{"id":29037,"date":"2013-06-20T18:47:14","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T22:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=29037"},"modified":"2013-06-20T18:56:02","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T22:56:02","slug":"doomed-documentary-roger-corman-fantastic-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/20\/doomed-documentary-roger-corman-fantastic-four\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking With DOOMED! Documentary Director Marty Langford About Roger Corman’s FANTASTIC FOUR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FantasticFour1994\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One film that holds the imagination of comic book fans is the version of the Fantastic Four<\/strong> produced back in the early 1990s. Made for the bargain basement sum of approximately $1 million in order to take advantage of a loophole in a rights contract (out own William Gatevackes has told that story here<\/a> in his ongoing History Of The Comic Book Film series), the film was shelved by producer Roger Corman and never officially released. Somehow, it did find its way out into the world via bootleg VHS, and soon dealers rooms at every comic book and science-fiction convention across the country were swarming with fans looking to buy a copy to see if it was as bad as it was presumed to be.<\/p>\n

In those pre-internet days, lots of rumors circulated among fandom as to the circumstances surrounding the making of the film and what became of it after it was stuck on a shelf, to the point that they have become accepted as gospel. But soon, fact from urban legend will be revealed thanks to filmmakers Marty Langford and Mark Sikes, who are prepping to shoot the documentary Doomed!: The Untold Story Of Roger Corman\u2019s Fantastic Four<\/strong> later this summer for release next year.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Langford recently, the director explained that the documentary actually has its origins in a book he started writing two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just fascinated by [the movie] and I needed to know as much as I could about it,\u201d he said. \u201cLike you, I had probably four VHS copies \u2013 one was a ninth generation, one was a seventh, one was a sixth. And then came DVDs and I probably bought maybe three of those, but that pristine copy still eludes me. If anything else, hopefully this documentary will net me that first generation layoff that I know is out there.<\/p>\n

One persistent rumor is that all prints of the film and possibly even its original negative were destroyed on the order of Marvel executive Avi Arad rather than jeopardize any deal for a possible big-budget version they may be able to make in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d Langford admitted on the question about the original negative\u2019s continued existence. \u201cWe\u2019re assuming it does. Next year is the 20th anniversary and just in terms of what we know photochemically about filmstocks, if it exists, it is still a viable negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do want to take an investigative bent on this and try and figure out not only what happened and who knew what when, and when the word came down and what the fallout was in terms of the determination to shelf the movie, but we want to know what deals were made. We want to know where the movie is now. Who indeed has the rights (to distribute the actual film)? Does Neue Constantin maintain it? Did they sell it to Marvel as some people have theorized? \u201c<\/p>\n

Langford did reveal that they may already have an answer to some of those questions. \u201cI suspect I know who has it and who leaked it. We\u2019re working on that story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually just found out some really interesting news as to who found out what when,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe have determined that one of the principals found out before they even finished shooting and it affected his performance and his ambitions for the movie. \u201c<\/p>\n

\"FantasticFourCorman\"<\/a>Langford explained that he and partner Sikes are the right people to tell this story, thanks to one of them actually living through it. The pair grew up in Western Massachusetts, with Langford working at Sikes\u2019s father\u2019s sports memorabilia and comic book store. When Sikes headed to LA in the early 1990s, his first job was interning for Roger Corman at the producer\u2019s Concorde Productions, serving as a receptionist and as an assistant casting director. That put Sikes into a unique position to observe the rush to get the film into production.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked closely with Laura Schiff who cast the movie during that kind of really quick process of pre-production into production,\u201c explained Langford. \u201cThey had to start rolling cameras by December 31, 1992 for New Constantine to maintain the option for another ten years. They had been negotiating with Fox and they had some progress but there was no way that they were going to make their deal for a tens-of-millions-of-dollars production. Batman Returns had come out and superheroes were starting to raise their profile. So Corman went into production on December 28 and shot for I think 28 days and Mark was either on location, in the studio or in the office for all 28 days. And since he was the comic book guy, he became the defacto PR guy who reached out to Comic Buyers Guide<\/em> and Film Threat<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is through Sikes that the pair have secured promises from all of the major cast members and several key crew personnel including screenwriter Craig Nevius and director Oley Sassone to talk about their experiences in making the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say without exception all of these people have been waiting to talk, definitively and formally, \u201c Langford said. \u201cThey\u2019re proud of the work and for all its faults it is not without its charms. \u201c<\/p>\n

As of right now, despite the participation of so many people from the film, the documentary is still only an unauthorized telling of this story, leaving Langford and Sikes in a spot as to what material they can show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have Carl [Ciarfalio who played The Thing] and Rebecca [Staab, who played Sue Richards, the Invisible Girl] and a couple of the other cast members who shot video behind the scenes and who took lots of set photos, \u201c Langford explained. \u201c We\u2019re going to need visual help. We\u2019re going to be a talking heads documentary because we can’t show a frame of the movie or else we\u2019ll be sued.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with \u2018Can we show the trailer? Can we show the photographic material that weren\u2019t part of the marketing push back then?\u2019\u201d he continued. \u201cCan we shoot a computer playing the video [on YouTube] rather than ripping it and using? For all we know, Marvel is going to come down us and say \u2018You can\u2019t use the name \u201cFantastic Four\u201d.\u2019 We suspect that won\u2019t happen, but we\u2019re kind of prepared for, not controversy, but resistance from the people who represent or own the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while he doubts that there is any interest in releasing the film by whomever holds the rights to do so, Langford does believe that there is an audience out there waiting to discover it.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Director Oley] Sassone\u2019s movie is just such a charming film,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a movie I\u2019ve shown my kids and they\u2019ve become familiar with and enjoy. It\u2019s not a Nemo<\/strong> or a Toy Story<\/strong> but they dig it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think it\u2019s an exploitable property. The fact that [1990\u2019s direct-to-video] Captain America<\/strong> is out on blu-ray isn\u2019t hurting [Marvel Studio\u2019s upcoming] Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/strong>. It is not as though there is market place confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside the documentary that looks at the infamously shelved film.<\/div>\n

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