Filmonic » X-Men

Bryan Singer talks X-Men, Magneto and Superman

Liam — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:15:20 +0000

X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner recently said that she would love Bryan Singer to return to the franchise after he left to direct Superman Returns. X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are overall considered disappointments compared to X2, which I think is still one of the best comic book/superhero films ever made. Singer recently spoke to Total Film about not directing X-Men 3 and about possibly returning to direct X-Men Origins: Magneto.

From The Geek Files:

Speaking to Total Film, Singer said: “I’m eternally intertwined with X-Men now. What takes an audience four hours to watch – the first two movies – took six years of my life. So, to not be part of it….It’s a shame.”
Asked whether he wished he had directed X-Men: The Last Stand, he admitted he had that feeling “before I was watching it, during watching it, after watching it.”
Singer added:”It’s weird for me to watch it, because I’m so close to the universe. And also Brett is a good friend of mine. But, of course, I would love to return to that universe.”
And on the question of whether he might be interested in X-Men Origins: Magneto, he said: “Possibly. The only thing that concerns me about Magneto is that if the prequel were to follow the track I used in X-Men, which is Magneto’s history in the concentration camp, then I’ve lived in that world.
“Apt Pupil, X-Men and now Valkyrie…I’ve lived in that Nazi universe for quite a while. I just might need to take a little break before I do something like that.”

So far Bryan Singer is the only director who has proven he can make an X-Men film that pleases fans, critics and the general public alike, so for him to return to direct another X-Men film would be something i’d like to see. Wolverine would have been ideal for him as we saw in the first two films that he obviously knows the character well, however that one has been done. The opening scene of X-Men involving Magneto as a teenager is the exact tone and style X-Men Origins: Magneto should be, so Fox should definitely consider getting Singer back for that.

Singer also spoke about the Superman sequel/reboot/thing that has been talked about for the past few years. He doesn’t seem optimistic.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. There are still issues…I just…I just don’t know. I don’t necessarily…I don’t know. It’s one of those things where…It’s so weird talking about stuff unless I’m about to ramp up and shoot it.”

Singer should have stayed with X-Men instead of making Superman Returns. I liked the film, however it didn’t perform as well as expected at the box office. It wasn’t a huge success, but it wasn’t a total failure either.

Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity incorporate Transformers, Superman and X-Men into routine

Liam — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:50:37 +0000

The big event this weekend in the UK was the final of Britain’s Got Talent. The winners were a dance act called Diversity, however the reason I am posting this is because they managed to incorporate some well known superheroes and robots into their winning routine. At the beginning the group ‘transform’ to form a human Transformer, then for a few seconds we hear a remix of the X-Men: The Animated Series theme tune, and then half way through we get a visit from Superman. The choreographer obviously has a bit of a fanboy side to him. Watch below!

Diversity will perfom in front of The Queen in a few months time. Maybe they could throw some Iron Man, Spider-Man and Batman into the routine. I’m sure The Queen will like it.

X-Men: First Class Movie Coming?

Liam — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:51:57 +0000

With all of the recent Wolverine buzz it is easy to forget that there are actually other mutants that belong to the X-Men world. There have been rumours for a while about a possible young X-Men movie working its way onto the big screen, and today SHH noticed something interesting from a listing at Production Weekly.

An interesting listing at Production Weekly caught our eye – “X-Men: First Class.” Could 20th Century Fox be developing a movie based on the series written by Jeff Parker and pencilled by Roger Cruz? Or are they using the title of that comic for their proposed Young X-Men spin-off?
What makes it even more interesting is that X-MenFirstClass.com redirects to FoxMovies.com.

X-Men: First Class was an eight-issue mini-series published from September of 2006 through April of 2007.

For millions of years, mankind’s place on Earth was unchallenged – until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human. While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men. These are the hidden stories of the team that laid the foundation of a mutant dynasty!

This sounds quite likely actually. There must be a reason why Fox called the Wolverine spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine rather than simply ‘Wolverine’. There is also X-Men Origins: Magneto in the works so why not make a movie about the origin of the actual X-Men while your at it?

