Fantastic Four is a 2005 movie that starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis and was followed by the 2007 sequel 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer — both of which made fairly large amounts of money, but weren’t loved by critics. Many seemed to think the properties were a little too cheesy, and rumors began to swirl about a possible reboot only a few years after the first movies were produced. This rumor is now a reality, as just on the heels of the massive Disney acquisition of Marvel Studios, Fox has officially announced their plans to give the Fantastic Four franchise a makeover.

Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, and I Am Legend writer Akiva Goldsman has been brought in to oversee the reboot. This is an interesting move — as you can see, Goldsman’s track record with superheroes and summer blockbusters is a little rocky, but on the other end of the spectrum, he has also co-written Oscar winners and nominees like A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. No specifics on how much his work as an “overseer” might maneuver the final product.

Writer and producer Michael Green has been hired to write the script for the new endeavor. He has written and produced many episodes of shows like Heroes and Kings, and he wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

Current times seem to call for all comic/superhero properties to be turned in dark and more realistic adaptations à la The Dark Knight. It is unclear if this is the image that Fox hopes to re-invent the Fantastic Four in, but as I’ve said when this move was rumored back in March, the source material doesn’t seem to fit in that darkened world, and in fact, it may work even less if they actually attempt it. Also wondered is if the cast will return to this new vision, but if they really want to “reboot,” it has to be assumed that a whole new cast will be signed on.

[Source: Variety]