20th CENTURY FOX WANTS MAX LANDIS TO RE-WORK HIS ‘CHRONICLE’ SEQUEL SCRIPT
Chronicle was one of the most delightful surprises of 2012. When the trailers hit, I immediately wrote the film off as yet another half-assed attempt at the stale “found-footage” genre, populated by grating, unlikeable teenage characters who obtain super powers – The Blair Witch Project meets Heroes starring a bunch of emo douchebags. But I could not have been more wrong, because the film – under the skillful direction of newbie Josh Trank – was compelling, visceral, exciting and fresh, with fleshed-out, likeable, and sympathetic young characters. It was a great spin on the superhero genre.
The excellent screenplay was written by Max Landis, the son of legendary comedy director John Landis (Animal House, Blues Brothers), and he recently turned in a draft for the proposed sequel to 20th Century Fox, which they apparently hate. John Landis himself broke the news to the The Playlist that Fox is not pleased with the draft, and is acting like stodgy, unimaginative corporate dicks about it:
Ugh, that is just soul-crushing and disheartening to hear. Corporate, bottom-line mentality at its very worst. They don’t want a true sequel to Chronicle that expands on the mythology and takes the characters to new and interesting places, both literally and figuratively; they want a safe, stale re-hash of the same ground the first film covered. They want a formulaic franchise they can produce on the cheap, reaping immense profits ala the Paranormal Activity franchise. LAME.
Hopefully someone at Fox comes to their senses and champions the creative Chronicle sequel we deserve. I’m now very concerned that Fox will shaft Josh Trank and shoot down any fun and exciting ideas he wants to bring to the table for the Fantastic Four reboot.
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