Filmonic » Wolverine 2

Updates on the X-Men franchise: Wolverine 2, First Class and Deadpool. Magneto is dead

Liam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:31:05 +0000

X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK next week, and UK magazine Empire flew out to the US to have a one-one-one with producer Lauren Shuler Donner. As expected, they asked her for updates on Wolverine 2, X-Men: First Class, Deadpool and X-Men Origins: Magneto and she had a lot to say.

Wolverine 2

Donner says that Wolverine 2 is the furthest along out of all the projects and will focus on the relationship between Wolverine and Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord, and what happens to him in Japan. She says they wanted an “A+ writer” so they got Chris McQuarrie (Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects) who has tightened up the story and has “got really immersed in the whole thing”. 20th Century Fox will also be working with the Japanese Fox executives as they “don’t want to portray the way [Japanese people] speak, dress and act in an inaccurate way.” Although it is “likely the characters will speak English rather than Japanese with subtitles”.

Donner finishes by saying “there’ll be samurai, ninja, katana blades, different forms of martial arts – mano-a-mano, extreme fighting. We’re going to come up with a new style of fighting. It’s going to be awesome.”

X-Men: First Class

According to Donner the script is not finished and they aren’t where they want to be yet. They are trying hard not to make it too similar to the previous trilogy and want to make it different. Donner also admits that the Harry Potter movies are “role models” for them but they “want it to be like the recent, darker Potters. It should not be a kiddie movie – we’re in the X-Men world so you can’t suddenly change the tone.”

She says that there’s still friction between mutants and the outside world, but First Class will be set before anyone knows mutants exist so it will probably have a more secretive edge. Regarding the characters Donner says they will be in Xavier’s School but they will also be off on adventures and some will be “naughty children”. She gives Cyclops as an example who is “a tough kid that bobbed from foster home to foster home, until he ends up at the school and becomes the leader.” None of the characters have been cast yet, but they plan on turning First Class into a whole new franchise so “the casting of the child actors will be all-important.” I’m not sure how young the actors will be but they’ll probably be young enough so we see them grow up on-screen.

Deadpool

Deadpool will be a complete reboot as they want to “ignore the version of Deadpool that we saw in Wolverine and just start over again”. Donner says it will be a “dark, snarky, very funny movie” and they are just working out which villain(s) to incorporate. They hope to have a writer on-board by next month and are currently talking to a few. “We need someone really imaginative because we want to do some really innovative, ambitious stuff. Ryan’s mentioned this in an interview already but there are parts where he’s going to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience in the cinema. We have to work out how to do that. I don’t know that Fox will agree with all our decisions, but we’ll see!”

X-Men Origins: Magneto

…won’t be seen for a while, if ever. Donner says the film is “at the back of the queue” out of all the films and she isn’t sure if the script David Goyer wrote is ever going to be made. “Maybe it’ll get made in five years – who knows? I can tell you that Ian McKellen won’t be playing the character the whole way through. We used Lola technology in X-Men 3 to de-age Ian and Patrick for one scene, but it’s very expensive. To do that for a two-hour movie would be prohibitive financially. And to find a younger actor to fill Ian’s shoes, that’s pretty daunting. It’s not easy.”

Summary

The X-Men franchise peaked in 2003. 20th Century Fox have since been too involved with the creative process and we have ended up with disappointments. Although, they have hired Chris McQuarrie to write Wolverine 2 and there is a chance Bryan Singer could return to direct. If that happens Wolverine 2 may actually be a good movie.

If Fox don’t screw things up they could have a new franchise with X-Men: First Class. The films won’t be as good as the Potter ones, but that franchise ends in 2011 and there will be a gap in the market. They need to get an “A+ director” involved.

I’m not that much of a Deadpool fan but from what we’ve heard they want to stay close to the source material. When we find out who they hire to write and direct it will give us an indication whether it’s a potential new superhero franchise or just doomed.

I’ve been wanting to see a Magneto movie ever since it was announced they were making one. Over the years I’ve questioned whether David Goyer is actually the right man for the job, but I don’t think he is. I’d rather get a great Magneto movie in 5+ years than have a sub-par movie start filming next year.

