Bryan Singer on Superman Returns Sequel, X-Men Origins: Magneto

Bryan Singer on Superman Returns Sequel, X-Men Origins: Magneto
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Bryan Singer kinda wishes he had stayed onboard the X-Men train and directed the third installment of the trilogy, 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand”, which went to the much-maligned Brett Ratner after Singer jumped ship to direct the underperforming “Superman Returns”. I happened to like “Superman Returns” more than the average comic book geek, and to be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t care very much for “The Last Stand”, not because Ratner had directed it (as seems to be the case with many a fanboys), but just because, well, it wasn’t all that entertaining or interesting. Anyways, while out doing the promo rounds for his WWII drama “Valkyrie”, Bryan Singer talked a bit about “Superman Returns” and the possibility of returning to the X-Men franchise.

Says Singer to Total Film Magazine (via):

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.”

“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.

“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.”

Sounds like he’s leaning towards NOT directing, despite the fact that he’d probably be welcome back with open arms by everyone, including the fans. But you gotta wonder if this spin-off will even happen. At the moment, Deadpool seems to be the only spin-off fans are clamoring for…

About the possibility of Singer returning to Supes’ world, he was even more unsure:

“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.”

Basically, probably not gonna happen.

In Defense Of Wolverine: Beating Back The Bad Reviews

In Defense Of Wolverine: Beating Back The Bad Reviews
Written by: Josh Tyler
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Fox’s latest superhero movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine is taking a pounding. Critics are currently ripping it apart with a savagery usually reserved only for Uwe Boll movies. The beast inside Wolverine has unleashed a feral animal inside the world’s most prominent reviewers, the claws are out, and Hugh Jackman is their target. The film currently holds a dismal 38% fresh ratting at RottenTomatoes.com, an average which is still plummeting. By comparison the last X-Men movie, widely regarded as a huge mistake, managed a 56% fresh rating among film critics. Wolverine’s dismal reviews put it in an elite class of awful superhero movies, alongside the likes of Elektra and Ghost Rider.

Critics have it in for Wolverine, but maybe some of us saw a different movie.

Audience response to Wolverine has so far, been remarkably positive. Users on IMDB have given it an average rating of 7/10. An impromptu poll currently being conducted among viewers on this site most definitely skews towards the positive. What’s more, on message boards and talkbacks around the web, the general feeling seems to be “hey this wasn’t that bad.”

Wolverine needs a defender. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s a far cry from Ghost Rider. Better this than the lifeless abortion that was X-Men: The Last Stand. Gavin Hood is not Brett fucking Ratner and his movie deserves a little more credit. Yet even Cinema Blend’s own Katey Rich called it “a bad, maybe even terrible movie” in her review. Katey you know I think you’re awesome but in this case, I respectfully disagree. You’ve all got it wrong.

In an almost certainly vain attempt to balance the scales, I’ll do my best to set things right by taking the naysayers on. Below I’m answering the critics whose opinions most represent the generally negative consensus on Wolvy. If you haven’t see X-Men Origins: Wolverine yet, you may want to stop reading right now. Spoilers will be involved.

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Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I was among the lucky ones to have X-Men Origins: Wolverine open in theatres last night. So here's the review.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is hitting cinemas around the globe, but will it live up to the standard set by Bryan Singer, or end up in the dumps with Brett Ratner’s X3?

Being a fan of the franchise I was really looking forward to another film, but after X-Men 3: The Last Stand I’ve learned to keep my expectations as low as possible, and I actually managed to enter the cinema without any big expectations.

I am surprised by the amount of negativity for this film, but I think the level of expectations has a lot to do with that; personally I just went to see a movie. And I had fun. There were a few small things that bothered me, some interactions, and maybe not enough time with one or two characters, and one scene featuring a sink that seems to have been put in for cheap laughs; they really could have left that scene out of the film.

There were worries about the inclusion of so many characters in the film, but I never felt that took anything away from the story, there’s really only one or two characters I felt got pushed aside. It was actually nice to see some new faces and learn something new about the familiar characters. This is helped a lot by the strong cast, the inclusion of so many characters could have easily have been overwhelming or just plain bad if the actors didn’t put their all into the few scenes they had. I found everyone’s effort to be top notch, and many new characters endeared themselves to me despite their short screen-time

Any continuity worries I had with regards to the X-Men films were snuffed out, save maybe one or two, but that’s nothing another movie or your imagination won’t take care off.

If nothing else you’re getting a good action kick, but I can’t help but hope that there would be an unrated, slightly bloodier, version when it comes out on DVD and BluRay, as some of the more violent scenes reminded you this is a PG-13 movie.
It’s hard to compare it to the previous films in the franchise, but one thing I can say for sure, it’s much better than X3. Considering all the aspects I will say that X2 still holds the top spot, but where Wolverine lands in comparison to the first X-Men movie is hard to say, go see it and make up your own mind.

