Filmonic » Young X-Men

X-Men, Daredevil, Deadpool…Oh My!

Liam — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:26:11 +0000

This was a bad summer for 20th Century Fox, after not one of their movies crossed the $100 million mark. X-Files: I Want to Believe couldn’t compete with The Dark Knight, The Happening opened to bad reviews and Babylon A.D. hasn’t exactly set the box office alight. One reason for this could be that Fox didn’t have a superhero movie to release. In 2006 they had X-Men: The Last Stand and in 2007 we got Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 2008 was supposed to be Wolverine’s year however filming got pushed back due to Hugh Jackman filming Australia, so we will now be seeing it next year.

With Marvel now making their own movies Fox need to make use of what they already have, and it seems like they are (kinda). From Variety:

Fox will mull the possibility of more “X-Men” spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as “Deadpool,” based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in “Wolverine.” The studio is even considering reviving the “Daredevil” property.

There has been talk of a young X-Men movie for a while now, with the most recent development being X-Men: First Class appearing in Production Weekly last month. There is a good chance a Deadpool movie could work if he makes a big enough impression in X-Men Origins: Wolverine next May. The only one I am wary of is a Daredevil reboot.

However, at the end of the day this is Fox we’re talking about. They turned the Fantastic Four into popcorn fluff that didn’t garner enough attention for a third film and left X-Men 3 fans disappointed after caring more about getting the Memorial Day release date than making a good movie. If Fox want to get anywhere they need to stop pissing off directors and start taking their superhero properties more seriously by not turning them into hacked-up 90 minute crapfests.

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.

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?

Zak Penn Talks Captain America And Young X-Men!

Liam — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:42:38 +0000

For the past 5 years Zak Penn has been a writer on X2, Elektra, X-Men 3 and upcoming The Incredible Hulk. After doing all of those comic book movies he decided to do something different, and has written and directed a comedy called The Grand. However, during interviews people only care about his work on comic book movies. During a recent interview, Zak Penn revealed that he was attached to the Captain America movie, and he also talked about a young X-Men movie.

CMix: Do you have anything to do with the other movies? Captain America for example?
ZP: I’m attached to it. I’m also supposed to write and direct one of the X-Men spin-off movies for Fox, but that’s not a Marvel film. It’s not a pure Marvel movie. It’s a Fox thing.
CMix: One of the X-Men spin-off movies? Any one in particular?
ZP: Yeah, it’s like a young X-Men. It’s a pretty cool idea, actually. I can’t sell you the whole idea, but it involves a younger group of X-Men at the beginning.
CMix: You mean, like an X-Men: First Class kind of thing?
ZP: It is a little bit like that. I don’t want to give away the concept of it, but it is a good idea. It is a little bit more of getting back to the classic X-Men. Some of the complaints we’ve talked about, it would address those directly.
CMix: Will it be all Wolverine’s story?
ZP: Right, well that’s the thing. It wouldn’t involve Wolverine.

An X-Men movie without Wolverine? Thank the heavens!

I like Zak Penn but Marvel need to realise that there are other writers out there. His movies are good but not great. X-Men 3 could have been better and Elektra wasn’t all that. I guess we will have to see if The Incredible Hulk is any good.

To read the whole interview click here!