Which movie are you looking forward too (if any)? Can 20th Century Fox bring the X-Men franchise back up to the level it once was?

Bryan Singer has been talking with Fox about X-Men return

Liam — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:56:19 +0000

There have been hints over the past few months that Bryan Singer could return to direct an X-Men film. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said it was “a possibility” and now the director himself was asked whether he would return to the franchise at South Korea’s Pusan International Film Festival:

From THR:

“I’m still looking to possibly return to the ‘X-Men’ franchise. I’ve been talking to Fox about it,” Singer said.
“I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast,” he said, referring to the Australian actor who plays Wolverine.
Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss serious issues through entertainment. He said the “X-Men” series, which follows a group of mutants with superpowers who struggle to fit in with humans, is about tolerance and social structures.
He said he likes to “trick audiences into thinking they’re seeing fireworks, but they’re learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say.”
“The excitement about working in science fiction and fantasy is — the stories, if they are good, are about the human condition,” Singer said.

The franchise peaked in 2003 with Singer’s X-Men 2, and it hasn’t reached the same level of greatness since. Sure, it’s still making $300 – 400 million every three years, but X3 and Wolverine could have been so much better.

Out of all the X-films lined up Singer will most likely return for either Wolverine 2 or X-Men: First Class. The second Wolverine film already has a writer, Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote the script for Singer’s The Usual Suspects. Hiring McQuarrie could have been Fox’s way of luring Singer back. First Class would give Singer the chance to go back to the origins of the X-Men, however that would mean he’d have to cast the characters he already cast nearly 10 years ago, and there will be no Hugh Jackman.

There is also a small chance he could direct X-Men Origins: Magneto, although Singer said back June that he’s already “lived in that universe” before having directed Apt Pupil and Valkyrie so he “might need to take a little break before I do something like that.”

Hugh Jackman talks Wolverine 2

Liam — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:58:34 +0000

Hugh Jackman recently had an interview with Katie Couric from CBS News and he spoke a little about Wolverine 2 and the whole Wolverine franchise in general. He doesn’t reveal anything interesting, but he says he will only do another if the script is as good as he imagines the Japanese sage can be.

In related news X-Men Origins: Wolverine has pulled in another $50 million from DVD and Blu-ray sales, adding to the $371 million it made during it’s run. 20th Century Fox will no doubt be happy with that.

Gavin Hood talks Wolverine 2

Liam — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:53:22 +0000

X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be released on DVD and Blu-ray next week and to promote this a Q & A session was held with director Gavin Hood and producer Lauren Shuler Donner. While the DVD and it’s features were the main topic of discussion, Hood was asked about Wolverine 2 which is currently being written by The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie.

From Latino Review:

I just think that the Japanese story is so iconic and beautiful and could be so visual. That’s the one and I’m reluctant to talk about others because I know Len [Wein]’s writing others now. And honestly, here’s the truth: if the Japanese story works, there might be another sequel. And if it doesn’t, there won’t be. You can get ahead of yourselves by sort of stirring up rumors of what might be. I’m not going to even go there.
I don’t even know if I would be involved. Right now I’m not attached. Nobody’s attached. They’re developing a script and we’ll see where everybody is. I’m hoping to be shooting something next year and I don’t think that ‘Wolverine’ will be ready for next year. I haven’t been approached one way or another. The studio is obviously very cautious. They want to see how Wolverine does on DVD. Let them develop the script, let’s see what the script looks like, let’s see how the studio feels about the script, how Hugh feels about it and then we’ll take it from there.

Wolverine is the worst reviewed X-Men movie to date. The script wasn’t the best, the pacing was off and the effects (especially the claws) were worse than the first X-Men film. And while all of those weren’t all Gavin Hoods fault, I would prefer them to get a different director for the next film. Bryan Singer ideally.

