Story by Matt Cummings
When news hit on May 1st that Chronicle director Josh Trank was departing the Star Wars universe, it hit fans like a lightsaber through the gut. But speculation about his future emerged earlier at Star Wars Celebration, when he failed to appear, waving flu-like symptoms. His colleague Gareth Edwards did attend, showing off a concept trailer for his film Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One.
As news began to swirl about Trank's misfortunes on the set of Fantastic Four - in which his behavior was characterized as "erratic" and Producer Simon Kinberg was brought in to finish the project - fans knew the real story: Trank hadn't merely walked away, he had been fired.
Trank was recently interviewed by the LA Times - the first since his departure - shedding a new perspective on the backlash he received from fans and (perhaps) the real reason why he left. Read these selected quotes to gain your own opinion:
On the backlash he received after leaving:
At first I was like, ‘I’m just not going to say anything because it will blow over,’” Trank told The Times last week in an interview for an upcoming Hero Complex magazine cover story on “Fantastic Four.” “But I was shocked – it just hasn’t blown over. People get so excited to raise their pitchforks. 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.
On his strained relationship with Fantastic Four producer and co-writer Simon Kinberg (who is also producing the Star Wars spin-off film):
None of those facts were true – and any of the facts that were true were spun in such a maliciously wrong way...If you ask anybody by name who I’ve worked with, from Simon to [producer] Hutch [Parker] or my crew or anybody else, they’d be like, ‘We’ve been working really hard on this movie and we’ve had an excellent time working together. It’s been a challenging movie – for all of the right reasons.
On the $100,000 damage his pets reportedly caused at the home he was renting:
Please – it’s crazy and it’s not true. I have three pugs and a little Boston terrier – that’s all I’m saying. They’re fine. I’ve been living in another house for over a year now and there’s literally no problem. I love my landlord.
And then there's the real reason for Trank's departure from Star Wars: the growing criticism from many in the fan community over Fantastic Four, which included his decision to change the race of the Johnny Storm character. He goes on in the article to state that he felt helming a new franchise - that being Star Wars - would have been too much for him.
What say you, SandwichJohn-ers? Do you buy Josh Trank's story about why he left? Comment below!
Discuss this story with fellow SJF fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms, and follow author Matt Cummings at @mfc90125.
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