In the tradition of JODOROWSKY’S DUNE, LOST SOUL: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, and THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN LIVES: What Happened?, the latest fabled film to get the tell-all documentary treatment is Roger Corman’s infamous, unreleased FANTASTIC FOUR movie. DOOMED! THE UNTOLD STORY OF ROGER CORMAN’S THE FANTASTIC FOUR, from writer-director Marty Langford, will be distributed at long last in the US and Canada by Uncork’d Entertainment on VOD 10/11 and on DVD 12/20.
Filmmaker Marty Langford says DOOMED! was “courted by a number of distributors” and he had the luxury of choice. “But once Keith Leopard at Uncork’d explained his company’s vision and strategy for our film, we realized that he was obviously the right one. He’s a terrific guy, a great distributor, and partner that we’re lucky to have.”
Uncork’d Entertainment President Keith Leopard says he’s excited to be releasing the definitive account of the never-released movie production and its fantastic background. “The average moviegoer doesn’t know that, ten years before releasing Tim Story’s version, Roger Corman was asked to produce a Fantastic Four movie. Unbeknownst to cast and crew, the film was never going to be released though – and for a variety of reasons. Doomed! is such a compelling documentary - and not just for comic book movies but anyone intrigued by the ins and outs of Hollywood and business. In short, it’s a fantastic movie.”
Leopard’s enthusiasm for the film also won over producer Mark Sikes. "The reason Marty and I chose Uncork'd was Keith's passion for the film. He had a great reputation, but what really impressed us was how passionate he was about the film. We could tell he really liked the film and we knew we needed someone who understood it wasn't your typical documentary."
Chronicling the history of Roger Corman’s 1994 Fantastic Four film, DOOMED! features never-before-seen footage from the production as well as new on-camera interviews with cast and crew including Roger Corman, Jay Underwood, Michael Bailey Smith, Joseph Culp, Alex Hyde-White and Rebecca Staab.
It is moderately compelling in the moment, but it has a hard time holding up to even cursory scrutiny as far as believable “found footage” concepts go.