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[[File:Ffour.jpg|thumb|215px|Official poster used for promotion]]
{{InfoboxFound
{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW5rLyzFWJM|320x240|right|The film in its entirety|frame}}
|title=<center>The Fantastic Four (1994)</center>
'''The Fantastic Four''' is an unreleased low-budget feature film completed in 1994. It was produced by Roger Corman (famous for his low-budget productions) and Bernd Eichinger (who also produced another Fantastic Four movie in 2005). The film was based on the popular comic book by Marvel Comics and featured the origin of the Fantastic Four and their first battle with the evil Doctor Doom and a mysterious Mole Man-like creature.
|image=Ffour.jpg
|imagecaption=Official poster used for promotion.
|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|datefound=''Unknown''
|foundby=''A dubbing company (possibly Lightning Dubs)''
}}
'''''The Fantastic Four''''' is a low-budget feature film which completed in 1994 but never saw an official release. It was produced by Roger Corman (famous for his low-budget productions) and Bernd Eichinger (who also produced another ''Fantastic Four'' movie in 2005 and its 2007 sequel ''Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''). The film was based on the popular comic book series of the same name by Marvel Comics and featured the origin of the Fantastic Four and their first battle with the evil Doctor Doom and a mysterious Mole Man-like creature.


==Production==
==Production==
Production began on December 28th, 1992, under music video director Oley Sassone.<ref>[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/remembering-first-fantastic-four-movie-812516 The Hollywood Reporter's article on the film's production.] Retrieved 12 Aug '18</ref> Storyboards were drawn by artist Pete Von Sholly. The 25-day production was shot on the Concorde Pictures soundstage in Venice, California, as well as in Agoura, California for a spacecraft crash scene, the Loyola Marymount campus for a lab explosion scene, and the former Pacific Stock Exchange building in downtown Los Angeles for team meeting scenes.


Production began on December 28, 1992, under music video director Oley Sassone. Storyboards were drawn by artist Pete Von Sholly. The 25-day production was shot on the Concorde Pictures soundstage in Venice, California, as well as in Agoura, California for a spacecraft crash scene, the Loyola Marymount campus for a lab explosion scene, and the former Pacific Stock Exchange building in downtown Los Angeles for team meeting scenes.
===Release Plans and Cancellation===
A 1993 magazine article gave a tentative release date of Labor Day weekend 1993. That summer, trailers ran in theatres and on the VHS tapes of the movie ''Carnosaur''. Cast members promoted the film at a clips-screening at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and at the San Diego Comic-Con International. By this time, the world premiere was announced to take place at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 19th, 1994, with proceeds from the event earmarked for the charities Ronald McDonald House and the Children's Miracle Network.  


==Release Plans and Cancellation==
Producer Bernd Eichinger later announced that the film would not be released. Following the announcement of the cancellation of the film's release, a rumor spread that the studio intended this version of the ''Fantastic Four'' to be the film equivalent of an ashcan copy: they had the legal rights to create a film based on the ''Fantastic Four'', but they were not ready to produce a big-budget film. However, they needed to produce something or else they would lose the legal right to the characters. According to this narrative, the studio allegedly misled everyone involved in the making of the film by letting them believe it was going to be a genuine release rather than a way to maintain their license on the property. Producer Roger Corman has since stated he agrees with this narrative. 


1993 magazine article gave a tentative release date of Labor Day weekend 1993. That summer, trailers ran in theaters and on the VHS tapes of the movie Carnosaur. Cast members promoted the film at a clips-screening at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and at the San Diego Comic-Con International. By this time, the world premiere was announced to take place at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 19, 1994, with proceeds from the event earmarked for the charities Ronald McDonald House and the Children's Miracle Network. Producer Bernd Eichinger later announced that the film would not be released. Following the announcement of the cancellation of the film's release, a rumor spread that the studio intended this version of the Fantastic Four to be the film equivalent of an ashcan copy: they had the legal rights to create a film based on the Fantastic Four, but they were not ready to produce a big budget film. However, they needed to produce something or else they would lose the legal right to the characters. Apparently, the studio misled everyone involved in the making of this film by letting them believe it was going to be a genuine release rather than a way to maintain their license on the property. Producer Roger Corman has since confirmed that this was indeed the case. The film was eventually leaked onto YouTube.
Some cast and crew imply Corman had the power to retain control over the film, but chose not to. Corman seemed to sign off, and financially profit from the sale of the movie to producers Avi Arad and Bernd Eichinger, including all the original film stock, way after the alleged conspiracy against the film took place.  Corman has since called the pirated release of the movie a, "theft". The director of the film, Oley Sassone, claims Corman consciously leveraged the existence of a finished film for purely financial reasons, and without much concern for anything else.  