4/5

Channing Tatum Dying to Play Gambit

From: AceShowbiz.com

A self-professed comic book fan, 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' star Channing Tatum laid bare his true feeling of missing out on playing Gambit in 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'.

Though drawing envy when landing the role of Duke in the forthcoming "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra", Channing Tatum revealed there is one particular role he himself wishes to be able to carry out, Gambit. "Man, I was dying to play [Gambit]," the 28-year-old shared to MTV News about his desire to portray the character he holds dear to his heart.

"My dad's from Louisiana and I think I've always just gravitated towards Gambit in general," he in addition explained about his personal connection with the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" character. "He's just cooler than anything to me."

Actually, this "Step Up" hunk has nailed the role of Gambit's alter ego, Remy LeBeau, after he auditioned for Brett Ratner's "X-Men: The Last Stand". At the last minute, however, the character's participation was cut off. When the character is finally included in "Wolverine", Tatum was immediately contacted. But, he was already attached to "G.I. Joe".

While in the end he didn't get to play Gambit, he still has nothing but positive words for Taylor Kitsch, the depicter of the Cajun card player in "Wolverine". "I'm really interested to see how the guy plays him because I have a pretty clear version of Gambit in my head," he said. "I'm sure the guy is going to be great, though."

Channing Tatum will be seen starring as the leader of the special operation team G.I. Joe in "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" when the live-action movie arrives in theaters across the U.S. on August 7. In the meantime, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is set to blast off in U.S. theaters on May 1.

Brett Ratner Wants To Be On The Comic Book Movie A-List - Screen Rant

Brett Ratner Wants To Be On The Comic Book Movie A-List - Screen Rant

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Is Fox Head Tom Rothman Dulling the Claws of 'Wolverine'?

From: Defamer.com

If there's one important lesson that can be drawn from the blockbuster performance of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight, it's that audiences aren't afraid of a comic-book movie that takes a walk on the dark, grim side. However, the same can't necessarily be said for Fox topper Tom Rothman (the bane of AICN) who greenlit two Fantastic Four movies, hired Brett Ratner to direct X3, and now is allegedly mucking with the X-Men spinoff Wolverine. Despite the fact that the gritty, Hugh Jackman-topped film was met with a giddy response at this year's Comic-Con, Jeff Wells says that Rothman is pressuring director Gavin Hood to make the movie more kid-friendly — and when Hood won't cave, Rothman is taking matters into his own hands:

There was/is a huge Wolverine set being recently used. I'm not even sure which lot it was built on, but the look or mood of the set is, according to a source who was told Hood's view of things, supposed to be on the dark, dinghy and somber side. I only know what I was told, but the basics are that Hood was away from the set for whatever reason (shooting something else, taking a day or two off), and when he returned to the big somber set he was shocked to find that it had been repainted top to bottom on Rothman's orders. The murky-scuzzy vibe was gone, and a brighter and less downish look had taken its place.

Perhaps Rothman has taken his fan letter from Steven Spielberg too much to heart, but a child-friendly Wolverine feels less "X" and more "Y?" Does this mean his bristly greeting of "Bub" will be redubbed "Buddy," or his iconic cigar will be replaced with a pixie stick? C'mon, Tom: Wolvie isn't meant for buoyant musical numbers — or don't you remember what happened last time?

Brett Ratner brings 'Harbinger' to Hollywood

From: MTV.com

Director Brett Ratner — he of “X-Men: The Last Stand” fame — has decided the future looks bright for the cape & tights set. So much so that he’s moving shop from New Line on over to Paramount, and bringing a bunch of comic properties with him — most notably, “Harbinger” — the classic, Valiant Comics franchise created by legendary comic writer Jim Shooter.

Given that the news of a possible “Harbinger” film just broke, there will still be some time before any major announcements are made, so instead, Splash Page turned to Shooter for his take on the news, and how he hopes Ratner and Co. handle the next possible comic book blockbuster.

To Shooter, it’s no surprise that “Harbinger” found its way to Hollywood since the title’s history started out geared that way. Read more…

Young X-Men Get Gossip Girl Scribe?

From:

In some odd Friday evening news, BlackBook magazine talked to Josh Schwartz, the writer and executive producer of shows like "The O.C.," "Gossip Girl" and "Chuck" (soon to be getting his own comic book!) and found out that he'd taken over the job of writing a screenplay for a Young X-Men movie (that title still hasn't been confirmed) which originally was to be written by Zack Penn. What's even odder than that juicy news is that BlackBook then took the story down, even though you can still see the original post at the link below. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we were able to grab some of the original text which had Schwartz saying some rather unflattering remarks about his superhero peers and predecessors:

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."

Jackie Chan wants to be an X-Man

Behold the groveling of Jackie Chan before X-Men director Brett Ratner!

[VIDEO]