On June 4th Entertainment Weekly reported that Josh Trank had been selected to direct one of the two Star Wars
spin-offs that will accompany J.J. Abrams new trilogy (this writer
sincerely hopes that he will be helming the rumored Boba Fett origin
story). Gareth Edwards, of Godzilla (2014) fame, will be
directing the other spin-off (reports indicate that it will chronicle
the adventures of the young Han Solo).
What makes this report particularly interesting (or vexing, it’s hard to say) is that they seem to mirror the strategy that Disney (who owns the rights to Star Wars) used to create the insanely lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s easy to forget, having run through one Avengers and being well on our way into The Age of Ultron, that when The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor were initially released (as the opening gambit leading to towards Joss Whedon’s mega-hit) Disney employed this same strategy. Louis Leterrier, who made The Incredible Hulk, had his bones with the first two (underrated) Transporter movies, Jon Favreau made Elf before Iron Man, and Kenneth Branagh’s directorial history was largely limited to Shakespeare adaptations. These film-makers all had distinct visual styles (a friend of mine uses Thor to teach undergraduates about visual style in cinema because of the incessant use of Dutch angles, shot/reverse shot, and high-lows—Branagh may as well have written his name across every frame of this thing in finger-paints), but none of them were in a position to resist the studio’s insistence on continuity that ultimately prompted Edgar Wright to abandon Ant-Man (that’s the kind of swag you get from the Cornetto Trilogy).
Now Disney is doing the same thing to Josh Trank. I would never tell someone that they shouldn’t do what is sure to be exceptionally lucrative work, but there is a career concern that accompanies this kind of creative choice. Trank, who is also directing next summer’s Fantastic Four reboot, is an exceptionally talented young director. Chronicle, his debut film, is one of the greatest super-hero movies ever made (though perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a super-power movie). If one is willing to overlook the cinematic felony that is the use of the found-footage technique (can we please, please, please stop with this already?), Chronicle is much closer to achieving the timbre of the young Spielberg (it’s Close Encounters but with action) than anything J.J. Abrams has ever directed (yes, including Super 8). The sense of mystery and awe at the unknown that runs through Chronicle is genuinely eye-opening. Given the massive profits of that film, and the sure to be hefty returns on The Fantastic Four (as bad as the last two were, enough people will surely see the reboot to make it a hit), I would love to have seen what Trank was capable of in another movie of his own invention. I worry that with each new superhero movie his future work will be more and more locked into the genre. It’s a shame. I would love to have seen his Jaws.
This content appeared originally at Pop, Shop, and Troll
What makes this report particularly interesting (or vexing, it’s hard to say) is that they seem to mirror the strategy that Disney (who owns the rights to Star Wars) used to create the insanely lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s easy to forget, having run through one Avengers and being well on our way into The Age of Ultron, that when The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor were initially released (as the opening gambit leading to towards Joss Whedon’s mega-hit) Disney employed this same strategy. Louis Leterrier, who made The Incredible Hulk, had his bones with the first two (underrated) Transporter movies, Jon Favreau made Elf before Iron Man, and Kenneth Branagh’s directorial history was largely limited to Shakespeare adaptations. These film-makers all had distinct visual styles (a friend of mine uses Thor to teach undergraduates about visual style in cinema because of the incessant use of Dutch angles, shot/reverse shot, and high-lows—Branagh may as well have written his name across every frame of this thing in finger-paints), but none of them were in a position to resist the studio’s insistence on continuity that ultimately prompted Edgar Wright to abandon Ant-Man (that’s the kind of swag you get from the Cornetto Trilogy).
Now Disney is doing the same thing to Josh Trank. I would never tell someone that they shouldn’t do what is sure to be exceptionally lucrative work, but there is a career concern that accompanies this kind of creative choice. Trank, who is also directing next summer’s Fantastic Four reboot, is an exceptionally talented young director. Chronicle, his debut film, is one of the greatest super-hero movies ever made (though perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a super-power movie). If one is willing to overlook the cinematic felony that is the use of the found-footage technique (can we please, please, please stop with this already?), Chronicle is much closer to achieving the timbre of the young Spielberg (it’s Close Encounters but with action) than anything J.J. Abrams has ever directed (yes, including Super 8). The sense of mystery and awe at the unknown that runs through Chronicle is genuinely eye-opening. Given the massive profits of that film, and the sure to be hefty returns on The Fantastic Four (as bad as the last two were, enough people will surely see the reboot to make it a hit), I would love to have seen what Trank was capable of in another movie of his own invention. I worry that with each new superhero movie his future work will be more and more locked into the genre. It’s a shame. I would love to have seen his Jaws.
This content appeared originally at Pop, Shop, and Troll
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