However, a problem may arise regarding Iceman and Angel, seeing as though Iceman is a student in the trilogy and Angel doesn’t come across the X-Men until half way through X-Men 3: The Last Stand. If this movie goes ahead they can either forget continuity and go ahead with Iceman and Angel, or drop ice cube and birdman and re-write the origin of the X-Men with different characters such as Storm, Forge and Cannonball.

Beast In Magneto Movie?

Liam — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:42:27 +0000

I thought the Magneto movie was dead. We haven’t heard anything about it in a long while, and director David Goyer is busy working on other movies. However, we now have a development which comes from Latino Review:

While on a visit today to the creature effects shop for Hellboy II: The Golden Army I noticed some pictures that were lying around for other movies like Land of the Lost and of course, Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
But I also noticed a photograph of a young looking Beast leaping through the air. Not a drawing, although it could have been computer generated, but an actual photo.
“What’s this?”
“This is young Beast from the prequel they’re gonna be doing. Magneto.”
“Oh, ok.” I replied, trying to act calm before my head exploded from seeing this picture. “So Beast is in Magneto, huh?”
“Ya.”
The picture showed a younger guy in the Beast getup leaping down. He was in the full blue costume with his long tail and you couldn’t mistake him for anything other than Beast. The picture also had ‘Magneto’ written in the upper corner. Like I said, I was only able to see it for a few seconds, but it did not look like a computer rendered picture, it looked like an actor in full makeup. Nevertheless, Beast IS in the movie.

This is certainly interesting. However, since when did Beast have a tail? It could be Night crawler, as they are both blue and sometimes people get confused. It seems FOX are making use of the X-Men characters that they have rights to. We have Gambit, Blob and a whole truck loads of characters in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so I don’t see why Magneto cant get his fair share of X-Men characters. Plus Beast is a great character.

Young Cyclops In X-Men Origins:Wolverine?

Liam — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:17:50 +0000

According to Australian theatrical agency Meissner Management, a young actor named Tim Pocock has landed the role of Scott Summers in the upcoming Wolverine movie.

Scott Summers = Cyclops

This will no doubt be a cameo, but it is interesting non the less. X-Men fans everywhere will explode in an orgasm of continuity.

Gossip Girl And OC Writer Josh Schwartz Work On X-Men Script?

Liam — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:20:36 +0000

Well this news is a bit random and out of the blue. Black Book Magazine sat down with Josh Schwartz to speak to him about The OC, Gossip Girl and Chuck. Nothing really interesting there. Fairly average interview. That is until we get to this:

Something he can talk about, however, is news that he will pen the screenplay for the next installment of X-Men, a prequel of sorts. “I’m very well aware that I’ll be bludgeoned by purists, but I love its mythology, and it comes with a pretty hefty paycheck.” Of the project, he beams with excitement about the opportunity to involve lesser known X-Men characters who haven’t yet been portrayed on film. It will center on teenage characters at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. “It’s not like I’m adding new characters like Toaster Head, or anything like that.” Despite his enthusiam, he’s cautious, given the double-edged sword inherent in the seemingly inexhaustible renaissance of the genre. “The Hulk looks like it’s going to be terrible. And why does he look like he’s fighting against the monster from Cloverfield? I mean, with Transformers, it’s not like fans were going to come back saying, ‘You used the wrong car.’ This, however, is a different story. Of his predecessors and their successes (or failures), he says, “Brett Ratner didn’t have a lot of credibility going in to the third X-Men movie, but I think Bryan Singer [who directed the first two installments] got a free pass on Superman Returns because of his work on X-Men.”

Wow! We have heard X-Men 3 writer Zak Penn talk about writing a young X-Men movie, but that all depends on the outcome of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It seems FOX have thought that the original cast were getting a bit expensive, as were the production costs. The best thing to do business-wise was to wait a few years, and then relaunch a new trilogy or set of movies featuring younger and less expensive actors. The fact that is has X-Men in the name will ensure that it is a box office favourite, as long as they do things right.

Now Marvel are making their own movies and not selling anymore of their characters, it seems studios like FOX are going to milk the comic book franchises they have already got. The Fantastic Four franchise is pretty much dead, so X-Men is really the only franchise that can benefit FOX.