==Plot==
The star of the film, Alex Hyde-White, has stated in interviews that he doesn't buy the "myth" that the film was never intended to be released from the onset.  He calls such claims a conspiracy theory looking for a simple answer to a complex situation.  Hyde-White suggests Avi Arad was the only person proven to have hostility toward the film. He also suggests there was a 'fork in the road' at some point about the film's release. He further suggests the aggressive campaign by cast and crew to market the film without the studio's blessing was the ultimate catalyst for the studio's decision not to release the film. Many former cast and crew saw the movie as a "major break", and a way to boost their resume, and so they took money out of their own pocket to improve the film and advertise it.
The film begins with Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp) as University friends who decide to use the opportunity of a passing comet to try an experiment; however, the experiment goes wrong, leaving Victor horribly scarred. Sue and Johnny Storm are two children living with their mother, who has a boarding house where Reed lives. Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith) is a family friend and college friend to Reed. The film then fast forwards to the early 1990s, where Reed, Sue (Rebecca Staab), Johnny (Jay Underwood), and Ben go up into an experimental spacecraft as again the same comet would pass by the Earth. They are hit by cosmic rays by the same passing comet due to a necessary diamond being exchanged for an imitation of itself. Reed would dedicate this mission for his friend Victor, believing he was dead years before...


Upon crash-landing back to Earth, the four of them soon discover that the cosmic rays gave them special powers: Reed's bodily structure has become elastic; Sue can become invisible; Johnny can generate fire on demand, and Ben has transformed into the Thing. They are later captured by Victor's men, who pose as soldiers of the Marine Corps. After escaping from Doom's men, the four scientists regroup at the Baxter Building, trying to decide what to do now that they gained superpowers. An angry Ben leaves the group to go out on his own, feeling that he has become a horrible freak of nature. Ben would be found by homeless men and join them in an illicit Jeweler's underground lair.
The VP of marketing at the studio behind the film named Jonathan Fernandez contradicts Hyde-White and states he believes the dominant narrative that the film was never intended to be released.  Marvel expert and author Sean Howe claims the catalyst for the cancellation was Avi Arad hearing about the Mall of America premiere of the movie from a random child.


It is revealed that Victor von Doom had needed the diamond necessary to capture the comet's powers. The Jeweler would then give the real diamond to the blind artist Alicia (Kat Green) who was also kidnapped by homeless henchmen working for the Jeweler. The Jeweler wants Alicia to be his bride, with the diamond as his wedding present to her. However, Doctor Doom and his henchmen locate the Jeweler's lair. Doom's henchmen first try to make a deal with him, but with no luck. Doom, displeased, seizes the diamond by force. Doom threatens to kill Alicia, whereupon Ben, as the Thing, comes into the room – only to revert to human form. Pursued by Doom, Ben runs out onto the city streets, frustrated at his helplessness. He is therefore changed into the Thing, whereupon he rescues Alicia.
==Availability==
The Israeli-American film producer, 'Avi Arad' purchased the finalized film from Roger Corman, with the help of Bernd Eichinger, for 1-2 million dollars. Avi claimed he subsequently 'burned' the original celluloid for the film. While his purchase is not disputed, the cast and crew of the film think he is exaggerating and estimate that the original 35mm film is in a Marvel-owned warehouse somewhere.


A gunfight ensues between Doom and the Jeweler’s men. Doom takes the diamond to power a laser cannon that will destroy New York City. Ben returns to his friends; by now, Reed has learned that Victor was the mastermind behind their kidnapping. Realizing that they are the only ones that can stop Doom, the protagonists don costumes and travel to Doom's castle. At the castle, the Fantastic Four battle a series of Doom's military. Reed has a final battle with Doom. Doom is defeated and possibly killed. Johnny becomes the Human Torch (shown via computerized animation) to stand between the laser cannon's shot and the city. He survives this, as does the city he wishes to protect. Thereafter, the Four dedicate themselves to fighting evil, and the film ends with Reed and Sue marrying.
It was hypothesized the film was initially copied via telecine a few days before a private screening, and that this produced the many subsequent VHS bootlegs which circulated before 2004.


