Friday movie roundup - June 15
Friday, June 15th, 2007
In this summer of sequels, is any film less-anticipated than “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”? The 2005 original is widely regarded as one of the worst superhero films, and it grossed only $150 million at the box office. (That’s big money to you and me, but for a summer blockbuster franchise, it’s a flop. You may recall that “Spider-Man 3″ made that much in one weekend.) But apparently they felt justified trying again, because here we are with a sequel … and it’s actually quite a bit better. Not quite “good,” but definitely better.
They didn’t screen it until last night in most markets, which is indicative of the amount of faith Twentieth Century Fox has in it. In some places, they had press screenings earlier in the week, but only for “legitimate” critics, i.e., those who write for daily newspapers. People at the weeklies and of course us no-good online critics had to wait until Thursday night, for a promo screening. At the Portland screening, they didn’t even bother taping off seats for the press, like they usually do. That’s how uninterested Fox is in dealing with the critics when it comes to this particular film.