Three times the suck or, not so marvelous

Those that keep up with the ever churning geek rumor mill are by now fully aware of the level of suck that X3 threatens to unleash next summer, but, as if to drive the point home, CHUD is reporting another set of disturbing turns. From casting mishaps to more overzealous spinoff development, this film is driving down to the depths of cinematic waste faster than you can say The Core.*

Maybe after Fantastic Four comes out and posts the severely dissapointing numbers I'm expecting based on its surefire combination of bad reviews, negative hype and awful marketing, Avi Arad and Tim Rothman will have the sense to ditch the impossible release date, bizarre script choices and flack director they've saddled to their Summer '06 tentpole.

And speaking for Fantastic Four's box-office, director Tim Story apparently made the claim that his film was going to "whoop War of the World's ass" at the box office. Not only is the statement telling about where Story's values are in all of this (box office returns), but Spielberg and Cruise also shed some light with their reponses. When questioned about the remark, these are the gentlemanly replies the two gave:

Cruise: I’d like to see that picture do really well, and I want all the movies to do well. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to go see that picture. I can’t wait.

Spielberg: I want to go see it with my kids.

The thing is, not only are they showing professional politeness, they're refusing to engage in Story's blustery, finacially-driven braggodacio - because they don't have to. Fantastic Four already backed off its planned July 4 weekend release date because anyone who's ever been to a movie knows there's no way a cobbled-together mess like FF can compete with Spielberg and Cruise against aliens.

______________________________________
*Or, alternately, Catwoman.