Long before Fantastic Four hit theaters this weekend, 20th Century Fox put The Fantastic Four 2 sequel in development, which the studio has set for release on June 9, 2017. Fantastic Four suffered from a rash of negative reviews and failed to take down last weekend's box office champion Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, taking in an underwhelming $26.2 million in its first weekend in theaters.
The Daily Superhero reveals the studio may be canceling their sequel, and instead slating a follow-up to Deadpool in the June 9, 2017 release slot. Deadpool is riding a wave of positive buzz after the explicit red band trailer was released during Comic-Con last month. Last week, a report surfaced that Deadpool 2 may feature characters such as Cable, leader of the comic book team X-Force. 20th Century Fox is currently developing an X-Force movie at this time, but no cast members have been confirmed yet and it isn't known who may play Cable.
If this rumor turns out to be true, that means production would have to get started either late this year or early in 2016, to get the sequel ready for the June 9, 2017 release date. It isn't known if screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick or director Tim Miller will be back for the follow-up, but star Ryan Reynolds has already said he would come back to shoot a Deadpool sequel. "(There were) delayed casting and script approvals, slashed the budget by tens of millions from what was originally promised, and tried to force last-minute changes to the film just as principal photography was beginning. The studio was hemming and hawing on approvals for the final script, it stalled crew workers who were trying to build sets, make costumes, props, and prep the movie. This created confusion and stress from the get-go that often boiled over among department heads trying to put together pieces of a movie that was still in flux."
