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JMS SilverSurfer dead, thanks to FF2 flop

TheMasterOfOrion

TheMasterOfOrion

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
more at blogs.amctv and total film news

It was one of those weird synchronicities. Whether or not it ever gets made I don't know because they were kind of disappointed in how Fantastic Four 2 did.
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and some info on The Changeling, Zombie holocaust novel World War Z and a Wachowski bro movie
 
The full quote is:
Q: Did your work on Silver Surfer: Requiem comic bring about the offer to write the Silver Surfer movie?
A: It was one of those weird synchronicities. Whether or not it ever gets made I don't know because they were kind of disappointed in how Fantastic Four 2 did. And given how this will be a subset of FF2 in terms of the marketing strategy, I think there is hesitation there about putting it forward. The script is pretty good, I like it, but whether or not it goes into production, I have no idea.
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The entire interview is at http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2008/05/j-michael-straczynski-interview.php
 
That's why I think it was smarter to put Surfer in the Fantastic Four movie instead of just giving him his own film. It was a good way to test if audiences were really interested in seeing him on the big screen. Surfer comics are like the cool kid in high school. He looks cool but when you hang out with him, you find out he's pretty boring.
 
^We might not be saying that if FF2 wasn't a pile of crap and the SS represented therein wasn't a 2D robot. With more human casting (who the hell is Doug Jones?) and a more in depth look at his mythology and his ties with (a proper) Galactus, a Silver Surfer movie could have been great. But FF2 pretty much flushed that possibility down the toilet.

Silver Surfer isn't Wolverine or Superman, but he's certainly on par with the likes of Daredevil, Punisher, and Catwoman and they wasted the time making shitty movies about them. :lol:
 
FF2 was far from a flop it still made a profit before DVD sales were counted so I don't see why the movies or any spinoffs should be canned.
 
Most of today's generation missed the Silver Surfer and would only know him from that crummy FF movie. He was a big comic book hit of the 60s and 70s, perhaps with Galactus representing nuclear annihilation and storyline close to real crisis like the Cuban missile incident during the Cold War. The Silver Surfer character has come back to make a couple of comic book appearances but nothing massive, his biggest role might have been that cartoon for Fox kids in the 90s but a silverman on a surf board witnessing the destruction of civilizations wasn't what Fox was looking for so instead they axed it and replaced it with the likes of Pokemon
 
One---He's on a surfboard but there's no water.
Two---he has no penis.

Why do we want a Silver Surfer movie?
 
^agreed. I never really got what was so great about the silver surfer character.

that said, in regards to the FF films - as has probably been said many times Alba is just wrong as sue storm. Alba and Gruffold do not have believable chemistry - certainly not Portman/Christensen bad but not really that great. The movies also have a certain comedic quality that I'm not sure is entirely intentional.

Oh and what's-his-name makes a horrible Doom.
 
I really think the SilverSurfer was above the fantastic four franchise, and those Fan4 storylines like the Moleman, Mad Thinker etc were beneath the Surfer character. Many Fantastic Four characters were too cartoonish but the SilverSurfer had depth - there was that CubanMissile/Coldwar analogy, he had a Superman style origin leaving a condemned planet and recieves almost every power imaginable via the "power cosmic" but he wasn't just some goody-two-shoes. He was the bringer of death for some giant planet eater who needed to eat civilizations to sustain himself, Galactus wasn't good or evil he was just a galactic god like predator who needed to eat lesser beings. The story began when a man from an advanced civilisation, an explorer who wanted to see the stars suddenly found this Galactic being had put his own him planet as a target for destruction. He struck a deal, offer his service surfing the universe for other worlds so the god like creature Galactus would spare his own. Surfer was an emotionless instrument but it was only when he defied his master that made him a hero, like the Biblical fall of Adam from the garden of Eden, Galactus then trapped him on Earth preventing him to explore the stars. Norin Radd the symbol of knowledge and limitless freedom was first made soldier of death and then incarcerated into to mundane reality of Earth. I think there is a visual artistic quality to him as well, this image of a silver super-being flying through space is just fantastic.
1surfsupcx5.jpg

I'd recommend the Marvels story painted by Axel Ross for a quick insight as to what the character really means
 
I liked FF 2 enough to buy the DVD. It was fun in a Spider-Man 1 way. The visuals are great, but the only fun characters are Surfer, Torch, and Thing. Everyone else is terrible.
 
NX_01 Mark said:
FF2 was far from a flop it still made a profit before DVD sales were counted so I don't see why the movies or any spinoffs should be canned.
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As far as box office, FF2 did about on par with the first FF film; FF1 made 330 million world-wide while FF2 made 290 world-wide. That's the problem, though; the studio apparently believes that the FF name carried the Surfer, and that the Surfer may have even managed to drag the FF brand down a little. With those two viewpoints, the studio would be very hesitant to believe the Surfer could stand on his own.

I've always believed the studio was trying to decide if they should make a Surfer movie or if they should make FF3; it sounds like they're leaning more toward FF3 now. FF2 definitely made money, but the arguments out there would say that the title "Fantastic Four" is what made the money.
 
It's an issue of return on investment. Fantastic Four made $330 million worldwide on a $100 million production budget. That's a great success and a fast-tracked sequel resulted. Fantastic Four 2 made $288 million worldwide on a $130 million production budget. That's profitable, but not profitable enough for a studio to make another sequel in most cases - especially since the studio likely sees the Silver Surfer as a major value add and probably thinks that if a sequel with both the FF and the Surfer declined in box office then a further sequel is likely to decline even more.
 
^ And what was that extra 30 million in costs for? The Surfer's grand story. In other words, they would see the Surfer as dragging the movie down.

I would look for an FF3 that's back to basics (such as the Liddleville story that involved both Doom and Puppet Master). That story could be done a much lower budget and would be more evocative of what made the first film sell.
 
I think they won't make either a third FF film or the Surfer spinoff. Chris Evans said recently that they've heard nothing from Fox about another film and that he doesn't think it'll happen.
 
Out Of My Vulcan Mind said:
Chris Evans said recently that they've heard nothing from Fox about another film and that he doesn't think it'll happen.
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Wasn't that comment like a year ago? Back then, the Surfer movie was allegedly happening.

Anyway, an actor being in the dark doesn't mean much. I was amused by the recent announcement of Spider-man 4 when they don't have a script, an actor or a director locked in. On that one, it seems like most everyone is in the dark except the studio who's frothing at the mouth for another billion dollar sequel. If they're treating a cash cow in that kind of information blackout, then it's no surprise they would treat a modest money maker in similar fashion.

As always, time will tell; and stranger things than a FF3 have happened.
 
I've always seen Silver Surfer as a more introspective character like Dr. Strange or Warlock that would have difficulties translating well on film. I think they would have fantastic sfx possibilities but they would really have to humanize it by keeping it focused on his love for Shalla Bal, his discovery of humanity's worth, and the impending doom of Earth with Galactus's arrival to consume it. Once he's trapped on Earth by that forcefield, I think the stories would drag on like finding a cure for David Banner on the old Hulk tv show.
 
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