Release Date:

July 14, 2000

Directed by:

Bryan Singer

Written by:

Tom DeSanto Christopher McQuarrie

Starring:

Patrick Stewart Ian McKellen Hugh Jackman James Marsden Famke Janssen Halle Berry Anna Paquin Ray Park Tyler Mane Rebecca Romijn-Stamos Bruce Davison Matthew Sharp

Studio:

20th Century Fox

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X-Men

Plot:
Outcasts from society, the X-Men area a small band of mutants, so called because each was born with a unique genetic mutation that gives them superhuman powers. As the X-Men have learned to harness their special abilities for the greater good, they have also realised that the human race they fight to protect both rejects and fears their presence. Battling against prejudice and agents of intolerance, the X-Men will either establish a peaceful co-existence between mutants and mankind, or perish.

News for May 2000:

23 May, 2000

Our chief X-Men conspiracy theorist, the spy known as 'Blabalot,' snuck into our offices last night with an interesting new thought. It's long been debated whether or not Storm would fly in this movie. It's not an unreasonable question. Ororo has been flying in the comics since she was first discovered by Charles Xavier. She's been called Windrider more times than I can count. The problem though has been that the pictures and video we've seen from the movie so far have given no indication that she would fly. Or has it?

Check out this picture that appeared on Marvel Comics website. It's just a generic collage used for their news page but note the image of Storm in the bottom right corner. Wouldn't you say that's an awkward position to be standing in? It looks a lot more like the position of a person in flight, no? Okay I admit it's not much to go on but we've pored over every other tiny detail so why not this one too?

   Does she fly or do we need medication? Talk about it on the Forums

Oh and before I forget, Wizard World updated with a pair of new pictures. One is Wolverine in his uniform and the other is Storm in her jammies.

22 May, 2000

According to Coming Attractions, over the weekend at the comic book convention at the Shrine Auditorium, there was a presentation for the movie. Tyler Mane was on hand to answer questions and the third trailer was shown for the first time. It will include shots of Mystique shape shifting, the Blackbird in flight, and the rumored scene of Kitty Pride phasing through a door. It will also include a shot of Toad's tongue in action.

The official site has updated again. There is a new picture of Cyclops which you can see below along with the previous two images from the site. There are wallpaper images of Wolverine and Cyclops available as well.

Comics Continuum got some comments from Hugh Jackman on the Cyclops/Jean Grey/Wolverine love triangle. "It's explored. Who wouldn't want her?" Jackman said. "She's kinda hot. It definitely explores Wolverine's flirtier side. Sometimes it's hard to tell, whether he's genuinely really attracted, or whether he enjoys flirting or whether he just enjoys pissing Cyclops off. It's probably a mixture of all three. The relationship with Jean Grey, it is sexual and he is sexually attracted, but he also really likes her - I mean, in a friendly sort of way. It all hovers in there."

Famke Janssen has a few things to say on the matter too. "I don't get to kiss anybody in the movie, but we had long discussions about that," Janssen said. "Fans know, but people new to the movie don't know about the history of Cyclops and Jean Grey. I am in bed with him at one point, but we don't kiss."

"It's so great to have super-heroes with flaws," says Jackman. "They've all got their own little things, and they're all explored in this movie. It's a daunting task to write a script in a modern movie with eight, nine, 10 characters. They're all explored here, and it's a huge story-telling task, to introduce all those characters, and then get a story in there. I think they do a great job of it in the script."

The Mutant Watch website is a bit too convincing apparently. A lot of people have been following links on that site to a real article on mutations. Many of those visitors are sending in questions to the author of that article, confused by the Mutant Watch site. Luckily he seems to have a good sense of humor about the whole thing. He even has a page containing some of the odder messages. I used to think I got some strange messages but after reading his page I'm counting myself lucky.

19 May, 2000

Ray Park (Toad) participated in a live chat on the official website a couple days ago. As you may know he was originally hired by George Lucas as a stunt coordinator for The Phantom Menace before eventually being given the part of Darth Maul. That begs the obvious question of what part did he play in the fight choreography for X-Men? "[They] wanted to use the full potential of my ability. But my part was on the storyboard the way Bryan [Singer, the director] wanted it. So I didn't have a big input in to it. I did try to improvise a bit in fighting... [It] was physically demanding working as Toad. I had to be on the ball, but it was fun."

