There have been countless rumors about why Josh Trank, the director of the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, left the second Star Wars Anthology film ever since he departed. Trank finally spoke out about it, calling rumors that he was actually fired false.
In his first interview since leaving the project in early May, Trank told the Los Angeles Times that he remained quiet because he thought everything would “blow over.” Instead, “People got so excited to raise their pitchforks.”
Trank, who shot to fame with the acclaimed found-footage style superhero movie Chronicle, explained, “I knew that this was going to be questioned and it was going to come under skepticism as to why I left Star Wars. And it was hard. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life.”
When Lucasfilm and Disney announced that Trank left the film two weeks after he didn’t show up at Star Wars Celebration, he said that he was leaving to “pursue some original creative opportunities.” However, Hollywood trades and blogs began reporting from unnamed sources that Trank was actually fired when Lucasfilm heard about his behavior on the FF set. Variety even claimed that he was clashing with FF producer Simon Kinberg, who is also working on the Star Wars movie Trank was supposed to direct.
“None of those facts were true – and any of the facts that were true were spun in such a maliciously wrong way,” Trank told the LA Times. Trank also denied rumors that he was also often indecisive on the FF set and that his dogs caused $100,000 damage on the film’s New Orleans set.
Trank later explained that he really wants to make another completely original movie that has nothing to do with established characters. The scrutiny that comes with tentpoles seems to be too much for the director.
“I want to do something original after this because I’ve been living under public scrutiny, as you’ve seen, for the last four years of my life,” Trank said. “And it’s not healthy for me right now in my life. I want to do something that’s below the radar.”
Kinbeg also told the LA Times that the treatment of Trank was over the line. “This, I would say, is particularly cruel. I haven’t really seen this level of vehemence against a filmmaker. And it’s surreal and unfair,” the producer said.
It’s still not clear what the Kinberg-produced Anthology movie is going to be about, but it is rumored to involve Boba Fett and Han Solo.
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