Fantastic Four 2, ?Rise of the Silver Surfer? is months and months away from being released, but Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards) is already talking about the third film. He basically says the entire cast is signed to do a third movie and that its already part of his production schedule. He also says that the second movie ends on a semi-cliffhanger that leads into the third film. Below is the full section of the interview:

Question: Now, Fantastic Four, the first one did very well commercially but was not exactly embraced by the critics. So how surprised were you that a) the film did as well as it did; and b) that it spawned a sequel which nobody really expected?

Gruffudd: To be honest with you I always give myself 50/50. I always say 50% will love it and 50% are going to hate it. So that’s how I protect myself. We certainly thought whilst we were shooting the movie, ok this isn’t necessarily the cool teenage movie that we thought we were making when entering into. It evolved into a family movie which in turn was the reason it was so successful, that all of the whole family could go. And the fact that the ardent fans were disappointed - Yes, we were aware of that because Fantastic Four deserved to be a bit cooler than possibly the way it was presented. But again it’s an origin movie. So we were explaining who all these people are, how they came to be, because they’re not necessarily up there with Spiderman and Batman and Superman that we all have an image for them. So we had to introduce them. I think that we’ve embraced the fact that it was such a success and a family movie and we’re deliberately making a movie for the family this time again. But it’s a lot cooler. It’s a family that can bring those cool teenagers who slagged it off the first time around.

Question: How different is the second one?

Gruffudd: Well we start off at the very beginning with a bang and it just doesn’t relent. We’re chasing down the Silver Surfer until we pin him down and the end of the world is upon us.

Question: Is it fun making these movies?

Gruffudd: I’ll be honest with you. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was fun on a daily basis and fun in the sense of a satisfying experience. It’s a long period of time. It’s like five months of your life, it’s very repetitive on a daily basis. The blessing is that we all get on together as a cast and we do try to keep it light and funny and crack as many jokes as we can because it does become tedious. The skill if there’s any skill involved is to concentrate for periods of time on what you’re doing and imaging what you’re doing fully. I mean it’s harder in acting terms in a sense because you’re constantly imagining everything so you have to be as a kid the whole time.

Question: What about embracing the world that is inhabited by the comic book fraternity. Is that an experience that you enjoy or is it one that you would rather not have to deal with?

Gruffudd: Well these people are the reason that the movie is such a success. So of course they’re going to be annoyed and angry because they come from the position of love. These people love these comic books, it’s their life, they’re immersed in it. And I love sport and if a movie about Welsh rugby was made and it wasn’t represented as I saw it then of course I’d be upset but you cannot please everybody. And the fact that they’re talking about it generates buzz and they’ll go and see it time and time again even if they hate it so they can have something to talk about.

Question: Is Fox planning a late summer release for this?

Gruffudd: No it’s in early summer actually. June 15th.

Question: So you don’t have to worry about dealing with Comicon.

Gruffudd: Oh so Comicon is after this? Ahh right. Well, we’ll go down to Comicon to be greeted by the fans who have hailed it a big success again, I don’t know. I embrace them because they are coming from a position of passion and excitement and as cynically as they’re the audience that we’re catering to, they love these characters so I have to love Mr Fantastic as much as they do. I know how revered and loved these people are.

Question: Are you signed up for a third one?

Gruffudd: Yep, we definitely are.

Question: The quartet?

Gruffudd: The quartet. I mean the way that we shot the movie was leading to another one as well. So I think it’s a very exciting time.

Question: What else is coming up for you?

Gruffudd: That’s it really. Well I’ve got Amazing Grace and TV Set and then Fantastic Four.