When asked who he fights with, Park says, "I have a conflict with Jean Grey, Storm, Cyclops. Toad is all over the place… The fight I had with Halle (Berry), who plays Storm; it's my main fight scene. I can't wait to see the other fight scenes, though, that the other actors did. Bouncing, jumping, being toady was really fun. I hope fans won't be disappointed."

He described Toad, saying "He's from England and in the comic he's Magneto's lackey ... in a way…Toad has a long tongue and he can leap and jump and stick on walls. And his legs are powerful and he's got gooey slime."

He had kind words for Singer. "As a director, [Bryan Singer] knew what he wanted. He was passionate. I liked working for him. It was cool."

Likewise he spoke highly of Ian McKellen. "I remember just standing there with him, watching, observing, standing there ... absorbing. I tried to learn as much as I could. I was so fortunate to work with such a great cast of people."

On another note, sunglass maker Oakley, who designed Cyclops' visor and glasses, is now offering those very same shades for sale. That's the good news. The bad news is that they carry a $300 price tag. Much as I like them I won't be picking up a pair at that price. You can order a set here. It's worth checking out anyway. There are some pictures of Cyclops which you can see below. There are also some design sketches of early concepts for the visor.

17 May, 2000

Just a reminder that tonight at 4 PM PST at the official website, there will be a chat with Ray Park (Toad). I won't be able to catch it myself so if one of you does and wants to send in some of Park's comments, I'll be happy to post it.

If you can't wait for stores to start selling the toys you can head over to ebay where the action figures are already being offered for sale. Just don't ask where they got them. Just be careful as some of the figures reveal some spoilers, so don't look if you don't want to know.

Wizard World updated again with a couple more shots from the movie. This time out we've got a tender moment between Logan and Jean Grey and an angry (is there any other kind?) Sabretooth.

16 May, 2000

Sir Ian McKellen has once again update his website with some more comments on the production of the movie. He was recently called in to loop some of his dialogue and to film a closeup for a scene. Below are some of his comments. I highly recommend visiting his site for the rest.

When I finished my three months on X-MEN last Christmas, in time for the holiday hiatus, I knew that wasn't the end of Magneto. Any actor's contract will promise to do any post-production work, weeks or months after principal filming is done, at no extra cost to the film company other than generous per diems plus accommodation and travel requirements. I've often wondered what happens when an actor is so busy with subsequent employment that there is no time to complete the previous movie. Last month I nearly found out.

From afar I have wondered at it all, although I don't any longer much consult the fansites as they plough over their prejudices and their hopes. This is because my own insider's sense of the film is firming up. Two weeks ago I saw a lot of it onscreen and marvelled at the emerging stylishness of the storytelling. I was adding my voice to the pictures in an Additional Dialog Recording (ADR) session. This was needed for a variety of reasons. Once or twice I spoke indistinctly on the take which has made it into the film. Elsewhere, there were extraneous noises on the original soundtrack from traffic and machinery and weather on location or from camera creakings in the studio. It was also possible to change the dialogue and fit slightly different words into the old mouth movements. My favourite dubbing is to add grunts, breathing and other non-verbals to enhance the action.

In the last week of March there had been an urgent request for my availability to do these tidyings at an ADR session five days later. A rough-cut screening of the film was planned and Fox understandably wanted as complete a version as possible. Although many visual effects are still in the making, at least the actors should sound good. It was assumed at such short notice that I shouldn't be able to join Bryan Singer and the sound technicians in Los Angeles. So, I was invited to be alone in a sound studio in Sydney and dub my voice aided by a video transmission and Bryan's comments down the telephone line. I wasn't confident of this long-distance disembodied method and was tempted to refuse to fly four hours across the Tasman Sea, by citing the filming schedule in New Zealand.

The day I left I slipped into Magneto's boots and combat outfit for one last time and shot a crucial extra close-up, without which a climactic scene could not be clearly resolved. I wonder what would have been done had I not been available? On Friday 14th April a minimal setting was mocked-up with a fragment of the original scenery. With reference to Anne Brodie's Polaroid records, Magneto's hair and look were recreated. Tom Sigel and his faithful crew came in straight from a night shoot on their current assignment and lit the scene to match the footage shot five months previously. Bryan took time away from his editors to direct proceedings. Then we all waited until the camera equipment arrived - five hours late! Once it turned up it was over in three minutes and Bryan joked: "That completes Ian McKellen's filming on X-MEN."

