Josh Trank Could Learn a Lesson in Humility from Joel Schumacher
Last week Josh Trank sent out a tweet that sealed his fate as the worst comic book director. It's not that he just made a bad movie with Fantastic Four; it's the fact that he doesn't own up to it. I mean, I totally understand his frustrations, but that's no excuse to disrespect the hard-working people on your set whose jobs are to follow your "directions." That's when I remembered an article I read about Joel Schumacher and who he blames for the nipple-tastic Batman & Robin... Himself. In an interview with Variety last year, Schumacher explained what occured after the box-office success of Batman Forever.
"They immediately wanted a sequel, but I said yes. There’s nobody else to blame but me. I could have said, 'No, I’m not going to do it.'
"Val [Kilmer] left at eleventh hour to do The Island of Dr. Moreau. It changed everything. George [Clooney] made a noble effort. I was the problem with Batman & Robin. I never did a sequel to any of my movies, and sequels are only made for one reason: to make more money and sell more toys. I did my job. But I never got my ass in the seat right.
"I just hope whenever I see a list of the worst movies ever made, we’re not on it. I didn’t do a good job. George did. Chris [O’Donnell] did. Uma [Thurman] is brilliant in it. Arnold is Arnold."
What a class act. He knows it was bad, but he doesn't blame anyone for it but himself. If I were in Trank's position, I hope I would have the humility to say, "I bit off more than I could chew." Not "Everyone is stupid for not letting me do it my way!" (Slight paraphrase). I think this difference in attitude is what gave Schumacher a steady career afterwards, and why Trank will be lucky to work as a coffee runner.
So what do you guys think? Is Trank the new Schumacher? Can you forgive Bat Nipples?