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Flame Off! In 'Fantastic Four,' audience is as invisible as Sue Storm

Also in Tattle: Ellen Gray in L.A. and “Empire” gets good news and bad news

Whatever it is that the Fantastic Four are looking at here, it's likely not a sequel, as the Fox film, made under a previous arrangement with Marvel and missing the Disney touch, couldn't even win top spot at the box-office its first weekend in release. Twentieth Century Fox via AP
Whatever it is that the Fantastic Four are looking at here, it's likely not a sequel, as the Fox film, made under a previous arrangement with Marvel and missing the Disney touch, couldn't even win top spot at the box-office its first weekend in release. Twentieth Century Fox via APRead more

20TH CENTURY FOX has made three tries with the "Fantastic Four" and it hasn't been fantastic yet.

When you consider that Marvel/Disney did stunningly better with the little known "Ant-Man," maybe it's time that Fox, the studio that gave up on Daredevil and Elektra, should let Marvel/Disney take back the FF.

This latest unnecessary FF reboot debuted with just $26.2 million at domestic theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday. The result was bad enough that last week's leader, "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation," held the top spot with $29.4 million in its second week.

The overwhelming flop for "Fantastic Four" is a rare humbling for a Marvel superhero film, which often grosses more than $20 million in one night. The film, however, is not from Marvel Studios but from a long-ago licensing arrangement when Marvel needed money. The film also was savaged by critics and its own director (Josh Trank). The movie's stars barely wanted to talk about it.

A sequel, scheduled for 2017, now seems very unlikely.

Several other less high-profile releases fared better over the weekend.

The suspense thriller "The Gift," directed by co-star Joel Edgerton and starring Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, opened in third with $12 million. Made for just $5 million, it's a strong start for the new STX Productions, which is planning a slate of mid-level budget films.

The Meryl Streep rocker "Ricki and the Flash" debuted with $7 million on 1,603 screens for Sony's TriStar Pictures. The film, directed by Jonathan Demme and co-starring Kevin Kline, will expand in coming weeks.

Worse off was Aardman Entertainment's "Shaun the Sheep Movie" from Lionsgate. Though reviews were good - Daily News film critic Gary Thompson loved it - the film, based on the animated British TV series, earned only $4 million over the weekend and $5.6 million since opening Wednesday.

Ellen Gray in L.A.

"Empire," the Fox drama that took television by storm last winter, was named program of the year by the Television Critics Association (TCA) at its 31st annual awards in Beverly Hills.

James Corden, of CBS' "Late Late Show," hosted, and took the opportunity to poke fun at critics (who could mostly use a break from hearing from people who pretend to care what we think).

Not that he was the only one.

West Philadelphia's Lee Daniels, "Empire" co-creator, accepted the award, along with producer Brian Grazer, declaring, "I stopped reading the critics, the reviews, after [directing] 'Shadowboxer,' when they told me I was trash and shouldn't be allowed [behind] a camera again."

The response to "Empire," by contrast, is "everything my father told me would not happen in my life, and that means so much to me."

Daniels credited his co-creator, Danny Strong, with doing much of the heavy lifting on the show.

"I bring the pizzazz and the flair and the Cookie and all that stuff, but you can't do all that without a backbone," Daniels said.

Not that there's anything wrong with pizzazz.

"We want to see truth, but we also want to be entertained," Daniels said. "So, we give a little bit of drama, but we get a little flair with it. I wanted to do 'Dynasty.' I hadn't been moved since 'Dynasty.' 'Dynasty' came for you. I gave you a black 'Dynasty.' " More than 220 critics and reporters from the United States and Canada were eligible to vote for the awards.

For the rest of the winners and other TV news from TCA, check out EllenGray.tv.

TATTBIT

* The nation's TV critics may love Lee Daniels and "Empire," but Marvin Gaye's son, not so much.

WENN reports that Marvin Gaye III is planning to sue the creators of "Empire for allegedly stealing his idea. (The Gaye family was awarded $7.4 million in damages in a successful suit against Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and "Blurred Lines" earlier this year, so maybe they feel as if they're on a litigious roll.)

MGIII claims that his idea, "Diamonds & Ballads," was registered with the Writers Guild of America five years ago.

He claims the idea was based on the Gayes and the Gordys of Motown fame and was a "black and hip" version of "Dynasty" and "The Sopranos." He also claims to have pitched the idea to TV executives.

But can he prove a link from one of those executives to either Lee Daniels or Danny Strong?

Cookie isn't going to crumble so easily.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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On Twitter: @DNTattle