FANTASTIC FOUR PRESS CONFERENCE: TIM STORY AND AVI ARAD

The Continuum continues its coverage of the Fantastic Four movie with a press conference in New York City with director Tim Story and producer Avi Arad of Marvel Studios.

Following is an edited transcription of the press conference.

Question: This movie's opening the week after July 4 and against War of the Worlds. Is it the same audience? How do you think you're going to stand up?

Story: I'm just happy about the movie coming out. When it comes to thinking of the competition, it's a crowded summer and I don't think you can really guess what's going to happen. I'm just happy about 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's light and fun. It's a popcorn movie; come into the theater and just sit back and have a good time. I think the summer's been looking forward to something like our movie. And hopefully we get blessed with an audience.

Arad: I feel this is quite different than early this summer. Most of the movies were on the dark side. Fantastic Four traditionally, there's no secret identity, there's more of a dysfunctional family, kind of an an action comedy adventure. I think our audiences 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 the younger kids. This movie was really designed for everybody. It's a family movie. I think Tim put in a lot of fun, comedy and heart. Not at the intense end of it, but really true to the way Fantastic Four: loving, kind of sibling rivalry and the comedy that if you saw the movie, you know it's there.

Question: Tim, what was the journey like from being a rapper to doing this? And Avi, what qualities did Tim have that made you knew he was perfect for the job?

Arad: You asking me? I have no idea. (laughs).

Well, my Tim Story journey started with 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. For Fantastic Four, we needed someone with a good heart, a light head and a sense of comedy that can handle a group. It's very difficult. You can follow one character, but this one is pretty much a mayhem. You have five characters. And in a very short period of time the job was to introduce to the world the uninitiated the Fantastic Four and what their destiny is

And then we met with Tim. And we believe that directors put themselves on the screen in many ways. This movie is about the good heart and you have to be light with the problems and you have to accept your destiny. And he just loved it.

But then he did one more thing that was sort of the perfect ending to the story. He had to go home and talk to his wife about it. He was expecting a baby. He had to figure out, on one hand, it was an opportunity of a lifetime, especially for someone always loved the Fantastic Four. At the same time, it's about family. So when he left said he had to talk to his wife, we just looked around and we knew we had the right guy.

Story: To your other question, coming from music and this and that, I started with film early, like at age 12. And music, when I was young, at my neighborhood in high school, you either danced or you rapped. So I was a rapper for a while.

At the end of high school, what it really came down was picking one or the other. And film is the only medium where you use everything. You use music, you use art, you use drama, you use all of this. I discovered early on I wanted to do this and at some point as a teenage drifted back to it and fell in love with it. And now I have the opportunity to do films.

Question: Tim, you were quoted in a magazine the younger generation will say you're doing what The Incredibles did, but it's just the other way around. How would you explain to younger people the differences?

Story: I would just explain to them that there's origin. I'd say let me show you a comic book that was started 40-plus years ago, and check this out. The Incredibles was made in the last whatever, five years.

I had a niece and nephew I had to educate as well. And I basically just gave them these comic books and let them read these comics. And now they're into them so they almost know more than I do now. They loved The Incredibles. At the time I was doing the movie, they didn't really know what I was doing. They knew Uncle Tim was doing another movie. But when I explained to them what this was, they got it. And I think it's as simple as that.

Story: This is the origin of pretty much modern comic books. This is where it started -- with this magazine. I just tell the young people, "Let me show you something." And I think they get into it.

Question: What kind of pressure did you feel directing a film about one of Marvel's most successful comics?

Story: You know, you're walking in with an audience that expects a certain thing. And knowing that, I think when you do all films there's a certain pressure. It's not just from the studio. It's from yourself or whatever. And the pressure came from myself. I felt 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 who have had this history of being booed, and they talk about you on the internet. Avi told me immediately: "Do not read the internet." They picked me for a certain thing. They said, "Tim, we picked you for story and for character. We're going to support you when it comes to the effects and the action and stuff. Just go out there and do what it is you do."

