Fans call for X-Men 4 with Joss Whedon directing - do you agree?

From: coventrytelegraph.net
Written by: David Bentley

JUST OVER 1,000 people have now signed an online petition calling for a film follow-up to the 2006 release X-Men: The Last Stand.

The currently on-release X-Men Origins: Wolverine is, of course, a prequel - and other prequels are planned (X-Men: First Class and X-Men Origins: Magneto).

But some fans also want sequels to the existing trilogy that take forward the storylines of the cure, Xavier's survival and the return of Magneto's powers.

While petitions are very common across the internet, and 1,000 people is not that big a number relative to the global audience of the movies, the campaign does show some strength of feeling out there for further X-movies, as I had also reported earlier.

In addition, a further online petition calls for Joss Whedon - who wrote the Astonishing X-Men comic book series - to be hired to direct the fourth movie.

SFX magazine recently asked readers what they wanted to see in an X-Men 4 and the five most popular answers were:

1. Long-awaited comic book favourites, the most popular being Sentinels (mutant-hunting robots) and the evil, ancient mutant called Apocalypse
2. Less Wolverine, as he has dominated all the films so far
3. Reboot the franchise to improve the casting (Halle Berry came in for heavy criticism)
4. Give Rogue a total overhaul to make her tougher, more powerful and more in line with the comic books
5. Use the Days of Future Past storyline in which Kitty Pryde travels back from a dystopian future (where mutants are being slaughtered by Sentinels) in order to prevent it all happening...this would create an alternative reality and could wipe the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, which upset many fans!

Other readers suggested bringing back director Bryan Singer - the director of the first two X-Men films who has proved without doubt to be the best suited to the franchise - while there were also calls for the return of Nightcrawler and for boosting the role of plasma-generating mutant Jubilee who had cameo appearances in the movies.

[MORE]

Open Forum Friday: Can the X-Men Movie Franchise Still Be Salvaged?

From: filmjunk.com

As people head out to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine this weekend, the question on a lot of people’s minds will no doubt be, how does it compare to the previous X-Men films? While I’m sure some will claim it is better than X-Men: The Last Stand, it’s still hard to get past the feeling that something is missing. It’s not quite an X-Men movie, even though it wants to be one. With Fox currently contemplating even more X-Men prequels and spin-offs, they run the risk of alienating their audience and watering down the X-Men name to the point of no return. Are they playing with fire?

Perhaps the question is irrelevant in this age of reboots, where studios can easily erase their past mistakes, but I do think the X-Men series is at an important crossroads here. There are a LOT of characters in the X-Men universe, but only a few that can support a standalone movie. Wolverine makes sense, but would a Magneto prequel really draw a crowd? What about the proposed X-Men: First Class spin-off for younger viewers? If you ask me, there are only so many new characters you can introduce before audiences get confused, and only so many times a movie series can change creative hands before audiences stop caring. At that point you just have to make a clean break and start over again from scratch.

What do you think? Do you like the idea of an unlimited stream of X-Men spin-offs from different directors? Would you prefer to see X-Men 4 or is that now impossible? Are all comic book movie franchises simply doomed to die after four installments? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.

Unofficial X4 script

XMF recieved a unofficial X4 script.
To read go here.

X-Men 4

I've been looking around on various pages, and I see that the fans still want a X-Men 4 film, and I'm think it would be a very good idea.
So jumping on the bandwagon started over at XMF:

If you are interested in seeing an X4, you may send your e-mails, letters (the better method), and post comments below to Fox:

20th Century Fox Theatricals
ATTN: Tom Rothman (X-Men 4)
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
foxmovies@fox.com

But remember, be polite, and tell them why you want to see a forth installment.

Exclusive: Shawn Ashmore on Iceman's Return

From:

Last week, Superhero Hype!'s sister horror site ShockTillYouDrop.com had a chance to talk to Shawn Ashmore about DreamWorks' new horror flick The Ruins, based on the novel by Scott Smith. Inevitably, the interview turned to Ashmore's most famous character, Bobby Drake aka Iceman, who the actor has played in all three of 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" movies, having the most to do in the most recent movie X-Men: The Last Stand, which saw Iceman in full ice mode for the first time.

Of course, we were really curious to know if he thought we'd ever see Bobby Drake's return after such a cool moment in the last movie.

Shock: You mentioned Bobby Drake earlier, so do you think we'll ever see you play him again, especially with the way he was developed so much in the last "X-Men" movie?
Ashmore: Yeah, it was great. I was waiting to do some of that stuff since the first movie. It was five years, six years in the making to really shoot ice and be in a battle and all that stuff, but honestly, I don't know. I would love to do another film, but I think they're doing these spin-offs and origin stories, so I can't see in the near future there being an "X-Men 4" but I have no idea to tell you the truth, it's really hard to say. I'm holding my breath, waiting for it to happen, but I'm not sure if it will or not.

Shock: Hopefully, they won't wait too long if they do get back into it, because as I said, they really turned Iceman into someone we'd want to see more of and some of the other new characters.
Ashmore: Yeah, and again, it's a blast. I love the fact that there is such a huge audience for "The X-Men", characters I love and characters I've lived with so long that it's really exciting when people are like, "Aw, man, I want to see another one." That's great, and that gives me a boost to hear that stuff, so that's really cool."

You can read the rest of that interview at here! The Ruins opens on Friday, April 4.

Zak Penn Exclusive Video Interview – THE GRAND

From: Collider.

I've just taken the parts regarding X-Men:

While many people reading this know exactly who Zak is, allow me to offer a very fast recap. Zak is very famous in the comic book world as he’s the one who wrote “X2,” “Electra,” “Fantastic Four,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and “The Incredible Hulk.” (Apparently Edward Norton did a “polish” on it….) So when you get the opportunity to talk with Zak…of course you’re going to ask about comic book things.

Anyway, during my very long interview with Zak (hence why it’s divided up) we talked about everything. What you’ll notice during the second part is I asked a bunch of questions in almost a bullet style. Watch…I think you’ll like it.

For the videos, go HERE.

Jackie Chan wants to be an X-Man

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

[VIDEO]