MARVEL COMICS: Chris Columbus Fantastic Four (Unproduced)

MARVEL COMICS IN THE MEDIA

FANTASTIC FOUR IN THE MEDIA

WHAT WE KNOW:
In 1995, Marvel again tried to adapt the Fantastic Four. Writer-director Chris Columbus of "Home Alone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" fame was enlisted to adapt it. He brought his own team of writers, which included Sam Hamm ("Monkeybone"), Philip Morton ("Fire Down Below") and Michael France ("The Punisher," "Hulk"), and Columbus spent two years working on the project before leaving the director’s seat ; he worried in the press that the movie’s budget might reach $280 million.

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Columbus took a producing role while Peter Segal ("The Longest Yard") was considered as an alternative director. Ultimately, Raja Gosnell, the director of "Big Momma’s House," took over in 2000 and set about adapting the material with yet another team of writers. Gosnell, however, outraged Fantastic Four fans by announcing plans to adapt the comic as a "sitcom." And although the comic publisher had initially supported Gosnell’s comedic take - and Marvel’s Arad trumpeted the director’s plans in the press - he and Marvel soon parted ways.