15 May, 2000

Time for a little rampant speculation on the movie's details. If you don't want to know too much about the movie I suggest skipping down a couple paragraphs. If this speculation is accurate then it constitues a pretty major spoiler. Just to make sure I'm going to white out the following text and blur the second photo so you don't read it by accident. Click and drag your mouse over the blank area if you do want to read the text. One of our readers pointed out a picture previously unseen here (posted at Fandom). The picture, which you can see to the left, shows Wolverine and Mystique. Now the camera angle prevents us from seeing what exactly is going on but Mystique certainly doesn't look happy about it.

Now look at a closeup of a picture that was posted last week. I had noticed that Mystique looked bloody but I hadn't noticed what appears to be a trio of evenly spaced puncture wounds in her abdomen. Putting the two pictures together it would appear that Mystique is going to be cut down in battle by Wolverine. So don't go blabbing that to all your friends unless you're confident they won't come after you with a set of those Wolverine claw letter openers that Toys R Us is selling.

The toys are starting to pop up for those of you who want to collect it all. Sam Goody has a four pack of action figures available of the women characters. The likenesses are pretty damn good but the poses in the picture are rather awkward.

Toys R Us has a great big package available with all the action figures. In general they look pretty good. Comic fans should be pleased to note that the figures are built like a comic book character is built. In other words everything is really big and well toned.

As to the movie itself, some special effects pickup shots are planned for next week. This isn't meant to say that there are problems with the movie that require reshoots. It's just a one day shoot.

12 May, 2000

Hugh Jackman and Tyler Mane talked to Comics Continuum about the Wolverine/Sabretooth rivalry. "It was so great with the Sabretooth-Logan in the comics, it's such a huge rivalry the two of them have," Jackman said. "It will continue!"

Mane really enjoyed his part. "The bad guy is the best part of the movie," Mane said. "You get to tear people up. (But) you gotta let somebody tear you apart at the end."

He won high praise for his work from Jackman. "Having been a professional wrestler, he's unbelievable," Jackman said. "He can go within a close distance of you every time and make it look very real - and never hurt you. He prides of himself on that. The good thing about Tyler is that he can take some punishment. There's some shots when I'm on wires and come down and smack him as hard as I can in the chest. He just brushes this off. And I'm glad I didn't meet in a back alley! He can take some punishment for sure. He's great. A real perfectionist, which I love."

11 May, 2000

Have you noticed the anti-mutant ad by Senator Kelly running on TV lately? That's part of what's looking like the beginnings of a very clever ad campaign for the movie. If you haven't seen it yet you can catch it at the Mutant Watch website Fox has set up.

Looking back I see that it's been a week since I last posted some X-Men photos. Sorry about that I must be slipping in my old age. Here's a couple from Wizard World. Take a close look at the shot of Mystique, she's not all blue here...

8 May, 2000

Tyler Mane made a strong impression on the extras during filming. Tom DeSanto, talking to Comics Continuum, said of Tyler, "We had a scene in the train station and we had some children extras there and Tyler came out in full costume and full makeup. And this little boy, he must have been about 5 years old, looked up at Tyler and he started shaking. He couldn't move. It was one of those Abbott and Costello moments. And he looked around for his mother. To this kid, Tyler was Sabretooth. I had to go over and pretend that I could beat up Tyler."

Gordon Smith, who designed the look of the makeup for the movie, also talked about Mane. "He looked great. He was pretty straight forward. The comic book is pretty straight forward, so it was really more of a casting thing. When I first down to L.A. for the casting and thehy had these photographs of him, and I said, 'That's the guy.'

"He had all the features, the 'Y' shape with his body and stuff like that, so I took his own proportions and distorted them to his cranium, his face, his cheeks, his chops, his eyes. We used to have yellow cat eyes in him, which are more like the comic book, but it was too much like Mystique."

Meanwhile over at Fandom, they have a bunch of new details worth mentioning. There is a description of life at the X-Mansion.

One of these teenage mutants is yellow; another displays a skin mutation resembling burns and scars, while a blonde-haired girl demonstrates an abnormality on her neck. Inside, Cyclops and Storm educate the student body. Anyone for Powers 101 and Being Accepted in Society-the advanced semester? Later, Rogue will be joining these classes. While the rumor mill has suggested background student cameos by Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, and Colossus, one definite new mutant being mentioned is John. What his or any of the other attendants` powers are, remains unrevealed. Rogue will also be seen in her pre-hero days, depicting her life before she discovered she was a mutant.

