Boy, oh boy. Lots of movies bomb. Lots of blockbuster productions come out and quickly vanish. Lots of great ideas get misfired. Lots of terrible ideas come out, and are confirmed to be terrible. These things happen all the time. What doesn’t typically happen is when the folks involved with those productions each takes turns taking a dump on them. In the months since Fantastic Four was released, the film’s director and members of the cast like Kate Mara, have publicly thrown shade on Fox’s failed reboot. Well, now we can add Doctor Doom into the mix.
Actor Toby Kebbell, who played the seminal Fantastic Four villain, gave a frank assessment on what was at stake for him in a chat with IGN. He started by stating that he absolutely agrees with the fan base, who thrashed the film when it came out this summer.
“I was disappointed, but the fans aren’t wrong. The fans want what they want to see and if they don’t get satisfaction, they let you know. I appreciate that as a performer.”
From here, though, Kebbell really shed some light on what it was like to be an actor in the middle of such a troubled production. This is a perspective that isn’t discussed much, but it’s fascinating to put yourselves in the shoes of someone in their position.
“I don’t know if I learned anything from [playing] Doom, apart from, perhaps, when I see something I don’t agree with, to voice that immediately. As an actor, you’re conscious that your career is at stake with each job, especially on these larger productions. A film like that comes out, and I’m being sent maybe four scripts in a week, and those scripts go to zero when it doesn’t come out successful, so that actively affects my career. I think it’s vitally important that if there’s a problem on set, that it’s voiced and we solve it there and I think that collaboration is very important. Not to say that didn’t happen on set, but the collaboration is vital and if we don’t do that, then we suffer.”
This, of course, isn’t the first time this has happened, where a major blockbuster gets bogged down by a terribly troubled production. Many films have dealt with troubled productions, extensive reshoots, and overhauled scripts, and have overcome those odds. World War Z, The Bourne Ultimatum, and even Mad Max: Fury Road come to mind (though, thankfully, that last one didn’t require much a script). Fantastic Four, clearly, wasn’t able to overcome those odds. And it sounds like Kebbell hopes it doesn’t put much of a dent into his career’s prospects.
What do you think of Kebbell’s comments?
SOURCE: IGN