The guys over at Latino Review put their peepers to good use picking out this little tidbit buried in the many movie titles recently announced on Production Weekly: X-men: First Class seems to be the next film in the series going into production!
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I can’t say that I’m that surprised, really. I can only assume that the execs over at Fox, which owns the rights to the X franchise, are peering through peepholes into Warner Bros. studios, trying to figure out how to put together a ma$$ive payday like The Dark Knight has been. While X-Men Origins: Wolverine promises to be a hit, I’m sure Fox knows that to really milk the cash cow would take something truly groundbreaking and unexpected. (After X3, I for one was just WAITING for the other shoe to drop on X4: The New Class. Shudder.)
To be honest, I’m feeling a bit clairvoyant, again. Since seeing The Dark Knight, and re-watching Batman Begins three more times, I’ve been pacing my living room stroking my chin, trying to imagine the kind of films Marvel could make to rival the Batman Begins Trilogy in both tone and quality. X-Men: First Class was one my more promising conclusions.
For those not in the know, “X0″ would cover the early days when most mutants were still “in the closet,” until renowned philanthropist Charles Xavier opened the doors to his school for the “gifted.” His first five students in the comics: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Hank McCoy (The Beast), and Warren Worthington (The Angel). Of course, that roster totally throws off the continuity of the current X-Men trilogy, but I’m sure all that will be worked out at the script stage (if it hasn’t been already).
Here’s my personal vision for X-Men: First Class (in 3 acts):
Act 1: Real world setting and tone, modern teenagers trying to tackle the usual hardships like hair in strange new places; Ice and/or wings growing where there wasn’t any before; telepathic voices changing; and laser beams shooting uncontrollably from the eyes when excited. The kids parents freak, even going so far as to shun or abuse their children. (Seeing ‘the real world’ react to the sudden emergence of these ‘freaks’ would be a very interesting take on the X universe. People could really empathize with that.)
Act 2: In steps Charles Xavier with his long time compatriot, Erik Magnus Lensherr. The two build the school, (and the X-base beneath, Magnus’ idea, ‘just in case,’) as a haven for the emerging mutant populace. The first class is enrolled but are awkward with one another, unsure of themselves and their strange new powers. Xavier and Magnus, (in two subtly different ways,) help them conquer their insecurities and embrace their powers –even show them how to work as a team. However, just as the kids come into their own, intolerance and fear amongst normal humans bubbles over. One student pays the ultimate price. Magnus, broken-hearted and disillusioned, gets twisted into the militant terrorist, Magneto.
Act 3: Magneto tries to lure Xavier and the kids over to the dark side with him. Xavier refuses, causing an irrepairable rift in their friendship; the kids stand with Xavier’s ideals, Magneto mockingly dubbing them his “Xavier Men.” Big final battle: the kids manage to stop Magneto from doing any real damage, but another big price is paid: Xavier’s legs get crushed. In the aftermath, humans fear mutants more than ever; new mutants are either forced to, or choose to reveal themselves and be who they are; Xavier’s school welcomes those in need; the first class steps up to become the X-Men; all while Magneto sits lonely, recruiting help where he can, secretly missing the family at Xavier’s school he has abandoned.
Fox execs, I can have a full script ready in a month! (P.S. if my 3-act masterpiece should end up as the official script, remember your favorite neighborhood film clairvoyant over at Screen Rant called it first!)
For now though, let me know what YOU think X-Men: First Class should be all about! (Maybe your idea will end up in the final product, and you’ll walk away without a single cent!)
Source: Latino Review via Production Weekly
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20 Comments
Well, I’m a massive X-men fan but its been proven that Fox can’t do Marvel films. Why? Well they simply do not respect/care about Marvel’s source material.
You couldn’t make a Wolverine movie more out of continuity then what we saw from the trailer…emma frost?…Gambit? c’mon, I love Gambit but he has NOTHING to do with Wolverine’s past, let alone Weapon X.
I don’t know the details of this X license, but I pray to god it gets back into Marvel’s hands soon so they can do this franchise correctly. (That includes russian characters being Russian in the films…)
Fox doesn’t care at all about making a high quality story-driven film, they want to simply fill it with what they think are the most popular things they can fill it with and pick a part of X-history to throw it at.
What they should do is make a film loaded with characters from the golden age (when the X-team was 12 members big) and cast a bunch of no names who look exactly like the comic versions. No more of this Halle Berry demands 30 min of screen time nonsense, or “Hugh must be every role of the film, including leader”
If you use Kofi’s outline big star power gets thrown out the window anyway. So I say no problem there. I wonder if you could sub. some others and keep the continuity with what’s already been filmed. That means taking Angel and Iceman out of the mix and who do you put in? Boy, I’m going to get heat for this!You need two mutants that together come just shy of Magnetos class to let the kids become the tipping point in the final conflict. Gee we already let the best story points out of the bag! Ha! Great timing for a cross over?
