By Tonisha Johnson

Fantastic Four is opening up a week after July 4th. How do you both feel the film will stand up to the popularity of “War of the Worlds”?

Tim Story: I’m just happy about the movie coming out. Thinking of the competition, you know, this is a crowded summer. And don’t really think you can guess what’s going to happen. I’m just really happy at what’s going on and the job that Fox has done. I mean, it’s everywhere. I just think we have a family movie that is light and fun. A popcorn movie that we can come in the theatre and sit back and have a good time. I just think that this summer has kind of been looking forward to something like our movie. And hopefully we get blessed with an audience.

Avi Arad: I feel this is quite different from most of the movies this summer. Quite a bit of the movies are on the dark side. Fantastic Four is more an action comedy adventure. I think that all of the answers are going to be on the top end. Similar, young men and young women; on the low end, we have a hidden treasure which is young kids. This movie was designed for everybody. It’s a family movie. Fun, comedy and heart is the intense end of it. But really true to the way Fantastic Four is supposed to be. Like sibling rivalry, that kind of comedy, that if you saw the movie, you should know it’s there.

What kind of pressure did you feel directing one of Marvel’s most successful comics?

Tim Story: You know your already walking into an audience that already expects a certain thing. Knowing that, I think, in all films, when you’re doing films there is a certain pressure that’s not just from the studio, it’s from yourself or whatever. The pressure just came from myself. I knew immediately what I was getting into and Avi was quick to educate me on what I was getting into and I was able to talk to a couple of directors that had been through this history of being booed and they talk about you on the internet. And Avi told me immediately, do not read the internet. You know, they picked me for certain things and they say they only picked you for story and character and this and that. But they said where going to support for the effects and action and stuff. So go ahead and do what it is that you do. And with that kind of support it just comes down to getting through the rainy days of Vancouver. And that’s what the real pressure comes from. When you’re out there shooting, you’re surrounded by people out there that support you. No ones sitting in front of you saying no you can’t do it; they’re all saying what’s next?, so…the pressure was big but I dealt with it.

What qualities did Tim Story have that made him good for the job?

Avi Arad: Well, my Tim Story journey started by my wife and I going to see Barbershop. And Barbershop, as you remember was 10 characters in one room for two hours. A lot of story and a lot of terrific acting. And for Fantastic Four, we needed someone with a good heart, a light head and a sense of comedy that can follow a group. It’s very difficult. You can follow one character but this one is pretty much of mayhem. We have five characters, six characters in a way…and you know, a very short period of time, to introduce to the world, the uninitiated Fantastic Four. You know, who they are and what they’re destiny is. And then we met with Tim, and we really feel the directors put themselves on the screen in many ways. This movie is about a good heart and you have to be light with the problems. You have to accept the destiny and we just loved it. But then he did one more thing that was the perfect ending to the story. He had to go home and talk to his wife about it. And actually was expecting a baby.

Tim Story: Yeah.

Avi Arad: He had to figure out, on one hand it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for someone who has always loved the Fantastic Four, at the same time, it’s about family so I don’t know, but when he left and said that he has to talk to his wife, we just looked around and we knew we got the right guy.

The action sequences were great in the film. Can you tell me if there were any casualties on the set? Was there anything that might have gone wrong?

Tim Story: Luckily, we didn’t have a lot of casualties. The casualties were probably just …

Avi Arad: Us!

Tim Story: Yeah. Us. Being rained out. And you know, we trying to come up with ideas. You put an 11 hundred truck on 300 feet of the Brooklyn Bridge; it’s raining so you got big screens overhead. Casualties were basically us and our feelings because not everyday was the day for us. But as far as people working on the movie and things like that, we had a really…I mean, you know, considering a quick prep in rainy Vancouver, we did pretty well for ourselves.

Avi Arad: We had great stunt teams. And we take great care with it. I’ve been doing it for a long time. Always these big action movies. And we understand the pitfalls and nothing worse can happen on the set if someone gets injured because of a careless planning. So, we put a lot of planning into it.

Can you talk a little bit about the casting of the 5 main roles?

