Fantastic Four Movie News

[Granite]

I'm kinda interested in this movie, and there seems to be a lot of threads about it, so I'll post what news (and encourage others to do so) under this thread.

First the Cast:

Mr Fantastic - Ioan Gruffud
Most Recent Big thiing: King Arthur (as Lancelot)

The Invisible Wowan - Jessica Alba
Most Recent Big Thing: Dark Angel TV Series
--See the following thread
--Alba Talks about the role with Scifiwire

Alba Couldn't Resist Four

Jessica Alba—who will play Invisible Girl Sue Storm in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie—told SCI FI Wire that she was concerned about the reaction of the fans when she was cast, but she couldn't pass on the chance to play the iconic character. "Honestly, I was worried," she said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego last weekend. "But at the end of the day, when this opportunity came, I couldn't say no. I feel I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I turned this movie down, because it's such a great story. And I'm going to work my a-- off and hopefully people will be pleased."

Alba (Dark Angel) added that the family aspect of the story appealed to her, as well as the nurturing nature of her character. "She just wants everybody to be OK," she said. "And it seems like when she's trying to do that, when everyone's so caught up in their problems, that's when she disappears. So it's very metaphorical. I love it. I'm not that familiar with the comic books. I read the script, and it's just great, and it's about family, and it's so hopeful."

Although filming doesn't start until next month, Alba has already gotten a glimpse of the skin-tight outfit she and her fellow cast members—which include Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Ioan Gruffudd (King Arthur) as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic—will be wearing. "I've tried mine on," she said. "And the zippers are on the inside. I was so scared. [The costumer] had to use a tool. ... The costumes are very cool. They are spandex, and we have gloves and boots ... and fours on our chests."

The Thing - Michael Chicklis
Most Recent Big Thing: The Shield TV Series
Chicklis on playing Grimm: From Scifiwire

Michael Chiklis—who will play Ben Grimm, also known as The Thing, in the latest comic-book-to-film adaptation, Fantastic Four—told SCI FI Wire that he took the role based on assurances from the producers that his character would not be computer-generated. "I did not want to do this if Ben Grimm was going to be a CGI [character]," Chiklis said in an interview during Comic-Con International in San Diego over the weekend. "If he was going to be done in the way that the Hulk was done, then I felt that I would be wasted. And I was assured from the get-go that that wasn’t going to be the case. And I was thrilled."

Chiklis, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the role of Vic Mackey on the FX TV series The Shield, said there are some common traits among the characters he plays, which relate to his own personality. "I'm a thug that you want to hug," he joked. "[Ben] is a guy who can be very scary and also be really likable and downright cuddly. So, yeah, there's kind of through line in that way. But his problems ... are a lot different than Vic Mackey or other characters I've played. So there are broad-stroke similarities and some specific differences."

A fan of the Fantastic Four comic book from an early age, Chiklis says he is eager to begin filming and see how the script will be realized by director Tim Story (Barbershop). "It's one of those things as an actor ... where you read the script, and you go, 'Oh, cool, honey, I get to do this! You've got to read this!'" Chiklis said. "I think we're all hungry to get out there and see a lot of the nuts-and-bolts aspects of this movie: how we're going to achieve certain things. It's one thing when you read it in script form and you see it in your mind's eye, but then you go, like, 'How are we going to do that?'" Fantastic Four begins filming in Vancouver, B.C., in August.

Dr. Doom - Julian McMahon
Most recent Big Thing - Charmed TV Series (Cole Turner - Alyssa Milano's love interest)


The Crew

Director - Tim Story
Barbershop (2002)
Taxi (2004)

Writers - Michael France (Punisher), Mark Frost (Twin Peaks), Simon Kinberg (XXX 2)