Screen Rant » x-men

Back to the Future: Hollywood’s Fascination with Prequels

Niall Browne — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:33:30 +0000

The release date for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is looming, and the marketing materials won’t have you know it, but the film is a prequel to Scott’s 1979 film, Alien. The term “prequel” is something of a dirty word in Hollywood these days, and therefore, Scott refers to the film as having “strands of Alien‘s DNA”. Okay, so that clears things up.

The notion of the prequel doesn’t just show Hollywood’s dearth of originality – it also illustrates that they have little faith in their audience. We can no longer just imagine that characters had lives before they appeared onscreen – now those pre-lives also have to be shown. It’s the cinematic equivalent of meeting someone for the first time and then telling them your life story up until that moment.

The prequel isn’t a new phenomenon, though: Zulu Dawn (1979) predated the ...

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‘Wolverine 2′ To Shoot in Japan, Possibly in 3D

Sandy Schaefer — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:11:03 +0000

Last week’s announcement that a healthy chunk of The Wolverine is going to be shot in Australia left many fans wondering whether star Hugh Jackman’s homeland will be standing in for 1980s Japan in the delayed X-Men spinoff sequel.

While attending the ongoing CinemaCon 2012, 20th Century Fox CEO Tom Rothman clarified that Wolverine 2 will still be filmed on location in Japan. However, the majority of the movie’s sound stage work is going to be conducted “Down Under.”

Following the aftermath of the devastating Japan earthquake/tsunami in early 2011 – coupled with the departure of director Darren Aronofsky – The Wolverine, believed to be based primarily on Chris Claremont’s four-issue “Wolverine” comic book run about the adamantium-clawed mutant’s adventures in Japan, was left between a rock and a hard place. Last summer, there was a ...

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‘X-Men: First Class 2′ To Begin Production In January 2013

Sandy Schaefer — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:33:40 +0000

Pre-production for the next installment in 20th Century Fox’s semi-reboot/semi-prequel X-Men movie (tentatively titled X-Men: First Class 2) has been coming along at a fairly relaxed pace. That pattern continues today, with the news that cameras on the First Class sequel are slated to start rolling no sooner than the first month of 2013.

Back when First Class director Matthew Vaughn officially closed a deal to helm the followup, it was indicated that production could commence by the latter half of 2012. Part of Fox’s motivation for holding back the X-Men flick’s start date is to avoid a scheduling conflict for Jennifer Lawrence, who remains set to reprise her First Class role as Raven/Mystique in the sequel.

Here’s a breakdown of the situation concerning Lawrence (via Heat Vision):

When Lawrence signed ...

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Chris Claremont On James Cameron’s Abandoned ‘X-Men’ Film & Bob Hoskins as Wolverine

Ben Moore — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:47:07 +0000

Bryan Singer’s X-Men is arguably the film that revitalized the superhero genre in Hollywood, after Joel Schumacher all but destroyed it with Batman & Robin. But we almost got a very, very different X-Men film many years prior.

Chris Claremont – probably the most renowned X-Men writer ever, having written everything from “The Phoenix Saga” to “Days of Future Past” – recently reflected on the potential X-Men film from way back when – the one produced by James Cameron (Avatar), directed by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), and starring Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as Wolverine and Angela Bassett (Waiting to Exhale) as Storm.

Courtesy of The Wrap, Claremont said:

“James Cameron, Bob ...

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Jane Goldman Confirms Involvement with ‘X-Men: First Class 2′

Sandy Schaefer — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:32:53 +0000

Thanks in part to her previous collaborations with filmmaker Matthew Vaughn (especially Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class), screenwriter Jane Goldman has become an in-demand talent. However, due to her increasingly-hectic work schedule, there’s been some question as to whether or not Goldman would be lending a helping hand on the impending First Class sequel – which Vaughn is now officially set to direct.