Here’s an ad for the DVD and Blu-ray release:

And here’s a behind the scenes look at the helicopter chase scene which will be on the DVD (if you buy the 2 disc edition):

Christopher McQuarrie to write Wolverine 2

Liam — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:13:37 +0000

Hugh Jackman recently said that they were developing the story for Wolverine 2, and I suppose to do that they will need to have a writer. Well it turns out they do. According to The Hollywood Reporter Christopher McQuarrie has been hired to write the script which will see Wolverine fighting ninjas in Japan. There are two reasons why I like this choice. The first is that he won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects which currently sits at number 22 on IMDB’s Top 250 movies. He was also a writer on the first X-Men film, but voluntarily took his name off the movie when the final version was more in line with David Hayter’s script than his.

McQuarrie writing credits also include Valkyrie, which was directed by Bryan Singer, director of X1, X2 and The Usual Suspects. Could the hiring of McQuarrie be a tactic by 20th Century Fox to lure Bryan Singer back to the franchise? Singer’s X-Men films were basically Wolverine films anyway, so for him to direct his own Wolverine film would be something I’d like to see as the earlier films were when Wolverine was at his best.

On a related topic, I’d like Fox to hurry the hell up and green light X-Men: First Class. While Wolverine is cool, I’d like to see an actual (Wolverine-free) X-Men movie.

Hugh Jackman says Wolverine 2 will be “sexiest X-Men film yet” and a 2012 release is likely

Liam — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:23:11 +0000

Earlier this week Hugh Jackman said that they were just starting to develop the story for Wolverine 2, and confirmed that they were heading to Japan. In the post I had a mini-rant about Wolverine’s love interests. In short, I think that we’ve seen enough of Wolverine in love (Jean Grey in X-Men 3, Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and I just want to see him be his badass self without getting revenge over a lost love or crying because he has to stab one of them. He needs to be single. However, these latest quotes from Jackman suggest that not only will Wolverine have a love interest, he will have multiple:

“Parts of that story were pretty dark. I don’t know if it’s the darkest, but I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say I think it will be the sexiest,” Jackman told MTV News. “There’s some female companionship—and not just one—for Wolverine. … My wife might have an issue with it, but I think the fans will like it.”
Of course, with all this talk of what the “Wolverine” sequel will entail, there’s still the question of when we’re likely to see it hit theaters. While Jackman couldn’t offer any firm details, he did hint at a potential release in 2012.
“If you look at the history [of the X-Men movies], it’s been every three years—three years exactly,” he teased. “So that might give you a good hint.”

There’s nothing wrong with a “sexy” X-Men film, I mean we’ve already seen Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and Famke Janssen running around in leather suits. I’d be fine with subtle sexiness like that, however if it turns into MTV/Michael Bay/Brett Ratner/music video type-sexy then I’ll berserker rage on their faces.

Hugh Jackman talks Wolverine 2

Liam — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:43:03 +0000

X-Men Origins: Wolverine won the action/adventure film category at the Teen Choice Awards (ugh) this weekend and after collecting his surfboard Hugh Jackman spoke to MTV and gave an update on Wolverine 2.

“Japan is where we’re heading, [and] we’re starting to work on it now. We’re in the … first steps of developing that story.”
Reiterating his desire to Miller and Claremont’s story arc brought to the screen, Jackman said he’s “made no real secret” of his fondness for that particular chapter of Wolverine’s history. “I think the fans love that saga. It’s my favorite saga of the Wolverine stories.”
“That’s a movie I’ve longed to make from the beginning, so that’s where we’re heading,” he said.

The source for the film will be the four-issue Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, published in 1982. The story, famously conceived as Claremont and Miller traveled home from the San Diego Comic Con, saw Wolverine heading to Japan on the trail of his love Mariko Yashida. He arrives to find her married to a cold businessman, and he soon finds himself at odds with Mariko’s father and the ninja clan The Hand.

One of the main things I don’t want Wolverine to have in the next film is a love interest. I know they will want to stick to the formula and give him a female but it’s already been done. He cried like a baby in X-Men 3 over Jean Grey and he got all emotional over Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Give him a girl to play around with and to exchange a few witty lines, but just let him hack and slash because he can and because he wants to, not because he’s got his heartstrings in a twist again.

