Home Alone director Chris Columbus says he was fired from 2005’s Fantastic Four movie for criticising its concept art. The 2005 incarnation of Fantastic Four – the one starring Chris Evans, Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd, among others – was directed by Tim Story. In another universe somewhere, it was directed by Home Alone's Chris ... Fantastic Four | Chris Columbus says he was fired from the 2005 for being too critical
Home Alone director Chris Columbus says he was fired from 2005’s Fantastic Four movie for criticising its concept art.
The 2005 incarnation of Fantastic Four – the one starring Chris Evans, Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd, among others – was directed by Tim Story. In another universe somewhere, it was directed by Home Alone's Chris Columbus, and released much earlier – he was initially attached to adapt the comic book in 1995. In the end, his incarnation never happened, however, though he did still receive an executive producer credit on the movie that emerged a decade later.
Columbus, who’s currently doing the promotional rounds for The Thursday Murder Club, on Netflix from today (28th September), talked about his involvement in the film on the Fade To Black podcast, where he also said that he was ‘fired’ from the Fox production long before shooting on the 2005 version began. By that time, he was a producer on Fantastic Four, and among a stew of writers working on the script.
“We were in a weird situation,” Columbus said, as shared by Variety. “On the first Fantastic Four, I had worked on a script. There were a lot of writers involved. They were about to make a movie and I was producing it. I met with the director and had some ideas. I basically said, ‘Some of this conceptual art should feel more like Jack Kirby, the creator of the Fantastic Four, and should feel more like the Silver Age of Marvel.’ I left that meeting and on the way back from my house I got a call from the head of 20th Century Fox saying I was fired and had too much of an opinion.”
Ultimately, Columbus received that executive producer credit, but says he had “nothing to do with” the finished Fantastic Four.
Despite a couple of other near-misses – including Spider-Man in the late 90s, which went to Sam Raimi – Columbus never did direct a superhero movie. But given his successes as a screenwriter, director and producer – his other hits as director include Mrs Doubtfire, the first two Harry Potter movies and 2015’s Pixels – it’s fair to say he’s done fairly well for himself.
We sat down with Chris Columbus for our own Film Stories podcast chat earlier this month, where the filmmaker talked about his career to date, bringing Steven Spielberg in during the editing of The Thursday Murder Club, and the possibility of a sequel to that Netflix comedy-mystery.