Goldman was in attendance at the 2012 Empire Awards ceremony, where she confirmed that X-Men: First Class 2 (not the official title) is among the projects she’s developing with Vaughn. It’s probably safe to assume that means Goldman will also be directly contributing to the film’s script, in some capacity.

X-Men: First Class featured script contributions from Thor co-writing duo Ashley Miller and Zack Stenz, in addition to ...

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‘X-Men: First Class 2′ Will Focus Heavily On Magneto

Sandy Schaefer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:24:16 +0000

Now that Matthew Vaughn is officially onboard to direct X-Men: First Class 2 (not the actual title), he’ll be working steadily alongside writer/producer Simon Kinberg to decide where the sequel goes next, in terms of plot, and which returning characters will be more, less, or equally emphasized as they were in First Class.

James McAvoy previously suggested that First Class 2 may focus heavily on the transformative process which his X-Men universe alter ego (Charles Xavier) undergoes, in the aftermath of the crippling injuries he sustained in the first film. It’s possible Xavier’s character arc in the sequel will somewhat mirror Erik Lehnsherr’s (Michael Fassbender) in First Class, partially for that reason.

Kinberg has spoken with MTV about the tentative plan for First Class 2, saying that the film should ...

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‘The Wolverine’ Snags A Summer 2013 Release Date

Sandy Schaefer — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:18:24 +0000

2011 was a rough year for The Wolverine (a.k.a. Wolverine 2). The X-Men spinoff flick was originally supposed to hit theaters this summer, with Hugh Jackman working under the direction of Oscar-nominee Darren Aronofsky; that is, before Aronofsky bailed on the project, and the Japanese tsunami forced an additional delay in production, and then shooting under new helmer James Mangold was pushed back again, to the latter portion of Spring 2012.

However, once Jackman wraps up his role in director Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables musical adaptation, he is expected to begin work on The Wolverine – and 20th Century Fox has now officially slated the movie to hit theaters in Summer 2013, on the assumption that there will not be any additional major production holdups.

Fox has selected a July 26th, 2013 theatrical release date ...

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Matthew Vaughn To Direct ‘X-Men: First Class 2′

Sandy Schaefer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:09:01 +0000

X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn’s return for a sequel has been essentially a given – not only because the majority of people walked away impressed with his work on that X-Men franchise reboot/prequel, but also because he’s been actively developing ideas for the next installment (as First Class stars James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have made known).

20th Century Fox has reportedly (at last) closed a deal for Vaughn to direct X-Men: First Class 2 (official title pending), which will once again be produced by X-Men film franchise stalwart, Bryan Singer.

Deadline mentions that Vaughn is officially onboard to helm a sequel to First Class in the site’s report on Fox production president Emma Watts signing a new deal, through to 2015. That article also reiterates previous reports that the screenplay is ...

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10 Badass Characters Neutered by Their Sequels

Chris Schrader — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:10:45 +0000

Sequels are definitely a mixed bag in terms of quality, but one of their advantages is an audience’s immediate connection and empathy towards a familiar and (hopefully) beloved character. No one really cares what’s inside the Temple of Doom or where the Holy Grail is hidden, they just want to go on another adventure with Indiana Jones.

Our interest and investment in these characters and their worlds often percolates in the years (or sometimes decades) between installments, and the opportunity to revisit them is often greeted with unmatched fervor – which makes it enormously disappointing as you watch a film unfold and realize that while the character on the big screen may look and sound the way you remember, something is… missing.

Characters originally depicted as being total badasses ...

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X-Men: First Class 2 Will Heavily Focus on Charles Xavier

Rob Keyes — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:09:05 +0000

Despite a rather rushed production, an entirely new cast and taking the risk of setting the film in the ’60s, X-Men: First Class proved to be the most critically well-received superhero film of the year. Thanks to director Matthew Vaughn, Bryan Singer and some creative writing on the part of Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and others, Twentieth Century Fox has revitalized the team-based aspect of the X-Men franchise.

