to do Scooby Doo instead and dropped out in October 2000. He was replaced by Peyton Reed in April 2001 and Mark Frost was brought on board for another rewrite. Reed departed in July 2003, explaining in 2015, "I developed it for the better part of a year with three different sets of writers. But it became clear after a while that Fox had a very different movie in mind and they were also chasing a release date … so we ended up parting company." Reed's version was described as being influenced by A Hard Day's Night and intended to get Alexis Denisof as Reed Richards, Charlize Theron as Susan Storm, Paul Walker as Johnny Storm, John C. Reilly as Ben Grimm and Jude Law as Victor Von Doom. Sean Astin was one of the candidates to direct the movie and he tried to secure the part of Susan Storm for either Christina Aguilera or Cameron Diaz. His reasoning for wanting to direct it, despite never having directed a feature before nor read any of the comics, was that he wanted to step up in filmmaking and felt that doing a Fantastic Four film would allow him to leave a mark. Despite not getting the job, Tom Rothman was impressed with his determination and hoped to work with him on a future project. Marvel met with Robert Downey Jr. about playing the role of Doctor Doom. Tim Story was signed to direct in April 2004, after Fox was impressed with his early cut of Taxi and that Story is a fan of the comics. Simon Kinberg wrote uncredited drafts of the script. After seeing The Incredibles, Eichinger was ordered to make significant script changes and add more special effects because of similarities. Release Marketing The teaser trailer was shown at screenings of Elektra. The American premiere of Fantastic Four was moved from July 1, 2005, to the week of July 8 to avoid competition with Steven Spielberg's motion picture War of the Worlds, during its first week. Fantastic Four opened in 3,602 movie theaters in the United States, and increased to 3,619 theaters in the following week. Box office Fantastic Four finished at the top position at the box office with $56.1 million from 3,602 theaters over its first weekend. By the end of 2005, Fantastic Four had accumulated a gross income of $330.6 million, with $154.7 million of this