To keep this concept in the continuity of the existing films is a mistake. Reboot, reboot, reboot! I hate that word, but it fits here.
X1 – X3 did a pretty good job explaining the history of how they came to be, so reimagining is in order.
I wouldn’t mind a New X-Men style movie, and take it to extremes with Sinister. Plus, I would love to see Surge and Mercury in a movie.
I’m excited for a new X-men film but it should be the fourth movie, no prequels.
I don’t know what Fox has planned, but we’ve all seen the huge success Marvel Studios has had with their first few films. If we want an X-Men film for fans of the comics, we need to leave creative control in the hands of the people who really know the material…
As far as a fourth film, well Wolverine is the fourth film…I think, but Rob you are so right…how does Gambit fit in? And where is the backstory of how the X-Men began? Charles and Erik is a huge part of the story and we need to see this in the fourth installment…like a little bit of how Xavier brought Wolverine into the X-Men, and the whole history that started the comics.
The social angst that we feel in modern (and I hate this next statement) “post-9/11″ era, is almost the same as described in the comics. We have bigotry, racism, and general hatred for other human beings. To tap into the huge success that Nolan has had, X-Men must cut ties with Blockbuster films and focus on the drama and conflict relative to modern issues. Either X-Men goes back in time to the beginnings, or fast-forwards to the future when the Sentinels and the Mutant death camps are the norm. Regardless of what the story is, Stan Lee must have his studio in control so the subject matter fits the real plot of X-Men. Remember, he wrote this comic during a time of racism and segregation. It was Stan Lee’s criticism of the times surrounding him, and it is this essence that must be embraces to connect with the masses and become a “hit”!
i think first class is a bad idea, not because the movie but because fox has control. maybe if they sold the rights to liongate or focus the movie would be great plus i think the movie going world is ready for an xmen 4 with apocalypse. Or even a movie with bishop and cable.
Apocalypse, Bishop and Cable Yes that already sounds good.
this movie should be made. i agree with you, michael, lionsgate probably would be best to handle such a production, but i’m not sure if they are big enough. they sure do have some kind of experience, as a result of the dvd cartoons. however, for some reason i just think that they would handle comic book movies with the much needed care than fox. i think dimension films would also do a wonderful job.
if you ask me it makes sense to make a movie like this, because all of the foul-ups that were in all 3 x movies (which i did like by the way) can be corrected, especially the casting. for the simple fact they they are making this movie from another standpoint–the beginning of the x-men–which have nothing to do with the first 3 x movies, no one would argue about a casting change. i still say they should have used Iman as storm and chris benoit (when he was alive) for wolverine.
Cable and Bishop would open the door to an X-Force spin-off. I like the idea of starting over. Look @ what marvel is doing now, with ironman, captain america, thor, etc all leading into the avengers. Fox needs to re-think and re-strategise this franchise and gear it more to the comic books and I garantee it will be huge….after all, its the X-MEN!
Chris Benoit as Wolverine? Dude, no.
Just an fyi guys and girls…Chris Benoit killed himself about a year ago.
Please salvage this franchise by starting it over and making it true to the comics. Wolverine: “Sabretooth? This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Just terrible. Thanks for making movies about comics you’ve never bothered to read. I hate you Bryan Singer. Great job on Returns too. You and that Rush Hour guy should form a creative team, like the people that band together to tell you that Santa Claus isn’t real, because you smashed some of my childhood. Douches.
oh, he wasnt that bad, he got the sound right
Hahaha. You really tried hard to find something good. Congratulations sir.
i guess this is the best way to start all over again. i’ve been an xmen fan my whole life and i never like those movies they made. i’m sure there are more than a hundred people who could come up with a better plot than what they were able to accomplish.
Honestly i just want an x-men about..just that the x-men. Sure the 3 movies they had were great. but the characters were not umm..i’ll say they didn’t make me happy. So if they do decide to do x-men first class..PLEASE be conscious and accurate of their origins. (and it would be really awesome if they did first class, they would show the beginning of sage’s spy training under prof x at the mansion.
The previous Xmen movies were indeed weak. Just the saga of Jean/Phoenix was so lost in garbled war talk that it almost made me cry. They couldve made a movie dealing with phoenix/dark phoenix and the xmen’s response to nearly destroying everything and saved The Last Stand for later. It was as if they didn’t even read the comics at all or read them all and put 5percent of them in play. The stories are so rich in drama and action I just don’t see how they missed the point so horribly. If there are more and I hope there are, just follow the storylines they are good.
^^ I agree with Rob.
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