Fantastic Four (2015) Pitch Meeting

* Main
* Transcript

**Fantastic Four (2015) Pitch Meeting** is the ninth episode of the Pitch Meeting series on Screen Rant.

## Description

So this is how they came up with the idea for the Fantastic Dumpster Fire… Uhh… We mean The Fant4stic Four!

## Cast

* Producer Guy - Ryan George
* Screenwriter Guy - Ryan George

**Producer Guy:** So you have that new *Fantastic Four* script for me?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yes sir I do.

**Producer Guy:** Great, so one of the main criticisms of the older *Fantastic Four* movies was that they were kind of silly and campy.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah, I heard about that. That's why this one's not gonna be funny at all, or… even amusing, for that matter.

**Producer Guy:** Great.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah and it's gonna take itself very very seriously.

**Producer Guy:** That sounds perfect!

**Screenwriter Guy:** Now we just wanna double-check with you. You mentioned that your focus groups found that what people want in superhero movies is-

**Producer Guy:** A lot of setup and exposition.

**Screenwriter Guy:** As opposed to to action and the characters actually using powers.

**Producer Guy:** Exactly, we actually found that people want a lot less of all that "cool" stuff.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Okay perfect, just wanted to be sure.

**Producer Guy:** I mean unless I read the results backwards. *[chuckles]* I do do that sometimes.

**Screenwriter Guy:** *[snickers]*

**Producer Guy:** What?

**Screenwriter Guy:** It's just that… "do do".

**Producer Guy:** Oh my god, did I say "do do"?

**Screenwriter Guy:** You said "do do".

**Producer Guy:** I didn't even realize! I mean that's why we pay you a bunch of money right? You're good with… the words.

**Screenwriter Guy:** *[flattered]* Yeah, I'm good at word stuff.

**Producer Guy:** You are. So tell me about this script.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah well like I was saying it's mostly setup and exposition.

**Producer Guy:** Perfect.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So we start with Reed Richards as a kid.

**Producer Guy:** Oh, going way back! What do we establish there?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Basically that he is smart, and… has a friend named Ben.

**Producer Guy:** Do we really have to show him as a child to explain that?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah, well it's an origin story, so… we have to have them as kids.

**Producer Guy:** Do we?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Well they did it in *Batman Begins*.

**Producer Guy:** Ah, that's a good movie. Okay. I'm sold.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So when he's a kid he builds stuff in his garage with technology from the time, so like Nintendo 64s, he has this big old clunky computer like people used back then…

**Producer Guy:** So this takes place in the nineties?

**Screenwriter Guy:** 2007.

**Producer Guy:** Oh.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So him and his friend Ben work on an interdimensional travel machine every day for seven years.

**Producer Guy:** And you're sure we have to show them as kids, 'cause that's like a whole set of actors we have to hire.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Origin story. Our hands are tied.

**Producer Guy:** Okay.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So anyway at a high school science fair they present this device they made that can make objects disappear and reappear.

**Producer Guy:** Wow, people must be amazed.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Literally nobody is and their teacher fails them.

**Producer Guy:** Why?

**Screenwriter Guy:** He assumes it's magic.

**Producer Guy:** He just fails them without looking into magic further?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Exactly. But a scientist from like a secret organization sees it and he thinks it's cool.

**Producer Guy:** What's a scientist from a secret organization doing at a high school science fair?

**Screenwriter Guy:** We're not gonna really explain that, he's… he's just there.

**Producer Guy:** Fair enough.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So the scientist and his adopted daughter Sue offer Reed a full scholarship to this institute, or maybe it's a school, i- it's not gonna be really clear. Like Reed's not gonna study.

**Producer Guy:** What about Ben?

**Screenwriter Guy:** What about Ben?

**Producer Guy:** You said he's been working with Reed every day for seven years on this device; doesn't he get a scholarship?

**Screenwriter Guy:** No, well he's the muscle.

**Producer Guy:** Okay but working on it for so long he must have a really intimate understanding of how-

**Screenwriter Guy:** He's the muscle.

**Producer Guy:** Right but he must have a lot of knowledge.

**Screenwriter Guy:** He's got a lot of muscle.

**Producer Guy:** *[brief stunned silence]* Okay, so he doesn't go.

**Screenwriter Guy:** No, and then the science guy manipulates his own son Johnny into working at the school too.

**Producer Guy:** He manipulates him?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah, he takes his car away and he's like "If you want your car back, you need to come do science with Papa".

**Producer Guy:** And what's Johnny's deal? Like why did they need him at the institute? Is he… super smart?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Uh, we mentioned that he assembled a car.

**Producer Guy:** Haven't a lot of people done that? Like as a hobby?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Probably.