Tim Story: What’s cool about films like this and Marvel and Fox have been like…umm, champion for…they’re all just looking for the best cast. Their not really concerned with looking for the most stratified star or whatever the case maybe. Who’s ever best for the role, they’ll pay for them, even if it costs more money. So, in this case, we looked for the best cast and luckily enough we were able to find the five, six including Kerry (Alicia Masters) you know the six people that were best for the part. So, when it comes to people like Jessica, is that she came in because she was right. She came in blond, because Sue Storm has always been blond in the comic books. We just look for the best character. And with all these guys, you know they were such a find. I don’t know who could have played these parts better than they did. They came in and people like, Ioan and Chris just came out of nowhere. They were just so good they just blew us away.

What correlation is there to the film and the comic books now that the movie is out? Are the comic books selling more because of the film? Have you captured a new, younger audience?

Avi Arad: That is a good question. Actually, after Spider Man we saw the resurgence of comic books to kids. It was a new discovery. And what we did this year as Marvel, we are now selling these comics at 7-11, Walgreen’s…places where a kid can get to them. A lot of the issues with business is that kids couldn’t get to the store. With Fantastic Four, we went a step further. We actually did a program with the schools called “Do the Right Thing”. and lesson plans and we brought the comics right to the kids. And their reaction was fantastic. So, if you go out to major chains. You’ll see comics designed for younger kids. The philosophy is, if you can read comics and have fun with it, it’s even better. So, now when we put up movies, like Fantastic Four, that is positive and has a rich fulfillment. And has empowerment and a soft end of what’s right…we support it with comics written for that. You know, ultimate Fantastic Four was a huge success. This move will obviously have pushed the agenda.

How much did you feel you needed to stay true to the comic? And how much did you feel you could vary? How much emphasis did you place on each of the 5 characters?

Avi Arad: First, the movie is very true the comics. The only difference between…and again when you talk about origin when you publish the books, trust me, there is no scenario that was written by someone at sometime…what worked very well in our movie and historically was to connect the villain to the hero. And the only thing that I keep on reading about and hearing about is that Victor was on the space ship. The idea was, let us get to know Victor as a man first. He is human and has human flaws and is connected to the hero team. Therefore, the conflict from a villain to a hero is personal. The whole idea behind this movie, the reason Tim is directing this movie, is relationships. As I said to you, the CGI, the specialist stuff, you don’t need to know that. But the guys who take care of that need to know what we want to see. So, it’s very true to the comics. And eventually, Doom looked exactly like Dr. Doom. But it was most important to connect him to the team upfront. All the rest comes out of the story. And how much screen time each one gets, well, you need Ben to drive the idea that sometimes hero’s is not the best thing that can happen to you. You need Johnny to interact with all of them. You need Sue to be the glue for all of them. The script ends of determining screen time. It’s not like we turn around and say Jessica needs another seen. The story tells you who is going to be at the forefront of a certain story within the movie.

Did you preview the film to some fans and went back to make changes based on those reactions?

Tim Story: The fan base, like I was saying before, which I understand that in Hein site it was probably the best thing to do for me. Originally the fan base, I don’t mind fans, but they weren’t too happy with me. And Avi said don’t listen to them. My true gages was my knowledge of the comic books and growing up on them I felt pretty good about my position. And really, you know Avi and Kevin over at Marvel, we really discussed what we needed to do to maintain and really what’s best for the fan base. Avi and Kevin have done so many of these movies…they get it. They’ve done every nuance of movies that I’ve done in terms of that so, I never felt that pressure. But at the same time, what’s cool about all the guys that I’ve worked with and you know, we also had to realize that we were doing a movie for a mass audience as well, so you have to remember that there’s an audience out there and they don’t know who Sue Storm is and they don’t know that their astronauts…they did what? They don’t really care. They just want to see a really good movie. And if you can just draw them in…you’ll be ok. So ah…we’ve always respected the fan base but at the same time we just wanted to make the best movie that we could.

Obviously Tim, we would like to see you direct a second one. Would you be prepared to do it?

Tim Story: I would definitely want to come back for a second one. If you’re familiar with these comic books, we just scratched the surface. And this is an origin movie. And there’s so many characters. You know, there’s so much that we have to get to. Now that these guys are kind of comfortable with their powers, there’s a whole nother attitude that comes on. In this movie, Ben Grimm is not wanting to be what he is. After he is comfortable with what he is, he’s a funny character. He’s kind of walking around town like a super star. Avi knows that I would love…just working with Avi and the group was like…well, I don’t want to say incredible...lol...it was fantastic. So I would love to be back.