Another scene focuses on Logan before he joins the X-Men. This is definitely spoiler material so don't read the next paragraph if you don't want to know too much.

An opening scene finds Logan demonstrating his fighting prowess at a dingy, rundown bar, which serves as an arena where intoxicated participants pound the crap out of each other until one falls. After eight rounds, Logan remains undefeated, `natch. The ninth opponent is given 15 seconds to clean Logan`s clock before he can retaliate. Not that it matters. Wham. Bam. Grand slam. Logan remains victorious. This time around, the loser can`t help noticing that Logan hasn`t a scratch on him from all the fighting—he hasn’t even broken a sweat. As Logan approaches a young girl (who turns out to be Rogue) at the bar, the television news is discussing mutant registration movements at Ellis Island. The coverage makes the unusually calm Logan feel uneasy, as if he`s about to be exposed as a freak. From here on, things spiral out of control.

Finally today, the Toronto Sun had a big article about the filming. There wasn't much new in it but there was a list of all the filming locations used in and around Toronto. I'll reprint it here just for the sake of not missing any of the details.

In Toronto:

• Central Commerce Collegiate -- Meeting place for the Conference of World leaders
• Gooderham & Worts Distillery -- Concentration camp and fight bar where Wolverine is discovered.
• Casa Loma -- Interiors for Prof. X's mansion.
• Roy Thomson Hall -- Hallways in Prof. X's mansion.
• Metro Hall Council Chamber -- Senate hearings.
• Via Rail Maintenance Centre -- Train car sequence.

Outside Toronto

• Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, in Hamilton -- Where world senators land helicopters for meeting.
• Greenwood Conservation Area -- Magneto's lair.
• Old Hamilton train station -- Train station scenes.
• Spencer Smith Park, in Burlington -- Liberty Island where the Statue Of Liberty sits on island in New York harbour.
• Bridgeman Transformer Station -- Some Statue Of Liberty interiors.
• Rouge River area -- A Canadian road.
• The Parkwood Mansion, in Oshawa -- Professor X's mansion.

3 May, 2000

Toys R Us has opened up a website specifically for X-Men toys. Of particluar interest is a section for previews of the movie. It has spots for three previews, the first two of which show you the first two trailers. The third just says coming soon. This would seem to confirm that there will be a third trailer.

Featured toys include Wolverine's motorcycle, action figures, the Blackbird jet and a full size replica of Cyclops' visor as seen in the picture to the left.

2 May, 2000

My favorite thing about this movie is that the news just keeps pouring out of it. Today from Wizard World comes a pair of great shots from the movie. The first should cause the purists among you to settle down just the tiniest bit. It's a picture of Rogue. Check it out for a detail that should stop a little of the griping. The second one is a cool shot of Wolverine in the Canadian woods after his scrap with Sabretooth.

1 May, 2000

Stax checked in with a look at the final shooting script for the movie. The script is by David Hayter, with help from Ed Soloman, Chris McQuarrie, James Schamus, John Logan and Tom DeSanto. Man that's a lot of names. Kind of makes me leery. What do you say, Stax?

Normally when you see more than three writers listed on a project it means the film is in serious trouble (CHARLIE'S thirty ANGELS, anyone?). This rule of thumb has too often proven true. The X-MEN final shooting draft, however, is the only exception to it that I've found so far. If X-MEN were a Warner Brothers release, however, that atrocious McQuarrie/Soloman draft would have been the final script! I am still unsure which writer contributed what to the final draft, but it is a vast improvement in nearly every major way over that early draft. The main characters were better realized here, although the supporting X-Men (Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm) are really just along for the ride and only have a handful of scenes to "act" in. Jean comes off best of all because she gets to interact with more of the cast and has more responsibilities than she did in the comic; Cyclops is really only there to get in Logan's face over Jean; Storm comes off worst of all. She is NOT poorly written, none of them are so don't misconstrue what I am saying; she simply has nothing much to do. Storm has a couple of decent moments, including one with Senator Kelly, but these three characters are really just "the team." They do the running and fighting but X-MEN really belongs to Logan, Rogue, Magneto, and, to a lesser degree, Xavier.

To read the entire review, head over to Stax's new home at Filmforce.

May 2000
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