**Producer Guy:** So what makes him so special that he gets to work there?

**Screenwriter Guy:** It's mostly nepotism.

**Producer Guy:** Mostly nepotism, okay, that's what I thought.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So anyway, then they all work with a cynical guy named Victor Von Doom on a giant version of the interdimensional travel thing.

**Producer Guy:** What's that process like?

**Screenwriter Guy::** It's gonna be like a really really long montage with some technical jargon thrown in.

**Producer Guy:** How long we talking?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Longer than you'd think and then suddenly out of nowhere it's done and they send a monkey to an alternate dimension.

**Producer Guy:** And it goes wrong?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Nope. Goes perfectly fine first try.

**Producer Guy:** Wow, no conflicts.

**Screenwriter Guy:** No and so then the government's like "Let's contact NASA and get some astronauts".

**Producer Guy:** Makes sense.

**Screenwriter Guy:** It does but the main characters don't agree with that plan.

**Producer Guy:** Why?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Well they wanna go themselves so they can be famous.

**Producer Guy:** That's their reason?

**Screenwriter Guy::** Yeah so they get drunk and they go.

**Producer Guy:** They go? The government has a new device to travel through dimensions and they don't put any extra security?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Apparently not. Reed even calls Ben to tag along.

**Producer Guy:** Oh, Ben! He's still in this movie?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Now he is. We're gonna leave him out of it for like… a really long time.

**Producer Guy:** Interesting.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So then they're in this other dimension, and they immediately touch some green stuff and everything explodes and Victor falls into it.

**Producer Guy:** Wow.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah and Johnny's pod fills up with fire so he gets fire powers, and Ben's pod fills up with rocks so he gets rock powers, and then Reed and Sue get… other powers.

**Producer Guy:** Their powers aren't related to how the accident happened?

**Screenwriter Guy:** No, not really.

**Producer Guy:** Okay, so now everybody has powers.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah and so this is when stuff's gonna start getting really intense, see-

**Producer Guy:** Wait, gotta stop you, how much time are we at?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Like in terms of runtime?

**Producer Guy:** Yeah.

**Screenwriter Guy:** I don't know, like an hour and a half?

**Producer Guy:** And what's this next part of the movie about?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Well it'd be them adapting to their new powers and all the craziness that goes with that.

**Producer Guy:** Mmm. Okay, I think we're gonna have to cut that out.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Oh, how come?

**Producer Guy:** I feel like it's going on for too long and also we don't wanna have them use their powers too much.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Right, the focus group.

**Producer Guy:** Exactly, so would it be super complicated to modify your script to kind of just jump to the end?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Actually super easy, barely an inconvenience.

**Producer Guy:** Really?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah, I'll cut out about an hour of stuff and we'll put a title on the screen that says "one year later".

**Producer Guy:** Great, so how does it end?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Well they're gonna rebuild the portal thing and bring back Victor.

**Producer Guy:** Oh, he didn't die?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Apparently not, so they bring him to the institute and he's like "I don't like it here, let me go back".

**Producer Guy:** Oh.

**Screenwriter Guy:** And they say "No" so he kills… all- all the people.

**Producer Guy:** Wow.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah and he's crazy powerful now, like he pops people's heads open and he busts open walls with his mind.

**Producer Guy:** So they let him go back to the other world?

**Screenwriter Guy:** No, they try to stop him because… *[thinks for several seconds]* I don't know why they stop him, but they try to stop him.

**Producer Guy:** Wow.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah but he goes back in anyway and by doing so he… um… *[flips through the script]* …creates a black hole.

**Producer Guy:** How does that happen?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Pfff, I don't know. Science. So then the Fantastic Four go to the dimension to fight him.

**Producer Guy:** Why doesn't he just pop their heads like everyone else?

**Screenwriter Guy:** I dunno, he decides to not use those moves on them, or something.

**Producer Guy:** That's convenient.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Very convenient. So they take turns punching him and it doesn't really work.

**Producer Guy:** Oh no.

**Screenwriter Guy:** So they regroup and they're like "We need to work together now".

**Producer Guy:** Wow.

**Screenwriter Guy:** And so they kinda take turns punching him and i- it works now.

**Producer Guy:** And that's it?

**Screenwriter Guy:** Yeah, they punch him into an energy thing and he like disintegrates, and then… that's it.

**Producer Guy:** Wow.

**Screenwriter Guy:** What do you think?

**Producer Guy:** Well it's a ton of setup paid off by very little action, so, according to our focus groups… we got a hit. And what's awesome is that if we really do have a hit we'll be able to keep these characters out of Marvel's hands for like a really long time.

**Screenwriter Guy:** Fantastic.

**Producer Guy:** Ah!

**Screenwriter Guy:** Aha.

**Producer Guy:** *[chuckles]*

*[cut to headline: **Disney Confirms Fantastic Four Will Join Marvel Cinematic Universe**]*