Is going the OC and Gossip Girl route the right way for the X-Men franchise? Will it turn into a trilogy of teen problems, or do you think Josh Schwartz has something up his sleeve?

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…

Young X-Men Movie and X-Men 4 Talk

Liam — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:09:07 +0000

Collider got the chance to talk to screenwriter Zak Penn recently and they have video footage to prove it. It is rare that writers are interviewed as people mainly care about what the actors or director have to say, but Penn has written movies such as X-Men 2 and 3, Elektra and upcoming The Incredible Hulk, so people have some kind of interest in what he has to say. In the video interview, which you can see by clicking here, Zak Penn talks about the possibility of a young X-Men movie. There have been talks about it in the past, and Zak confirms that it is a possibility.

“Theoretically that will still happen. They’re waiting until Wolverine comes out until they make those decisions, but the idea is there and its been pitched and I would do it if they wanted to do it”

To me that suggests that if Wolverine makes some big $$$ then it is likely that FOX will continue with the Wolverine thing and possibly make a trilogy of the brute. However, if Wolverine’s numbers aren’t as good as expected, then there is a good chance a young X-Men movie will be the main topic of the next meeting. So I suppose that gives fans an ultimatum. See Wolverine and you wont be getting a team X-Men movie for a while, or make it flop and you can get to see a more mutant version of The O.C..

Interestingly, the interviewer also asks Penn on whether he has heard anything on X-Men 4, as apparently producer Lauren Shuler Donner has said it is happening recently. There has been no other sites reporting this. (I know, I checked Google News) so this could be true or it could be complete bull sheet. Penn also talks about a couple of other stuff such as DC, Avengers, and his upcoming work.

Superhero Movie Images! Pamela Anderson As Invisible Woman! Regina Hall as Mrs Xavier!

Liam — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:38:58 +0000

‘Wow’ is all I have to say for these. When I first watched the trailer for Superhero Movie, it looked like it was just spoofing the first Spiderman movie, which was kind of rubbish, considering there are tons of comic book/superhero movies to spoof. Now these images show that they are indeed spoofing other movies, which makes me want to see the movie 25% more. Here we have Pamela Anderson As Invisible Woman, spoofing Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four, and Regina Hall as Mrs Xavier, spoofing X-Men and Patrick Stewart!

Movies We Can Now Look Forward To As The Writers Strike Draws To A Close!

Liam — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:23:05 +0000

Since the 5th November 2007 members of the Writers Guild of America have not written, typed, engraved or sprayed any words down on whatever they would normally write, type, engrave or spray on. People have lost jobs, sleep and most likely, weight, due to all the protesting instead of sat on their backends writing. But most importantly, production on some of the most anticipated movies ever have been halted.

In most cases the studios have done what they can under the circumstances, such as storyboarding, thinking and possibly scribbling down those thoughts down. But no script means no filming. So now that the writers could be back at work within days, what movies can we now look forward to?

In no particular order…

The Hobbit

Just over a month after the writers began their strike it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line has sorted out their problems and Peter would indeed be involved with The Hobbit. As Jackson was busy with The Lovely Bones and Tintin, he would not be directing, but would be an executive producer and will have creative control, along with writing the script with Fran Walsh. It is thought that if Peter has finished with Tintin, he could then direct the second Hobbit film.

Recently Guillermo del Toro has been linked to the directors chair, with some saying he is a 100% lock, however Toro has said that even though he would love to direct, it is not certain yet. TheOneRing.net think that all will be well once the writers strike ends, and Guillermo del Toro will sit comfortably in the directors chair.

Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Christopher Lee have all said they would reprise their roles should they be needed. Now that writing is no longer considered morally wrong, we will be going back to Middle Earth in 2010!

Transformers 2

With Transformers being a hit for Paramount last year, it didn’t take a robot that can change into a stereo to realise what is going to happen next. A release date of June 26th 2009 was set two months before the strike and writers of the first film , Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, were brought on-board. Then the strike happened and things were put on hold. Director Micheal Bay did what he could to try and move the production forward, even saying he was writing some of the script himself.