With that kind of support, the pressure comes down to getting through the rainy days of Vancouver. That's where the real pressures comes to. Because when you're out there shooting, you're surrounding by everybody who supports you. Nobody's sitting there going, "No, you can't do it." They're going, "What's next?"

Question: Talking about the action sequences, that can get really hairy. Can you talk about any casualties on the set, something that might have gone wrong?

Story: Luckily, we didn't have a lot of casualties. The casualties would be us -- us being rained out. And we'd come up with ideas during things. You're out there and putting an 11-ton truck on a 300-foot (stretch) of the Brooklyn Bridge and it's raining, so you've got big screens overhead. The casualties were mainly us and our feelings because not everyday was not a perfect day for us.

As far as people working on the movie and things like that, in considering the quick prep and a rainy Vancouver, we did pretty well for ourselves.

Arad: We had great stunts, great stunt teams and we take great care with it. We've been doing it for a long time. And always with big action movies, we understand the pitfalls. There's nothing worse than someone getting injured on the set because of careless planning, so we put a lot of time into it.

Question: Tim, if there is a Fantastic Four 2, Avi has mentioned he'd like to see you direct a second one. Would you prepared to do it? And a few months back, Silver Surfer is something you mentioned you'd like to toy with. Do you still have that interest for Silver Surfer?

Story: I would definitely want to come back for the second. If you're familiar with this comic book, we've just scratched the surface. This is an origin movie and there's so many characters and so much that we have to get to, things like the Fantasticar.

Now that these guys are comfortable with their powers, there's a whole another attitude that comes on. To see Ben Grimm in this movie, Ben Grimm is not wanting to be what he is, but once he is comfortable with who he is, he's a funny character. He's just walking around town like a superstar.

I would love to be back. Avi knows. Working with Avi and the whole group was just ... I don't want to say incredible ... it was fantastic. So, I would love to be back.

When it comes to the Silver Surfer, I argue with Avi all the time about...

Arad: And he loses...

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

Arad: Well, the good news is that Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four, it's always Fox. And once we tell the Silver Surfer story, there's no reason sometime in the future (for) guest appearances and maybe connect the story. But right now, there's so many Fantastic Four stories to go. And we're just getting going with the Surfer. It's all good stuff to anticipate.

Question: Are the comic books selling more because of the films? Are younger audiences discovering comic books as a result of the movies?

Arad: That's a good question. Actually, after Spider-Man, it was the first time we saw the resurgence of comics to kids. All of a sudden, there was a new discovery.

And what we did this year as Marvel, we are now selling our comics at 7-Eleven and into Walgreen's, places where a kid can get to. One of the issues with the business was 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 (with) lesson plans. We brought the comics right to the kids, and their reaction was fantastic. So, if you go now to major chains, you see comics designed to younger kids. The philosophy is read anything, but if you can read comics and have fun with it, it's even better.

So now when we put out movies, especially things like Fantastic Four -- which is positive and wish fulfillment and empowerment and the soft end of what's right -- we support it with comics written for them. Ultimate Fantastic Four was a huge success and this movie will obviously help push the agenda.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about the casting, especially Jessica Alba and Chris Evans?

Story: What's cool about films like this, and Marvel and Fox have been like champions for it, is that they're just looking for the best cast. They're not concerned about getting the stratosphere star or whatever the cast may be. Whomever's best for the role, they'll pay for them if they cost a lot of money. So, in this case we looked for the best cast. Luckily enough, we were able to find the five, and including Kerry (Washington), the six people who were best for the part.

So when it comes to people like Jessica, she just came in and was right. She is blonde because the character in the comic book, Sue Storm, has always been blonde in the comic book. We just came in and looked for the best cast. With all of these guys, they were just such a find.

And I don't know who else could have played these parts better than they did. They came in, people like Ioan (Gruffudd) and Chris, came out of nowhere and were simply the best. They just blew us away.

Question: In making the decision about the focus of the film, how much did you want to stay true to the comic and how much did you feel you could vary? And how did you strike a balance between the four characters?

