Trank For ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Reboot?

The long-gestating Fantastic Four reboot is slowly taking shape, and Josh Trank has emerged as the front-runner to direct it. According to Variety, 20th Century Fox will extend a formal offer to him as long as Chronicle doesn’t bomb at the box office.

There were two Fantastic Four movies previously, both of which were panned by critics and purists, but which were family-friendly enough to make $620 million between them at the box office.

Why a reboot and why now? Because Fox needs to keep making movies based on the characters to retain the rights. Which is why all comic book movies get rebooted every few years. Hopefully they’ll do a better job with the Fantastic Four this time around. Michael Green is working on the script.

Chronicle, Trank’s debut feature, is set to open in the U.S. over Super Bowl weekend. It follows three teenagers who become superheroes after making a spectacular discovery. Unfortunately they have to battle with the dark side of their newfound powers.