==Cast==
A VHS-copy transfer was eventually uploaded to MySpleen and has since been mirrored to other video-sharing websites such as YouTube and Dailymotion.
◾Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic


◾Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm-Richards / Invisible Woman ◾Mercedes McNab as Young Sue Storm
A documentary about the 1994 Fantastic Four called ''Doomed'' was released in 2015.  It sheds more light into where the bootlegs probably came from. The director of the film, Oley Sassone, states he thinks all bootlegs originated from a rogue employee at "Lightning Dubs", which was creating dubs for his own personal use.  In the same documentary, Oley recalls hunting for original film prints in Roger Coreman's storage room in Venice to release without permission via telecine, and allegedly found nothing.


◾Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm / Human Torch ◾Phillip Van Dyke as Young Johnny Storm
===Free circulating copies===
The film had previously been circulating through sales of pirated VHS copies of the film in comic conventions and Ebay.  This occurred to the point that the stars of the film were recognized in public. 


◾Michael Bailey Smith as Ben Grimm
Ever since a poor-quality, nth generation, pirated VHS copy of the film was uploaded to the internet for free streaming, it further achieved a cult following.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/how-1994-fantastic-four-became-a-cult-classic-2015-8 Business Insider's article on how the film became a cult classic.] Retrieved 12 Aug '18</ref> 


◾Carl Ciarfalio as The Thing
Most or all copies of the movie currently available on the internet for free, as of 2023, are of unknown generation, and are poor quality.  Some Youtube projects involve digital tampering of VHS copies of unknown origin to improve the picture quality.


◾Joseph Culp as Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom
Cast and crew estimate that the attempt to censor the film led to more viewership than would have occurred if the film had an official release.


◾Kat Green as Alicia Masters
====Youtube footage====
{{Video|perrow  =2
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =DrbFLJHeX8w
  |description1 =Uncropped, unknown generation
  |service2    =youtube
  |id2          =28EyQ4a3OEA
  |description2 =Cropped to widescreen, unknown generation
}}
<div style="height:30px;"></div>
===Alleged first-gen pirated copy===
''Doomed'' producers later released what they claim is a full digital transfer of the original 3/4" U-matic layoff (from telecine) which all bootlegs of Fantastic Four originated from.  If this is true, [https://doomedfilms.bigcartel.com/ the copy available at doomedfilms.bigcartel.com is the best quality, unaltered, full version of the film that will ever exist], unless an official release happens.


◾Ian Trigger as The Jeweler
==References==
{{reflist}}


◾Annie Gagen as May Storm
==External Links==
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four_(unreleased_film)
==Reception==
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/
Despite being cancelled, the film was featured in a list of the "50 Top Comic Movies of All Time (...and Some So Bad You've Just Got to See Them)," Wizard Magazine ranked this film higher than Batman & Robin, Steel, Virus and Red Sonja, all of which were released in theaters.


[[Category:Found media|Fantastic Four]]
[[Category:Found media|Fantastic Four]]
[[Category:Pre-LMW|Fantastic Four]]
[[Category:Found films|Fantastic Four]]

Latest revision as of 01:09, 14 May 2023

Ffour.jpg

Official poster used for promotion.

Status: Found

Date found: Unknown

Found by: A dubbing company (possibly Lightning Dubs)

The Fantastic Four is a low-budget feature film which completed in 1994 but never saw an official release. It was produced by Roger Corman (famous for his low-budget productions) and Bernd Eichinger (who also produced another Fantastic Four movie in 2005 and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer). The film was based on the popular comic book series of the same name by Marvel Comics and featured the origin of the Fantastic Four and their first battle with the evil Doctor Doom and a mysterious Mole Man-like creature.

Production

Production began on December 28th, 1992, under music video director Oley Sassone.[1] Storyboards were drawn by artist Pete Von Sholly. The 25-day production was shot on the Concorde Pictures soundstage in Venice, California, as well as in Agoura, California for a spacecraft crash scene, the Loyola Marymount campus for a lab explosion scene, and the former Pacific Stock Exchange building in downtown Los Angeles for team meeting scenes.