“We knew from early on that the writers strike could get ugly, and this has got to bring a little sanity to the situation,” Bay said. “I can’t do the movie without my writers, but I have been prepping. I’m not in the guild, but I’ve been writing every day. This strike (is) insane, and a director’s responsibility is to the 50 crew members who depend on you for their livelihoods. We’ve got battle plans ready for the possibility of an actors strike. Somehow, you’ve got to keep the ball rolling.”

Now things can start rolling forward, with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen and everyone else expected to return. Its is unknown whether the June 2009 date will stick, but they can damn well aim for it!

Thor

Marvel brought Matthew Vaughn on board to direct the thunder God after he expressed interest during his X-Men 3 days. I Am Legend screenwriter Mark Protosevich was also hired and the duo embarked on a weekend writing the script and eventually handed it in to Marvel. The good news was that they loved it, the bad news was that it would cost up to $300 million to make, so Vaughn and Protosevich would have to make some changes to get it down to $150 million. A month later the strike occurred so everything was put on hold. In December Mark Protosevich spoke about the films status:

“That project is as much a passion project for me as ‘I Am Legend,’” he said. “I was a comic book kid. Thor was my absolute favorite.”
Once the writers’ strike is over, production can start and Protosevich says audiences will be “pleasantly surprised” by this interpretation of the character. It’s much more rooted in the Norse roots of the character, he says.
“There used to be a segment in the Thor comics called ‘Tales of Asgard’ — and it’s much more akin to that,” he said. “It really is set in that world. It does deal with Earth. The primary focus we’re taking on it is really all about the Norse myths.”

Marvel signed a deal with the WGA a couple of weeks back, so things may very well be happening now. Matthew Vaughn has expressed interesting in filming at the end of 2008 in the UK, and says he has someone in mind to play Thor, but wouldn’t indicate whom…

Tintin

The reason Peter Jackson wont be directing The Hobbit is due to this adventurous fellow. Jackson and Steven Spielberg have decided to make a Tintin trilogy, Jackson will direct the first movie, and Speilberg the second. But not only that it will be in 3D and they will be using similar motion capture technology to that of James Cameron’s Avatar. There is no word on who will direct the third, but that is years away so they have time to get someone. The only problem is that you have two amazing directors doing the first movies, so someone of equal greatness will have to take on the job and finish the trilogy, which will no doubt be a hard task.

In September 2007, Dr. Who writer Steven Moffat was hired to write the screenplay for the three films. Whether his Britishness helped the production as he could continue writing is unknown, but writing a trilogy would usually take someone a long time. Andy Serkis is the only cast member announced, and many suspect he will be playing Captain Haddock. Serkis has said that he has already done some work for Tintin in New Zealand, and filming is expected to begin in September.

Magneto

The X-Men Trilogy rounded up back in 2006, so FOX decided to continue the X-Men world with spin-off’s. We have X-Men Origins: Wolverine currently filming now, but what happened to Magneto?

Back in 2004 Sheldon Turner was hired to write an X-Men spin-off, which ended up being Magneto. Turner’s intent for the film was to examine Magneto’s “psychological roots”. The plot would also deal with the character’s friendship with Charles Xavier which eventually turned sour. FOX waited to get X-Men 3 out of the way and in April 2007 they announced that Blade Trinity director David S. Goyer would be directing, with a 2009 release planned.

In August, Goyer said that they were busy scouting for filming locations, possibly in Europe and Argentina, and sorting out the budget. Then in September 2007 a list of ‘priority movies’ was released, with studios wanting to fast-track some movies due to the impending strike. Magneto was listed with a January start date. However, that date came and went and Goyer is currently focused on an ‘untitled supernatural thriller’. No doubt the strike meant that he could not de re-writes and FOX decided to put the film on hold. Now the strike is over they can either wait for Goyer to finish off his other projects, or get another director on board.

Jurassic Park IV

It all started back in 2002 when screenwriter William Monahan was hired to write the first draft, with an aim of 2005 for the film’s released. Then a re-write took place in 2004 by John Sayles, which focused on a new character called Nick Harris who is hired to train five genetically modified Deinonychus as mercenaries. By April 2005 the film was still not ready, with Steven Spielberg not happy with the script, saying “He felt neither of [the drafts] balanced the science and adventure elements effectively. It’s a tough compromise to reach, as too much science will make the movie too talky, but too much adventure will make it seem hollow.”

