14. Hire A Director With Actual Blockbuster Experience
The bad word about F4 was exacerbated when rumours emerged several months ago that Trank caused $100,000 worth of damage in his on-set trailer, was being uncommunicative with both his crew and Fox executives, and turned up drunk and/or high to set frequently, which necessitated the need for reshoots to fix a number of problems. His behavioural problems were reportedly why he was kicked off of Star Wars: Rogue One, though Trank refutes any and all accusations of wrongdoing, and clearly blames executive meddling. On the other hand, it might just be that he wasn't ready for such a huge production. After all, Trank's first film, Chronicle, cost just $12 million (and made an impressive $126 million worldwide), and F4 was budgeted at 10x that, a challenging undertaking for even the most skilled and mentally together of directors. It's not hugely surprising if Trank did indeed crack under the pressure, and a sign that Fox should probably have deferred to hiring a director more experienced in big budget filmmaking, rather than expecting that the seeming boy wonder could transition seamlessly from one brand of movies to another. There are a ton of experienced directors who would've killed to take a stab at something like this, so hopefully Fox will learn a lesson here.