Overview

• Speaking on the Fade to Black podcast this week, Columbus said he was producing the first film and offering notes when the 20th Century Fox chief called to let him go for having “too much of an opinion.”
• He said his executive-producer credits on the 2005 film and its 2007 sequel did not reflect any role in the completed movies.
• Columbus noted he had previously circled Spider-Man and wrote a Daredevil script, adding that the Fantastic Four episode helped sour him on directing superhero projects.
• He cited Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 and Matt Reeves’ The Batman as examples that convinced him others now handle the genre better.
• The 2005 Fantastic Four, directed by Tim Story and released to poor reviews, grossed about $333 million worldwide, as Columbus promotes his new Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club, out August 28.