Lots of Fantastic Four news milling about today…Entertainment Tonight shows an early preview, while HNR obtains several pics of The Thing in costume…I’ll admit, Ben Grimm’s look is growing on me, even if he still seems a little Toxie.
Tag: Michael Chiklis
Invisible Touch.
As The Fantastic Four begins shooting, USA Today posts this shot of Jessica “Honey Daniels” Alba as the Invisible Woman, and SuperHeroHype has kindly scanned in the rest of the cast. I must admit, Alba looks more like the character than I originally suspected — indeed, she may be the closest fit of these four: Ioan Gruffudd’s Mr. Fantastic looks too young, Chris Evans’s The Human Torch looks nothing like Johnny Storm, and Michael Chiklis’s Thing…well, I’m thinking Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein at the moment. Update: High-quality versions of all four are now up.
Looking Grimm.
Comics2Film procures a handful of set shots from The Fantastic Four, including a few fuzzy snaps of Michael Chiklis in Ben Grimm makeup. It’s probably not fair to judge his look from these pics…but, um, I hope they’ve got some serious post-production work planned for The Thing before FF comes out.
Stormy Weather.
In comic film news, Halle Berry drops out of X3, because, as her agent puts it, Berry’s “an Oscar winner and she wants roles that test her.” Yeah, like Catwoman. She may be replaced by former FF contender Christina Milian. Speaking of which, the same article also announces the current short list for FF casting: Ioan Gruffudd (Lancelot of King Arthur) as Mr. Fantastic (maybe…seems a little too young), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook and Mean Girls, y’all) as Sue Storm (that definitely could work), Chris Evans (Not Another Teen Movie) as the Human Torch (ok, whatever, this could be any young actor), and Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as The Thing (depends on the makeup.) Update: Apparently, 3 of these 4 are now signed, with only Invisible Girl left to cast, and Jessica Alba’s making a run for it.
Also regarding X3, will Jessica Simpson play Dazzler? Well, it might work as a Colossus-type cameo. I can think of at least two dozen other muties I’d prefer to see as leads, though.
Fantastic Story.
According to Latino Review, Barbershop‘s Tim Story will be directing The Fantastic Four in place of Bring it On‘s Peyton Reed. Interesting…I haven’t seen any of his movies, so I can’t really comment on the pick. Also, current casting rumors have Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing (I like it) and Tim Robbins as Dr. Doom.(Hmmm…he’d make a better Reed Richards.)