Chris Columbus Explains Why He Was Fired From Fantastic Four
Chris Columbus was originally lined up to produce the 2005 Fantastic Four movie, but according to him, the studio cut him loose for being a little too vocal about how things should be done.
Chris Columbus, the guy who gave us Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter movies, says he technically has executive producer credits on the mid-2000s Fantastic Four films but, in his words, he had nothing to do with them. The backstory is very Hollywood.
So, what actually happened?
- Columbus says he was originally set to produce 2005's Fantastic Four and was involved on the script side while multiple writers were cycling through.
- He met with the film's director and pitched a visual approach that leaned harder into Jack Kirby and classic Silver Age Marvel vibes.
- On his drive home from that meeting, Columbus says the head of 20th Century Fox called to fire him for having, quote, too much of an opinion.
- Despite being out, he still wound up credited as an executive producer on both Fantastic Four and 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which is one of those Hollywood credit quirks that never stops being weird.
On the way back from my house I got a call from the head of 20th Century Fox saying I was fired and had too much of an opinion.
He shared the story on the Fade to Black podcast, adding that he had been pretty gung-ho about superhero movies at the time.
The experience, though, knocked some of the shine off. Over the years, he watched the genre evolve and decided others were simply doing it better. He pointed to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 as a perfect superhero movie and called Matt Reeves' The Batman with Robert Pattinson a brilliant film, concluding he does not really feel the need to make one now.
What he is making now
Columbus's next project is The Thursday Murder Club, a crime comedy based on Richard Osman's hit novel. The cast is stacked: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. Early word is upbeat; critic Alex Maidy called it a light, fun mystery that would have played well on the big screen pre-COVID, and one of Netflix's stronger originals in a while. No explosions, no wall-to-wall stunts, just a breezy whodunit with a charming lead quartet.
The Thursday Murder Club hits Netflix on August 28.