Filmonic » X-Men 4

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.”

More X-Men talk. X4 still possible? Gavin Hood for Magneto?

Liam — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:58:27 +0000

Last week Tim Pocock who played Cyclops in X-Men Origins: Wolverine updated his Twitter page with the following:

currently shooting Australian TV series till February 2010…then X-men first class ;)

However, a few days later he had this to say:

victim of cruel prank.last tweet=NOT me.AM filming Aussie show till2010.no official word on XM:FC but am interested.please post retraction.

Was this actually a prank? Or had 20th Century Fox picked up on it and told him to shut his Twitter hole? Well /Film recently had the chance to ask producer Lauren Shuler Donner what’s going on:

According to Shuler Donner, there’s no truth to the initial claim at all. She announced that the film has no scheduled start date and will definitely not be kicking off in February. What’s more, she confirmed that no actors have signed contracts to appear in the film.
I asked if they had signed the young mutants up for an option on future films, and she admitted that yes, everybody was under option. No surprises there.

Donner also said that she is cooking up plans for an X-Men 4 and a movie based on The New Mutants, although having followed the X-Men films for years I know that Donner likes to blurt out ideas and nothing ever comes of them. I think that they should focus their attention on making the films they’ve already got scripts for like X-Men: First Class and X-Men Origins: Magneto…

…which brings me to an interview MTV had with X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood.

David Goyer has been the popular name mentioned to direct “X-Men Origins: Magneto,” but if the “Dark Knight” writer finds himself committed when the project finally comes together, Hood says he’d be willing to step behind the camera.
“I think the character of Magneto is still a phenomenally interesting character,” Hood told MTV News while discussing last week’s release of “Wolverine” on DVD and Blu-Ray.
“Absolutely, if I was asked I’d take an interest,” the director said. “But the truth is I haven’t been asked and I think that the studio right now is waiting to see how we do with the ["X-Men Origins: Wolverine"] DVDs, and who knows where we’ll all be if and when a ["Wolverine 2"] script is ready.”

In interviews Gavin Hood comes across as an intelligent and likeable guy, however I don’t want him directing Magneto. I’d prefer them to get someone with a bit more experience with big budget movies, and a director who can tell 20th Century Fox where to stick it when they start making stupid creative decisions.

Shawn Ashmore Talks X-Men 4

Liam — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:20:45 +0000

X-Men 3 wasn’t the worst movie in the world, but it could have been so much better. The films financial success suggested that people wanted to see the mutant freaks, so we are now getting a Wolverine spin-off. But what about X-Men 4? Will it ever happen? Well ShockTillYouDrop caught up with Shawn Ashmore who played Iceman in the trilogy, and he had a few words to say about the franchise.

Shock: You mentioned Bobby Drake earlier, so do you think we’ll ever see you play him again, especially with the way he was developed so much in the last “X-men” movie?
Ashmore: Yeah, it was great. I was waiting to do some of that stuff since the first movie. It was five years, six years in the making to really shoot ice and be in a battle and all that stuff, but honestly, I don’t know. I would love to do another film, but I think they’re doing these spin-offs and origin stories, so I can’t see in the near future there being an “X-Men 4″ but I have no idea to tell you the truth, it’s really hard to say. I’m holding my breath, waiting for it to happen, but I’m not sure if it will or not.

Shock: Hopefully, they won’t wait too long if they do get back into it, because as I said, they really turned Iceman into someone we’d want to see more of and some of the other new characters.
Ashmore: Yeah, and again, it’s a blast. I love the fact that there is such a huge audience for “The X-Men”, characters I love and characters I’ve lived with so long that it’s really exciting when people are like, “Aw, man, I want to see another one.” That’s great, and that gives me a boost to hear that stuff, so that’s really cool.

It’s good to see that he still enjoys the role and the franchise. I think that some of the actors who had to endure 5+ hours of make-up everyday will not be as enthusiastic about an X-Men 4, but I am sure the right price may bring them back.

I am thinking that FOX will get Wolverine out, and if it does well they will do Wolverine: 2 Slashed 2 Furious and then the inevitable Wolverine: The Most Overused Character Ever…in 3D! . Then hopefully enough time will have passed and FOX can start on that Young X-Men movie Zak Penn has been talking about. Or they could pay Halle Berry and the rest of the cast $40 million each to return and make an X-Men 4, which follows on 10 years after the events of X-Men 3. Either way, it’s a long time before we will see Shawn Ashmore’s Iceman on screen again, if ever. However, Shawn should be happy that his characters best moment of the trilogy with this…