X-Men: First Class raked in over $350 million at the worldwide box office and so a sequel is on the way. Sherlock Holmes writer Simon Kinberg will be handling the screenplay this time around, and Matthew Vaughn is already pitching sequel ideas to Fox about Charles Xavier who will remain a key focus of the next film.

Just last week, co-star Michael Fassbender ...

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Michael Fassbender Talks ‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel & ‘RoboCop’ Remake

Sandy Schaefer — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:26:23 +0000

Moviegoers will have the opportunity to see Michael Fassbender on the big screen multiple times in the near future, between this month’s A Dangerous Method, December’s Shame, and the January 2012 release, Haywire. He will also be co-starring in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, which is scheduled to hit theaters early next summer.

There’s also the in-development (and tentatively-titled) X-Men: First Class 2, which will see Fassbender reprise his (pretty much) universally-praised turn as a young Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto – along with the RoboCop remake, for which Fassbender has been cited as a possibility to headline.

A followup to X-Men: First Class is slowly, but surely, coming together. It has now secured a screenwriter in the form of Simon Kinberg, and should First Class helmer Matthew Vaughn and ...

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‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel Snags ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Writer

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:41:29 +0000

There’s been a lot of question surrounding the proposed sequel to X-Men: First Class, including what time period it will be set in (the ’70s? The ’80s?), which mutants will be featured (Cyclops and Jean Grey, anyone?) and of course, whether the cast of the first film and director Matthew Vaughn will all return for the next installment.

One question that has been seldom asked is who might be writing the script for the next chapter of First Class - but, that’s the question we have the answer for today.

SuperHeroHype has it that screenwriter Simon Kinberg is the man who has been hired by FOX to script the First Class sequel. Kinberg has a pretty wide range of experience with genre-based action films, having penned scripts for xXx: State ...

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James Mangold Talks ‘The Wolverine’: An Unconventional Superhero Movie

Sandy Schaefer — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:35:46 +0000

X-Men fans have become increasingly concerned about the potential quality of The Wolverine (a.k.a. Wolverine 2) ever since director Darren Aronofsky abandoned the project. While a solid replacement, in the form of James Mangold, was eventually hired on to fill his place, the combination of production delays and significant script rewrites have left many people grumbling about how this sequel seems destined to follow in the (mediocre) footsteps of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

However, between star Hugh Jackman talking up the possibility of a R-Rated cut of The Wolverine and a recent interview with Mangold, discussing his approach to the film, there is arguably still very good reason to remain hopeful that this new X-Men flick will be something memorable.

Here is what Mangold told The Playlist, ...

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X-Men Regenesis NYCC ’11: Wolverine & the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men & More

Ben Moore — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:57:50 +0000

On Sunday at NYCC ‘11, Marvel held a panel about the explosive new direction the X-Men comic books are going to be taking in the coming months (dubbed X-Men: Regenesis) as a result of the recent Schism crossover – wherein Wolverine and Cyclops had both a figurative and physical fight of massive proportions before going their separate ways.

Marvel Director of Communications Arune Singh hosted the event, with guests that included Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, editors Jeaneane Schaefer, C.B. Cebulski, and Daniel Ketchum, writers Marjorie Liu (X23), Jason Aaron (Wolverine and the X-Men), Kieron Gillen (Uncanny X-Men), Peter David (X-Factor), Greg Pak (Astonishing X-Men), Brian Wood (Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega), James Asmus (Generation Hope), and Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (The New Mutants).

For those who didn’t read Schism, in short: Wolverine got fed up with Cyclops’ philosophies as leader of the X-Men – and his willingness to ...

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Hugh Jackman On ‘The Wolverine,’ ‘X-Men: First Class’ & ‘X-Men 4′

Ben Moore — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:34:18 +0000

Considering its somewhat humble budgetary beginnings, the X-Men film series has easily become one of the most successful superhero franchises of all time, with two successful sequels, two spin-offs, and a sequel to one of those spinoffs on the way.

