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Josh Trank’s career did not end after Fantastic Four (released August 2015), but it took a serious hit. He left a planned Boba Fett Star Wars film, went about five years without a released feature until Capone in 2020, and has described that period as personally hard. Most of what is known comes from Trank’s own interviews, some given years later, and from trade and newspaper reporting from the time. Those accounts do not fully agree with each other, so this article separates what is documented from what is his recollection or a disputed claim.
The film Trank was building before the backlash
Trank came to Fantastic Four after directing Chronicle (2012). In a Los Angeles Times interview published in August 2015, he and writer-producer Simon Kinberg described an origin story built around the frightening loss of control over one’s own body, with a darker, more science-oriented tone than earlier versions of the team. Trank said he had pitched a version in which the accident that gives the characters their powers would play out as a horror scene. The interview was given while the film was still in its promotional run, so it reflects the filmmakers’ stated intentions rather than how audiences received them. (Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2015)
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Criticism and rumors during the release
The film drew criticism over its tone and its adaptation choices. Michael B. Jordan’s casting as Johnny Storm was one of the points of contention. Reports also circulated about a troubled production and about Trank’s behavior on set.
In June 2015, Trank rejected reports that he had been fired from the planned Star Wars film because of erratic behavior, and he disputed other personal allegations made in that coverage. Those reports should be read as claims and denials. None of the sources establish them as fact.
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Leaving the Boba Fett film: two explanations
Trank and Lucasfilm announced his departure from the planned Boba Fett film in May 2015. Trank has since given two explanations, separated by about five years. They differ in emphasis, and the later one is a retrospective account.
| Source and date | Explanation Trank gave | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2015 (interview) | Public scrutiny over the preceding years made another huge franchise the wrong move at that moment. He wanted to make original work: “I want to do something original after this because I’ve been living under public scrutiny, as you’ve seen, for the last four years of my life.” He added: “And it’s not healthy for me right now in my life. I want to do something that’s below the radar.” | Given on the record while the reports about his firing were circulating. He denied being fired for erratic behavior. |
| SYFY WIRE, May 5, 2020 (article) | He quit because he expected to be fired: “I quit because I knew I was going to be fired if I didn’t quit.” | Retrospective account given five years after the departure. It is Trank’s own account and is not independently verified in the coverage. |
The two explanations are not necessarily contradictory. A person can be under strain from scrutiny and also believe a firing is coming. But the 2015 statement was made in public at the time, and the 2020 statement reframes the decision as one he made to get ahead of a dismissal. Readers should weigh them as different kinds of evidence.
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The reshoots and the editing room, in Trank’s account
In a 2020 interview with SYFY WIRE, Trank described the studio’s reshoots as supervised by Simon Kinberg and producer Hutch Parker. He said the choices of studio editor Stephen Rivkin left him feeling that Rivkin had effectively become the director. He used a blunt image to describe the experience: “It was like being castrated.”
These are Trank’s recollections of the post-production process. The reporting records what he said. It does not establish, on its own, how the decisions were made or who made them, and other participants have not been shown to have confirmed his version.
Casting: Sue Storm and the Black actors
In a June 2020 interview with TheWrap, Trank said Fox executives gave “heavy pushback” on casting a Black actress as Sue Storm. He said he wanted Black actors for Sue, Johnny, and Franklin Storm, and that he regretted not insisting on the choice. He said: “There was a lot of controversial conversations that were had behind the scenes.” He also said: “I should have just walked when that sort of realization hit me, and I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t just out of principle.” (TheWrap, June 6, 2020)
The studio’s position is not given in these accounts, so the casting dispute is one-sided in the record. The Jordan casting controversy from the release period is a separate matter.
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The gap and the return with Capone
Trank’s next released feature was Capone, starring Tom Hardy, released in 2020. In an interview with Esquire published May 12, 2020, Trank said Hardy’s support helped others believe in the project, and that he had final cut. The same interview records him discussing therapy after Fantastic Four. That detail is his own account, and it describes personal strain, not a diagnosis.
The gap between the two films is the most concrete measure of the setback. The sources covered here document no released feature between Fantastic Four and Capone. Later work falls outside this account.
How to weigh these accounts
- Contemporaneous statements (the 2015 Los Angeles Times interview) show what Trank chose to say while the events were unfolding. They are not neutral proof of his motives.
- Retrospective interviews (SYFY WIRE, TheWrap, Esquire, all 2020) show how he now understands the decisions. They can differ from the earlier account.
- Trade reports about behavior rely on claims that were disputed at the time. Treat them as allegations.
- Financial and reputational consequences are not quantified in these sources. No reliable net-loss figure for Fantastic Four is established, and the box-office and budget figures that circulate online for Chronicle do not apply to this film.
- Personal health is mentioned only in Trank’s own words. Nothing here supports a diagnosis.
On the question of whether the film “broke” Trank, the record supports a serious professional setback: a lost franchise job, a heavily criticized release, and a five-year gap before his next released feature. It does not support the claim that his career was over.
Preserve the phrasing of the question in search: what happened after Fantastic Four broke Josh Trank is answered above in the sequence of events, but readers searching for “What happened to Josh Trank?” will find the same answer.
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