The Fantastic Four (found unreleased Marvel superhero film; 1994): Difference between revisions
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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 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 confirmed that this was indeed the case. | 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 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 confirmed that this was indeed the case. | ||
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. He instead suggests the studio was giving the movie a shot to be | 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. He instead suggests the studio was giving the movie a shot to be have at least some success and a public 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. | ||
==Availability== | ==Availability== | ||
Revision as of 15:52, 13 May 2023
Official poster used for promotion.
Status: Found
Date found: Unknown
Found by: Unknown
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 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. Apparently, the studio 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 confirmed that this was indeed the case.
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. He instead suggests the studio was giving the movie a shot to be have at least some success and a public 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.
Availability
The Israeli-American film producer, 'Arad Avi' claimed he 'burned' the original celluloid for the film after purchasing it. 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 corporate warehouse somewhere.
It was hypothesized the film was initially copied via telecine a few days before a private screening, and that his 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 a facility that 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. Given Oley's self-professed history of taking risks to see the film released, it's possible that he was the originator of the bootlegs after visiting the dubbing company and is making up the employee story.
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, this is the best quality, unaltered, full version of the film that will ever exist, unless an official release happens.
Ever since the film was leaked to the internet, it has achieved a cult following.[2]
Youtube footage
References
- ↑ The Hollywood Reporter's article on the film's production. Retrieved 12 Aug '18
- ↑ Business Insider's article on how the film became a cult classic. Retrieved 12 Aug '18
External Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four_(unreleased_film) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/