Anyone have anything they want/don’t want to see in Wolverine 2?

Liev Schreiber is not sure he wants to play Victor Creed again

Liam — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:14:23 +0000

One of my favourite things about X-Men Origins: Wolverine was Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth) played by Liev Schreiber. He was menacing and the character was a vast improvement from the Sabretooth we saw in the first X-Men film. As he wasn’t killed off there could be a window of opportunity for him to return for Wolverine 2 which is in development, however Schreiber has told CinemaBlend that he’s not sure if he’d want to come back.

“I’m over 40 now, and do I really want to go through the physical stuff that it took to pull that off again? I’m not so sure.” At the same time, he sounded a bit like a fanboy when discussing possible futures for his character. “As an audience member, I’d be really interested to see how you’d go from the Liev Schreiber Victor Creed to the Tyler Mane Victor Creed [from X-Men]. So I’d like to see that.”

Is Liev hinting at another Sabretooth recast there? We haven’t really heard much on Wolverine 2 since 20th Century Fox announced they were developing it in May, however there is a good chance it will take Wolverine to Japan and follow the samurai storyline, so Victor Creed might not be needed.

While Liev may be too old to be charging around on all fours, he’s not old enough to be running around with Angelina Jolie in Salt, which will be released next July

Taylor Kitsch wants to go dark with Gambit next time round

Liam — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:12:54 +0000

If you like to keep up to date with all things Wolverine then you will know that 20th Century Fox and Hugh Jackman are developing a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, however one person who didn’t know that was Taylor Kitsch who plays Gambit. Kitsch recently spoke to Rotten Tomatoes at Cannes and he seemed pretty excited about possibly returning as Gambit for the sequel.

“Man, good on Hugh for doing that to his body again,” he laughed as we told him about the film. “I hadn’t heard that was going to happen! You have my brain going now about what I’d love to do with Gambit!”
“I’m just excited to go deeper into Gambit. It’s a flattering thing when people say that the only shitty part about the character is we didn’t see enough of him. If that’s the case, bring it on. I want to go deep into Gambit.”
“He has so many more colours to explore. I want to go dark with that cat. There are so many things I want people to see of him and he really is his own deal. In Wolverine he was very much moving the story along. If I can have some moments where you go deeper into Gambit’s back-story and why he was the way he was at that poker table — that’s a fun thing to explore.”
“I have the tools now to do some larger fights and I’d be really excited to get a chance to do that, too. I have so many ideas in my mind right now!”

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner recently said that Gambit would not be appearing in X-Men: First Class, but there were ‘internal discussions’ as to whether he would be popping up in Wolverine 2. I don’t think Gambit had a big enough role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine to warrent his own spin-off, so Wolverine 2 seems like the only place he could feature.

Fox developing Wolverine 2

Liam — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:52:46 +0000

In what must be the most obvious piece of news this month, it has been announced that 20th Century Fox and Hugh Jackman’s production company Seed are developing a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

From Variety:

Fox and Seed are in development on a sequel to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which topped the domestic box office over the weekend.
The Seed partners have begun planning the sequel, which they are squarely focusing on the samurai storyline originated in the comic series, and whose Japanese locale was teased after the film’s final credits. A writer has yet to be hired. Seed will produce.

No word on whether director Gavin Hood will return, although we probably won’t see the sequel for another few years (2012 seem likely and would fit with the typical 3 year cycle) so we probably won’t get any major cast/crew announcements any time soon. In the meantime Jackman has a few other projects lined up. According to THR Jackman has joined Disney’s Ghostopolis:

The story centers on a man who works for the government’s Supernatural Immigration Task Force. His job is to send ghosts who have escaped into our world back to Ghostopolis. When a living boy accidentally is sent to the other side, the agent must team with a female ghost (and former flame) to bring him back.

Jackman is also keen on making Carousel, a musical, and Drive, which would see him play a solitary man who drives race cars by day and getaway cars by night in Los Angeles.