Screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg is one of the key figures in Fox's Marvel universe. He has either a writing or producing credit on nearly every X-Men film and is overseeing the Deadpool and Gambit stand-alone films.
However, despite his strong track record with comic book movies, Kinberg isn't past throwing up a dud every now and then. His latest work - the much maligned Fantastic Four reboot - was a critical and commercial bomb. The movie, which Kinberg co-wrote together with director Josh Trank, grossed just $160 million worldwide and was universally panned by fans and critics alike.
In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kinberg opened up about the film's struggles and shared his plans for the future of the franchise and his other Marvel projects.
On what went wrong with Fantastic Four:
I haven't really done a full diagnosis. It was a hard movie to make, but I've made a lot of hard movies. I do think that there is a great Fantastic Four movie with that cast. But there's so many different elements that need to come together perfectly.
Kinberg says despite everything, he would still be willing to work with director Josh Trank in 'the right context.'
On future X-Men films:
We want to keep making them. Obviously, part of what we're doing now is stand-alone movies with new characters. So we have the Deadpool movie [Feb. 12], we're doing a Gambit movie [seeking a director]. We're doing another Wolverine. And then we have the mainline X-Men movies with Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast that we started with First Class, Days of Future Past,Apocalypse. I would love to keep making movies with that cast.
With regards to casting, Kinberg says that deals with the principle cast members will have to be ironed out.
