According to industry sources, Fox has now cast three of the key roles for its upcoming production of the Fantastic Four feature film. As was previously announced, Michael Chiklis (The Shield) will portray Ben Grimm/the Thing (see 'Michael Chiklis to Play the Thing').  The latest additions to the Fantastic Four cast are Iaon Gruffudd, who can be seen as Lancelot in the new King Arthur movie, as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic; and Chris Evans, who starred in Not Another Teenage Movie, as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.  According to Variety, Jessica Alba, currently shooting Sin City in Texas, is the most likely choice to play Sue Richards/the Invisible Woman, though Rachel MacAdams and Keri Russell are also still in the running.

Fox plans to start production on its $90 million blockbuster about a team of bickering superheroes in the next few months and has already announced that it plans to debut the Fantastic Four film on July 1, 2005, the same weekend that Paramount has picked for the debut of Mission Impossible 3.  Spider-Man 2 has proven that the right film can do some pretty good business during the Fourth of July weekend.