20th Century Fox has announced that a Fantastic Four sequel is planned for release July 4th, 2007, with the four starring cast members, director Tim Story, and writer Mark Frost all back in their original roles.  They'll need to find a new villain, though, as Julian McMahon, who played Dr. Doom in the first film, will be unavailable for the sequel. 

 

The first Fantastic Four film ended up with a $154 U.S. gross after a very strong $54 million opening weekend (see 'FF Clobbers Martians'), although licensed merchandise sales did not meet expectations.  The DVD is due out this week (see 'Fantastic Four DVD in December').