By 2007 Sam Neil said he had not been contacted to reprise his role as Dr. Alan Grant, however Laura Dern had been contacted regarding the film, as had Richard Attenborough. Now that the strike is over they can focus on finally getting the script ready and hiring a director with Universal still aiming for a 2009 release date.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Prince of Persia is being produced by super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who also is responsible for Pirates Of The Caribbean and is based on the video game, which follows an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. There were rumours floating around that Michael Bay was up for directing, however Mike Newell was eventually hired as director. Writer Jordan Mechner discussed the status of the film in January:

I wrote the first draft and several revisions over a period of about a year and a half. Two more years of development followed, in which additional revisions were done by (in this order): Jeff Nachmanoff, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard. That sounds like a crazy number of writers, but the original screenplay structure, plot and characters have survived the whole process pretty much intact. It’s still very much the same movie John August and I pitched to Disney and Bruckheimer back in 2004 — it’s been streamlined in certain ways, souped up in others. It’s a good, solid story and I think it’ll be very satisfying on screen.
The movie is in pre-production. At this moment there’s no way to know how long the writers’ strike will last, or if the directors’ and actors’ guilds will strike as well. It’s a very insecure time for the whole industry. A lot of big movies that were set to go, now aren’t. I was really hoping that Mike Newell would be the one to direct this movie and I was ecstatic when he agreed, but it was bittersweet because I only had about 24 hours to rejoice before the writers’ strike began.
I support my guild and the writers’ cause, so until the strike is resolved I can’t meet with Newell and the Bruckheimer execs or contribute further to the development of the movie. It’s frustrating because I’ve been dreaming of a Prince of Persia movie, basically, for 20 years, and now at this key moment when the project has finally found the right director and he’s brimming with enthusiasm and excitement, I can’t even meet with him.

The film is aiming to start filming in June for a 2009 release date. It would be mighty useful to complete the script and hire some actors before then.

Venom/Spiderman 4

The greedy bastards at Sony have apparently got three more Spiderman films lined up for us, after the Trilogy took in nearly $2.5 billion worldwide. Director Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have said that they would return if each other did, but it is for Sony and Marvel to decide whether they go in a complete new direction, or whether they carry on from Spiderman 3. Sony hired Spiderman writer David Koepp to write a script in January 2007. In October 2007, Raimi said that he and the studio were looking for a new writer that would have a brand new take on the Spider-Man series. Raimi would relinquish creative control of the sequel’s story and focus on either directing or producing the script. Zodiac screenwriter James Vanderbilt was eventually hired and spoke about writing and the strike.

“It’s sort of an odd process because you’re sitting down with the people who made the first three and going, ‘Well let me tell you what to do.’
“But I was lucky enough that they were interested in me and I’m a huge fan of those movies, so we closed that up right before the strike. Once the strike’s over I get to go to work,” he added.

There are also reports that producer Avi Arad spoke about making a movie based on the Spiderman 3 villain Venom. Apparently a number of ‘A-List’ writers have met with the studio to discuss the project, and will probably get down to work once the strike comes to an end.

World of WarCraft

WarCraft began is 1994 and has since become a gaming phenomenon with over 9 million people playing worldwide and over 15 million minutes of the game being played every day. However, the gamers shouldn’t expect storylines from the game being translated to the big screen as Blizzard feel it be too similar to Lord of The Rings. Instead, the storyline will follow events before the first World of WarCraft game as tensions between all of the different races of the universe grow, which will result in battles similar to those seen in 300, Braveheart and Alexander.

Legendary Pictures are aiming for an epic action movie that will be around 2 hours 30 minutes but as of now no director has been announced and the strike prevented the script from being developed. Designers of the game were collaborating with Legendary Pictures on the story and script and want someone of Zack Snyder calibre directing, which will hopefully please the gaming community.

Honourable mentions go to Justice League, Fantastic Four 3, Conan The Barbarian, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, Angels & Demons and all of the other movies that can now develop thanks to a deal being struck!