Recently, while discussing his upcoming robot-boxing film, Real Steel, Hugh Jackman went into great detail about all things X-Men – including The Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: First Class 2, and X-Men 4. Check it out below.

On why Darren Aronofsky jumped ship on The Wolverine, courtesy of IndieWire:

“His personal life precluded him from making the movie. I asked him to do ‘X-Men 3,’ I asked him to do ...

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‘Live Free or Die Hard’ Scriber Hired To Rewrite ‘The Wolverine’

Sandy Schaefer — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:24:26 +0000

It’s been a rough year for The Wolverine (a.k.a. Wolverine 2), between losing Darren Aronofsky as director, having its originally-planned production timeline disrupted by the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, and recent reports that its start of filming may be delayed until next spring, while star Hugh Jackman works on the musical Les Miserables adaptation instead.

The rumors of a delay-in-production may be true after all, based on the latest Wolverine-related story – Fox has hired on Mark Bomback to rework Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie’s screenplay for the X-Men spinoff sequel.

Bomback has been quite busy of late, between working on the script for Len Wiseman’s Total Recall remake and Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer (which McQuarrie also worked on). He also previously scripted the Jackman vehicle Deception, but ...

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VFX Legend John Dykstra On ‘X-Men: First Class’, ‘Spider-Man’ & ‘Caddyshack’ Gophers

Mike Eisenberg — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:34:02 +0000

John Dykstra has been around for a while. His first big break was in 1977 when he worked as the Special Photographic Effects Supervisor on Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Since then he has been a part of almost two dozen films, including Caddyshack, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Hancock, Inglourious Basterds and most recently, X-Men: First Class.

The visual effects master took some time to help promote the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of X-Men: First Class by sharing some his secrets and stories. It’s a fascinating interview if you have any interest in the evolution of visual effects from entirely practical to mostly digital.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to get ...

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The True Life of a Superhero at Comic-Con Through Images

Anthony Ocasio — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:55:15 +0000

Another year of Comic-Con has officially come to and an end. You’ve read our live blogs of the panels, interviews with your favorite actors, and have even checked out our massive cosplay gallery – but that doesn’t mean we don’t have one more trick up our sleeve.

What’s better than asking people to pose for pictures while dressed up as a superhero? Creepily taking their picture when they’re not paying attention, of course – and that’s exactly what we did. With camera in tow, we busted out the cardboard box and went all Solid Snake on Comic-Con’s numerous superheros.

Below, you’ll find out what the true life of a superhero is like at Comic-Con. With almost every fictional character represented from almost every entertainment medium (including books – don’t act surprised), sometimes even the most ...

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Rose Byrne Talks ‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel

Ben Moore — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:31:37 +0000

While X-Men: First Class was pretty well-received critically – read our X-Men: First Class review – it wasn’t nearly as financially successful as previous X-Men films. In fact, the domestic gross didn’t even make the production budget back, which usually isn’t the best news for fans looking for a part 2.

So the big question now is: Will there be an X-Men: First Class 2? An X-Men: Second Class? Or have all X-Men prequel-sequel plans been scrapped indefinitely? Recently, Rose Byrne – the actress who played CIA agent Moira MacTaggert – talked about the possibilities.

Courtesy of IGN Movies, Byrne said:

“Yeah, we all had to sign on for three, I believe. Well, I did ...

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5 Fictional Movie Teachers We Wish We Had

Mike Eisenberg — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:45:20 +0000

With Bad Teacher Cameron Diaz hoped to add to the list of bizarre onscreen teachers we’ve seen over the past few decades. While it’s fun to see bad people hold positions typically reserved for good-natured role models, we prefer characters whose influence is a little more positive. So while Diaz is in Home Room smashing kids’ faces in with rubber balls, we will be in Room 101 with our favorite movie teachers, whose classes we wish we could enroll in next fall.

Everybody has a different take on what makes a great teacher. Some want a lazy, no-work goofball and others want a motivated and passionate instructor. We’ve got a little of each in the following list ...

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