Arad: First, the movie is very true to the comics. Again, when you talk about comic origin when you publishing a book since 1961, there's no scenario that wasn't written by someone at sometime.

What worked very well in our movies historically is to connect the villain to the heroes. The only thing that I keep on reading about and hearing about and all the hate mail that we get, is that Victor was on the spaceship.

First it was a huge spaceship and we needed more people on it. I'm kidding.

The idea was to let us get to know Victor as a man first. And see that he's human and has human flaws. He's connected to the team and therefore the conflict between hero and villain becomes personal. The whole idea with this movie, the reason Tim is directing this movie, is relationships. As he said to you, the CGI and all that stuff, there are specialists today. You don't need to know that. There are guys who take care of that. You need to know what you want to see.

So it's very true to the comics. Eventually, Doom looks exactly like Doom. But it was most important to connect him with the team upfront.

All the rest comes from the story. How much the screen time each one gets, well... You need Ben to drive the idea that sometimes (becoming a hero) 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 the team. The script ends up determining screen time. It's not like we sit around saying, "Jessie needs another scene."

The story tells you who is going to be at the forefront of a certain story within the movie.

Question: How much of the fan base influenced you? Being a New Yorker, we love to see the film. But you went to Vancouver for much of the film.

Story: Like I was saying before, which I understand in hindsight was the best thing to for me ... originally the fan base, I don't mind saying, they weren't too happy with me. And Avi said, "Don't listen to them."

My true gauges for what I was doing was my knowledge of the comic book, and growing up on them, I felt pretty good about my position. And Avi and Kevin (Feige) over at Marvel, we really discussed to do what's best for the fan base. Avi and Kevin have done so many of these movies, they get it. They know every nuance that I needed to know in terms of that. So I never felt that pressure.

But at the same time what's cool about all the guys I worked with, we were doing a movie for a mass audience as well. You have to remember there's an audience out there who doesn't know who Sue Storm is. "They're astronauts? They did what?" They don't really care. They just want to see a good movie. If you can draw them in, you'll be OK>

We always respected the fan base, but at the same time, we just wanted to make the best movie we could.

Question: And Vancouver?

Story: It's just expensive to shoot in New York. We were blowing up stuff. We wanted to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge; you can't do that. Avi probably knows more about that than I do...

Arad: If you look at the movie, the movie is in New York. That's why it's a movie. The whole idea behind this industry is to make a reality from you imagination and visa versa. And by the way, we did shoot in New York. We did a lot of plates in New York. So we can integrate into the movie and have what is the classic Fantastic Four in Manhattan.

I wouldn't take you through all our movies. If I tell you certain scenes that you were absolutely sure were in New York, you'd be shock. It would be in Vancouver and other places.

I have to say one other thing about the fan base and what we started with Tim. I have to remind all of you, because of many of these faces I know by now after all these years, if you remember the first week after we announced Bryan Singer for X-Men. Not only was it negative, it was dispicable. The whole idea behind the X-Men, the philosophy behind the X-Men, was desecrated by the fan base.

So it's this passion, and that's why I was telling Tim, "Don't read it. Don't pay attention to it." There is a constituency of ours that pride themselves on building on the negative. I could give you names, but I have no reason to make them more famous than they think they are. But the point is, we have to pick our talent in what we believe is good for the movie.

The only place where we do listen to the fan base is in the characters themselves. If you go to the movie and say, "Chris Evans is Johnny Storm," that means that Tim Story is a great director and Chris is a great actor.

And the fact that Jessica Alba was not born blonde, it doesn't mean anything. It's like, times go by. Things change. Let's change with them.

At the same time, poor Jessica had to wear blue contact lens because it was such a thing, "Sue Storm has blue eyes." Who cares? But you know what, we tip our hand to it.

But this is where the fan base, with the anxiety and the love of the characters that sometimes gets them overboard. Yes, I start my day reading all these sites and making a hex -- Doctor Strange, he helps me -- on these guys.