There’s been some talk of bringing the Silver Surfer to life?

Tim Story: Well, when it comes to the Silver Surfer, I argue with Avi all the time about…

Avi Arad: And he loses.

Tim Story: And I lose all the time about I want Silver Surfer for the third movie.

Avi Arad: The good news is that Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four are all in talks. And once we tell the Silver Surfer story, there’s no reason for sometimes in the future not to do guest appearances and maybe connect the story. But right now, there’s so many fantastic stories to go. It’s all good stuff to anticipate.

What was the transition like Tim, coming from music to film?

Tim Story: Well, coming from music and this and that, I started with film early like at age twelve. You know, in my neighborhood, you either danced or you rapped. And so I was a rapper for awhile. At the end of high school, what it really came down to was picking one or the other. Film was the only medium where you used everything. You know, you used music, you use art, you use drama and you use all of this and so, I knew early on that I wanted to do this and from a teenager I just drifted back to it. I just fell in love with it and of course got the opportunity to do films.

Does any money end up going to Jack Kirby’ estate or his relatives?

Avi Arad: No. There’s no money going to the Kirby estate. Jack Kirby was a “hands for hire” like all the Marvel artists. He got credit but not money.

Tim, the younger generation might think that this film is just taking from The Incredibles, but it’s the other way around. How would you explain that to them?

Tim Story: I would just explain to them that there’s origin. When you look at The Incredibles, I would say let me show you a comic that was done about 40 plus years ago and check this out. The Incredibles was made in the last 5 years. I think it’s pretty simple. I have a niece and nephew that I had to educate as well so…I basically just gave them these comic books and let them read these comics. And now they’re into them and they almost know more than I do now. Just to see the education of them. They love Incredibles. At the time I was doing the movie, they didn’t know what I was doing. To them, Uncle Tim was doing another movie. When I explained to them what this was, they just got it. And I think it’s just as simple as that. This is the origin of pretty much modern comic books. This is where it started with this magazine. It’s as simple as that. I would say let me show you something and they would get into it.

Why shoot in Vancouver?

Tim Story: Well, it’s just expensive to shoot in New York. I mean, we wanted to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge. We can’t do that. So…I think that Avi knows more about that than I do, but I think …

Avi Arad: Well, if you look at the movie, the movie is in New York. It’s a movie. The whole idea behind this industry is to create …make a reality from imagination and vice versa. So, you try and shoot…and by the way, we did shoot in New York. And we did a lot of places in New York so we can integrate in with the movie. Enough what one can expect to be the classic Fantastic Four in Manhattan. I wouldn’t take you through all our movies. If I tell you where certain scenes where shot in some movies, you will absolutely sure you would be in New York, you would be shocked because it wouldn’t be in Vancouver or other places. I have to say one more thing about the fan base and what we started with Tim. I have to remind you that if you remember the first week when we announced Bryan Singer for X Men, not only was it negative, it was actually despicable. It was exactly the whole idea behind the X-Men, the philosophy behind the X Men was Descente grated by the fan base. That’s why I was telling Tim, don’t read it, and don’t pay attention to it. The constituency of ours. The prudence of building on the negative. I can give you names, but I have no reason to make them more famous than they think they are. The point is, we have to pick out the talent in what we believe is good for the movie. The only place where we listen to the fan base is in the characters themselves. And if you go to the movies and say, Chris Evans, he is Johnny Storm. That means Tim Story is a great director and Chris is a great actor. From the fact that Jessica Alba was not born blond it doesn’t mean anything. It’s like times go by…things change…let’s change with them. At the same time, put Jessica to where blue eye contacts. But it was such a thing, “Well, Sue Storm had blue eyes”, but who cares. Oh well, we’ll keep our heads to it. But this is where the fan base and their anxiety and love of characters that sometimes get them overboard. So, yes, I start my day reading all the sides and they make some kind of hex that I use Dr. Strange to help me fight back these guys. As far as the talent, they should concentrate on making the movie and the fans the fun movie they made.