‘Fantastic Four’ reboot adds a new trailer, subtracts a dimension

The final trailer for director Josh Trank’s “Fantastic Four” reboot is here to offer a long-teased look at Toby Kebbell’s Dr. Doom, the hooded evildoer who terrorizes the superhero quartet played by Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell.

As the 2 1/2-minute clip gives a taste of what Mr. Fantastic (Teller) and the gang are up against on-screen — ominous speeches, a creepy visage and widespread destruction, for starters — it also arrives in the wake of off-screen developments that underscore the challenges faced by the Fox tent-pole as it attempts to win over fans and jump-start a new franchise.

The release of the trailer comes days after Fox hyped the movie at Comic-Con International in San Diego, putting it in front of legions of the faithful. Ultimately, however, “Fantastic Four” was overshadowed by Fox’s previews of “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Deadpool,” not to mention rival studios’ presentations.

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Around the same time, a report from the U.K.-based website Final Reel confirmed that “Fantastic Four” will not be released in 3-D as originally planned. In a statement, Trank cited artistic reasons for the reversal, saying he wanted the movie experience “to remain as pure as possible for the audience, which means in 2D, just as we shot the movie.”

While a traditional 2-D release may well be Trank’s preference, the change has once again whipped up rumors of a troubled production. Back in May, a Hollywood Reporter story citing unnamed sources described his behavior on the “Fantastic Four” set as “erratic.”

Trank has rebutted that notion, telling The Times, “If you ask anybody by name who I’ve worked with, from [the producers] or my crew or anybody else, they’d be like, ‘We’ve been working really hard on this movie and we’ve had an excellent time working together.’” He added, “It’s been a challenging movie — for all of the right reasons.”

Fox has a lot riding on the film, including a reported $122-million production budget and an intended sequel that’s already on the calendar for 2017. Ultimately, whether the reboot lives up to its “Fantastic” title will be determined by moviegoers; the movie opens Aug. 7.

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