Well, even with its first weekend of release not yet over, it is safe to say that Twentieth Century Fox’s attempt to reboot their Fantastic Four comic book adaptation franchise is pretty much dead on arrival. The reviews have been brutal, with the film scoring a dismal 9% at Rotten Tomatoes. It’s projected $26 million take at the box office puts it way below the $40 to $50 million it was thought it was expected to make, and probably just a very small fraction of its unreleased budget.
So with the film an obvious dud, it raises the question of the sequel that Fox was so anxious to announce over a year ago? What will they put into that announced July 14 2017 release date now that a Fantastic Four 2 seems a very unlikely possibility?
It is possible that Fox is considering dropping another superhero sequel into that spot. According to Daily Superhero the studio may be looking at placing a sequel to the yet-to-be-released Deadpool into the date that they had originally hoped to have a second Fantastic Four film premiering.
Now, granted, this is an untested source, so I would caution taking this story with at least a grain of salt or two. But it does make some sense. For as much of a bad reaction everything that was revealed about the Fantastic Four film up to its release, the promotional material for Deadpool has been received with positive feedback from fans. A sequel for Deadpool seems like a more solid bet to be placing right now. Of course, we won’t know how that bet will pay off until Deadpool hits theaters on February 12, 2016.
Great idea.