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A documentary that tells the history of the ill-fated movie version of the “Fantastic Four” that was executive produced by Roger Corman.
Before Marvel became a household name for modern cinematic movies based on comics, before they were one of the top producers of superhero-themed content in the world, they were a struggling company desperately trying to create profits from their comics storylines. “Doomed” follows the story of the creation for the first live action adaptation of “Fantastic Four” by Roger Corman. This documentary fabulously examines the life of marvel film in the ’90s prior to the burst in popularity in the late 2000s.
The documentary starts at the beginning of the film development. It chronicles the start of production from the moment that the option for the film ended up with Neue Constanine Studios. The option was scheduled to expire on December 31st, 1992, from the company so the owner, Bernd Eichinger, came out with a great plan. That the studio would make the movie on a low budget and get into into development and shooting prior the end of the year. Production began on December 28, 1992 under director Oley Sassone. The movie was scheduled to be released the following year. From the footage gathered during production, a trailer was put together and began airing in theaters around the country. Fans were beginning to talk about the film. The film even had its character creator Stan Lee, come out to the movie’s Hollywood set a number of times, as well as speak about the release of the film in his own press releases. The world premiere was announced to take place at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 19th, 1994. Then things took a turn for the worst. The truth about the film’s goal and development began to come to light. Eichinger informed Sassone that the movie would not be released. The movie production was an undertaking to stop the studio from losing the film. Then Eichinger made a deal with a future marvel executive, Avi Arad, to sell the movie’s rights over to him for a few million dollars. Arad had big plans for the Marvel family of four and in order to stop a low budget film that could tarnish the brand, he made a deal with Eicheger. The cast was crushed and the fans never got see the film product in theaters. The footage was taken away even from the director. Though in all this tragedy, something amazing occurred, someone stole a copy of the film edited with its studio soundtrack prior to the all of the material being seized by Arad’s associates. Most of the cast didn’t find out til years later that the film actually surfaced online and in bootleg copies at comic conventions. The movie has since become a cult classic among many Marvel comic fans.
The documentary explores never-before-seen footage that explores the crew and cast of the film as well as their feelings about how it all went down and they were told the news of that the film would not be publicly released, yet now internet famous in the underground community. I was actually lucky enough to see this film and had to admit that it was even better than the team’s later release with its shoestring budget. It wouldn’t have gotten a sequel, in my opinion, but would have been well received in a time of low expectations for Marvel films. The story is honest and close to the comics. The cast was filled with chemistry and fun to watch. The costumes feel like something a cosplayer would put together but it is still a great film to watch. It should give many cosplayers ideas to go make something on a shoestring budget. Technology and film has come a long way since 1993, and there are now more fans than ever for superhero characters. A documentary like this reminds us not only of the business side of production as fans and filmmakers, but the passion that exists within fans to see their shared interest in these imagined characters brought to life. It reminds us that even if released years later, fans would still be eager to see the film, just to see what could have been. The “Fantastic Four”’s latest rendition was a box office nightmare. Maybe the next one doesn’t have to be as big, just in better hands. Who knows what a small studio can produce until given the chance.
Available on Digital October 11th