Release Plans and Cancellation

A 1993 magazine article gave a tentative release date of Labor Day weekend 1993. That summer, trailers ran in theatres and on the VHS tapes of the movie Carnosaur. Cast members promoted the film at a clips-screening at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and at the San Diego Comic-Con International. By this time, the world premiere was announced to take place at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 19th, 1994, with proceeds from the event earmarked for the charities Ronald McDonald House and the Children's Miracle Network.

Producer Bernd Eichinger later announced that the film would not be released. Following the announcement of the cancellation of the film's release, a rumor spread that the studio intended this version of the Fantastic Four to be the film equivalent of an ashcan copy: they had the legal rights to create a film based on the Fantastic Four, but they were not ready to produce a big-budget film. However, they needed to produce something or else they would lose the legal right to the characters. According to this narrative, the studio allegedly misled everyone involved in the making of the film by letting them believe it was going to be a genuine release rather than a way to maintain their license on the property. Producer Roger Corman has since stated he agrees with this narrative.

Some cast and crew imply Corman had the power to retain control over the film, but chose not to. Corman seemed to sign off, and financially profit from the sale of the movie to producers Avi Arad and Bernd Eichinger, including all the original film stock, way after the alleged conspiracy against the film took place. Corman has since called the pirated release of the movie a, "theft". The director of the film, Oley Sassone, claims Corman consciously leveraged the existence of a finished film for purely financial reasons, and without much concern for anything else.

The star of the film, Alex Hyde-White, has stated in interviews that he doesn't buy the "myth" that the film was never intended to be released from the onset. He calls such claims a conspiracy theory looking for a simple answer to a complex situation. Hyde-White suggests Avi Arad was the only person proven to have hostility toward the film. He also suggests there was a 'fork in the road' at some point about the film's release. He further suggests the aggressive campaign by cast and crew to market the film without the studio's blessing was the ultimate catalyst for the studio's decision not to release the film. Many former cast and crew saw the movie as a "major break", and a way to boost their resume, and so they took money out of their own pocket to improve the film and advertise it.

The VP of marketing at the studio behind the film named Jonathan Fernandez contradicts Hyde-White and states he believes the dominant narrative that the film was never intended to be released. Marvel expert and author Sean Howe claims the catalyst for the cancellation was Avi Arad hearing about the Mall of America premiere of the movie from a random child.

Availability

The Israeli-American film producer, 'Avi Arad' purchased the finalized film from Roger Corman, with the help of Bernd Eichinger, for 1-2 million dollars. Avi claimed he subsequently 'burned' the original celluloid for the film. While his purchase is not disputed, the cast and crew of the film think he is exaggerating and estimate that the original 35mm film is in a Marvel-owned warehouse somewhere.

It was hypothesized the film was initially copied via telecine a few days before a private screening, and that this produced the many subsequent VHS bootlegs which circulated before 2004.

A VHS-copy transfer was eventually uploaded to MySpleen and has since been mirrored to other video-sharing websites such as YouTube and Dailymotion.

A documentary about the 1994 Fantastic Four called Doomed was released in 2015. It sheds more light into where the bootlegs probably came from. The director of the film, Oley Sassone, states he thinks all bootlegs originated from a rogue employee at "Lightning Dubs", which was creating dubs for his own personal use. In the same documentary, Oley recalls hunting for original film prints in Roger Coreman's storage room in Venice to release without permission via telecine, and allegedly found nothing.

Free circulating copies

The film had previously been circulating through sales of pirated VHS copies of the film in comic conventions and Ebay. This occurred to the point that the stars of the film were recognized in public.

Ever since a poor-quality, nth generation, pirated VHS copy of the film was uploaded to the internet for free streaming, it further achieved a cult following.[2]

Most or all copies of the movie currently available on the internet for free, as of 2023, are of unknown generation, and are poor quality. Some Youtube projects involve digital tampering of VHS copies of unknown origin to improve the picture quality.

Cast and crew estimate that the attempt to censor the film led to more viewership than would have occurred if the film had an official release.

Youtube footage

Uncropped, unknown generation

Cropped to widescreen, unknown generation

Alleged first-gen pirated copy

Doomed producers later released what they claim is a full digital transfer of the original 3/4" U-matic layoff (from telecine) which all bootlegs of Fantastic Four originated from. If this is true, the copy available at doomedfilms.bigcartel.com is the best quality, unaltered, full version of the film that will ever exist, unless an official release happens.

References

External Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four_(unreleased_film) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/