?m a thug that you want to hide from.
***Did you test together for "Fantastic Four" or did you meet for the first time pretty recently?
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: The latter.
JESSICA ALBA: We [meaning she and Michael] actually met at an award shows. We presented together. And then I met [Ioan] at a hotel bar.
***Is that a scandal?
JESSICA ALBA: (Laughing) No, with the director. He was doing press for ?King Arthur? and he was in the middle of all his stuff.
I honestly didn?t know that this was going to happen because I so easily get typecast as the kick-ass girl or the hot girl or whatever kind of thing ? half-naked in this or that. And this is really who I am. I am a problem solver. I?ve been working since I was 12. I come from a really big family and I?m the oldest of 14 cousins, and we all live in Southern California. So I?ve always had to mediate. And I think when I sat down with Tim [Story], he kind of saw that that?s my nature.
***There are no secret identities in ?Fantastic Four.? Will the nature of celebrity be explored?
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: That?s a very different thing than any of them. We become discovered.
JESSICA ALBA: And what?s great is Johnny Storm, he acts as every pop star young guy who?s in the Star magazine, in the People magazine, the US Weekly, who gets a bunch of money and the cars.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: He relishes it.
JESSICA ALBA: He loves it and he?s living out the fantasy of every pop star/"American Idol"-wannabe guy. [Reed?s] the scientist and he doesn?t really...
IOAN GRUFFUDD: I?m [wracked] with guilt.
JESSICA ALBA: Yeah, he doesn?t capitalize on the fame thing. I think actually Ben Grimm has a very difficult time with it.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I?m the one who looks at it as a malady. She?s still gorgeous but she can knock people down with this force field. She can disappear. He can stretch himself but he?s still the handsome, dashing cad (laughter). I?m this leper. And then when I? I don?t want to give anything away, but I?m dealing with a sense of betrayal in this picture, as well, because I wanted to believe. That?s one of the great things that?s written about this. You have Dr. Doom who?s trying to create a wedge between the relationships of the Fantastic Four, particularly [Reed] and I and causing mistrust and a feeling of betrayal. And it?s like Jessica said, it?s about overcoming that and those feelings and coming together as a core. And then obviously the ultimate metaphor is as a core, as a family, overcoming evil.
***Will you be throwing a couch?
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I?ll be throwing all kinds of things. I have a really cool moment with a lamppost in this movie. You know it?s one of those things as an actor ? and I know you guys are going to hook up to this ? where you read the [script] and you go, ?Oh cool honey, I get to do this!? You know what I mean? Like there?s? No, I can?t tell.
***Oh, go ahead.
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: There?s so many moments where I?m reading it going, ?Oh, that?s awesome!? It?s really well-written, I have to say.
JESSICA ALBA: It really is.
***Will your character have a blind girlfriend?
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: Yes, yes. And I don?t know who she is yet and I can?t wait to meet her (laughing).
***When does this start for you guys?
JESSICA ALBA: In a month.
***Did you have to prepare physically for this?
MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I?m training like a freak, personally. (Laughing) I need to trim down at the waist and bulk up at the [chest]. I?m hitting it big time.
<font color="#dedfdf" size="1">[ July 26, 2004 01:58 PM: Message edited by: TrueHorror ]</font>
The strip on the HT looks dumb, would look better is it was just the 4
I dunno where those costumes that were painted on the photos came from, but that manip looks at least interesting.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">they were just a fans design. I prefer the costumes with the blue and navy blue color scheme and would like the movie to reflect that color scheme with the UFF style costume.Originally posted by Mr. Bungle:
I dunno where those costumes that were painted on the photos came from, but that manip looks at least interesting.
Blue with black gloves and trim are the best outfits. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
These:
<font color="#dedfdf" size="1">[ July 26, 2004 03:24 PM: Message edited by: Mr. Bungle ]</font>
YUP!
Sounds awesome.
SHH tells about the panel:
-------------------------------------------------
The F4 panel consisted of Avi Arad (Producer), Ralph Winter (Producer), Tim Story (Director), Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm), and Michael Chiklis (Ben Grim)...who came out proudly displaying a Marvel Legends "Thing" figure.
The panel didn't go on for too long, somewhere in the ballpark of 30min, but here are a few key points that were brought up during the discussion...
- The production team has already completed designs for the costumes that the F4 will wear during the movie. Tim Story and Avi Arad were both quoted as saying "these are VERY COOL designs that we think you'll all like...a cross between the early Kirby designs, and the new Ultimate books."
- Tim Story said that The Thing WILL NOT be entirely done in CGI like The Hulk. He said that he doesn't want his actors to constantly have to interact with props, he wants the heart of Chiklis' Ben Grimm to really show through the tough exterior of The Thing, and the only way to do that is to have Chiklis actually there as The Thing. He also went on to say that Chiklis would be in the makeup chair, and would be in full "Thing gear" whenever possible....other shots would of course be CGI, but either way you will really get a feel for The Things power.
- Chiklis said "I can't wait for you guys to see what they've come up with for The Thing...it's so amazing...I wish you would see it right now!". He went on to say that unlike The Hulk, he would be in the make up chair for "many, many hours". To prepare right now, he is reading to his children with his "Thing teeth" in his mouth to practice sounding out different words.
- Tim Story added that ontop of the designs for the F4, the look they've decided on for Dr. Doom was "awesome." Story said that in keeping with the original look, it is much more "sinister" looking, which he said was fitting for one of the greatest villains of all time.
- One fan asked if Dr. Doom's real name would be "Victor Von Doom" (like it is in the original books), or Victor Van Damme (like it is in the Ultimate F4 books). Tim Story replied by saying "our characters name is Victor VON DOOM"....the crowd seemed to like that a lot.
- Ioan Gruffudd said that although he wasn't a fan of the original F4 books, he has been reading A LOT of them in order to get a better feel for exactly who Reed Richards is, and how he goes from being a brilliant scientist to the leader of the F4. Jessica, and Michael also added that they have been reading the F4 books to better prepare for their roles.
- Avi Arad and Tim Story both said that the set for the Baxter Building is "simply amazing."
- A fan asked if they had found their Dr. Doom yet, to which Tim Story replied "you'll be hearing an announcement in about a week"...no hints as to who it is other than that "the fans will be pleased."
- Ralph Winter, Avi Arad, and Tim Story addressed the question of whether or not the story would be based on the classic books or the new Ultimate books by saying..."both are great books, the classic has so much heart and feeling to it, while the new Ultimate book gives the story a fresh new feeling, and brings it into today's setting"...basically it'll be a mix of both.
No footage was shown (since there isn't any), and no designs were unveiled, but you could see Avi Arad wearing a "Fantastic 4" hat with a new "updated" logo...no word on if this was the official or not. The logo was very simple, think Spider-Man the Movie style writing with the number 4 being punched out of a circle.
- Avi Arad did mention that F4 was initially supposed to come out before Blade, Spider-Man, X-Men...etc, but due to some "problems" that obviously didn't happen. He said he is glad they waited since their goal is to present the F4 the in a way we all would expect..."with Fantastic FX!"
Overall the panel was good. Production is set to begin in the next few weeks over in Vancouver for a summer 2005 release date. Everyone seemed very excited about the movie, and their respective roles, but the absolute best part of the entire panel was when Michael Chiklis came out (with figure in hand) and said "It's clobberin' time!"...the voice sounded great, and the fans went NUTS! (myself included).
I don't know if it would be a good choice or not, but I would cream my pants if Christopher Walken was Doom.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I doubt it will beat Spider-Man 2 or X-2Originally posted by Peter Hoffman:
This just may turn out to be the greatest comic movie ever.
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