When Chronicle came out in February 2012, it surprised a lot of people with its personal, darker take on superhero origin stories. Shot in a documentary/found-footage style, the film followed three friends as they are endowed with superpowers that, eventually, leads one of them down the wrong path. On a basic narrative level, Chronicle was as realistic of a superhero film that a film could be within the genre. A huge part of that was because of co-writer Max Landis’ script that helped set the film’s tone.
Unfortunately, Fox has had problems with Landis’ script for a proposed Chronicle sequel, primarily having a problem with the purportedly darker tone. The screenwriter confirmed on Twitter yesterday that he won’t be a part of the film. This comes as a huge blow to fans of the film, as director Josh Trank’s involvement was already expected to not exist, but with Landis out, I fear that the sequel won’t carry the same level of gravitas the original did without its primary co-creators.
No word has come out in regards to who will be replacing Landis. I still have hope that Fox will be able to hire a team of screenwriters that understand what made Chronicle special and will attempt to stick as close to its tone as possible. Then again… Hollywood is a big business, and the franchise itself could become nothing more than an annual cash cow that spits in the face of what it was built upon.
[via Collider]