‘Wolverine’ Hits $34.75 Million On Friday, Hoping for $85+ Million for the Weekend

From: ropeofsilicon.com
Written by: Brad Brevet
Looking to become the seventh biggest comic adaptation of all-time.

No matter what you think about X-Men Origins: Wolverine it appears a lot of you already went out to see it as Steve Mason at Big Hollywood reports the origin story of the bad-tempered mutant hit an estimated $34.75 million on Friday and he expects it may end up around $86.8 million as the first blockbuster of the Summer 2009 movie season. Mason points out this gives Wolverine the seventh best opening day for a comic book adaptation with last year’s Iron Man besting it by less than a half-million.

Should Mason’s estimate of $86.8 million hold it will also make it the seventh best opening weekend for a comic book adaptation, but X2’s $85.5 is a close eighth in that case and it’s all going to depend on word-of-mouth, which if you read around the Internet it appears the fanboys didn’t take to it, but just how will general audiences feel? One thing I know is $86.8 is damn close to our Box-Office Oracle’s prediction of $88 million. Atta boy Laremy.

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Blu-Ray Review: HD ‘X-Men Trilogy’ Primes Fans For First Big Summer Movie

From: Hollywoodchicago.com
Written by: Brian Tallerico

With ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ opening this Friday, fans can catch up on where Hugh Jackman’s legendary character earned a following big enough to warrant a summer tentpole release date in the Blu-Ray release of the “X-Men Trilogy” including the two films by Bryan Singer (“X-Men” and “X2: X-Men United”) and the three-quel by Brett Ratner (“X-Men: The Last Stand”). With nine discs, HD video/audio transfers, and dozens of special features, this is the Blu-Ray release of the season for the comic movie nut in your circle of friends and family.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

Very few franchises have been robust enough to support four films in the new millennium. With “X-Men,” “X2: X-Men United,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and this week’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” this has been easily one of the most successful franchises of the ’00s (only Harry Potter, “Saw,” and “Fast & Furious” have had as many theatrical releases.) The three films in this set have made over $1.1 billion worldwide.

Knowing the rabid fan base of the franchise, Twentieth Century Fox has released a very complete set. Want special features? There are hours of them. Digital copies? There’s one for each film. And each film is presented in HD for the first time (the first and third film are presented in 2.40:1 with the middle film in 2.35:1). All three films are accompanied by 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio English tracks and 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Sadly, Fox continues to underwhelm in the technical departments. “X-Men” looks older than it should with the picture often coming across much flatter than an average Blu-Ray. The picture simply doesn’t pop like it should, something I’ve noted far-too-often with recent Fox releases (although, to be fair, not all of them). Ultimately, “X-Men Trilogy” should look amazing and it looks (and sounds) merely average.

What is amazing is the collection of special features for all three films. They’re as informative and exhaustive as a fan could possibly ask for. There’s clearly no more material left on the cutting room floor and until the cast and crew gets together in decades for an anniversary edition, there are no more interviews or behind-the-scenes details to provide.

The first disc of special features on “X-Men” - Commentary by Bryan Singer and Brian Peck, Behind-the-Scenes Footage, Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Bryan Singer and Brian Peck, Fox Special: “The Mutant Watch,” Bryan Singer Interview, Animatics, Art Gallery, Three TV Spots, Music Promo, BD-Live: Wolverine Exclusive, and HD Marvel
Universe Trailers.

The second disc of special features on “X-Men” - Disc Intro by Bryan Singer, The Uncanny Suspects, X-Factor: The Look of the X-Men, Image Gallery, Production Documentary Scrapbook, The Special Effects of the X-Men, Reflection of the X-Men, Marketing the X-Men, TV Spots, and Internet Interstitials.

The first disc of special features on “X2: X-Men United” - Commentary by Bryan Singer and Tom Sigel, Commentary by Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter, Generation X: Comic Book History, BD-Live: Wolverine Exclusive, and HD Marvel Universe Trailers.

The second disc of special features on “X2: X-Men United” - History of the X-Men, Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production, Deleted Scenes, Galleries, Locations and Sets, On-Camera Graphics, The Unseen X2, and Three HD Trailers.

The first disc of special features on “X-Men: The Last Stand” - Director and Writer Commentary by Brett Ratner, Zack Penn and Simon Kinberg, Producer Commentary by Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, HD Deleted Scenes (Optional Director and Writer Commentary by Brett Ratner, Zack Penn and Simon Kinberg), HD Easter Eggs, BD-Live: Wolverine Exclusive, and HD Marvel Universe Trailers.

The second disc of special features fon “X-Men: The Last Stand” - Brett Ratner’s Production Diary, X-Men: Evolution of a Trilogy, X-Men Up Close - Interactive gallery with stills and video, Generation X: Comic Book History, Fox Movie Channel
Presents: Life After Film School, Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session, X3: The Excitement Continues in HD, Anatomy of a Scene: Golden Gate Bridge in HD, HD Vignettes, HD Blogs, Previz Animatics, Galleries, Easter Egg, and Three HD Trailers.

‘X-Men Trilogy’ is released by Twentieth Century Fox and stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Alan Cumming, Famke Janssen, Rebecca Romijn, Bruce Davison, Brian Cox, Kelsey Grammer, and Vinnie Jones. “X-Men” was written by David Hayter and directed by Bryan Singer. “X2: X-Men United” was written by Zak Penn and Hayter & Singer and directed by Singer. “X-Men: The Last Stand” was written by Simon Kinberg & Penn and directed by Brett Ratner. “X-Men Trilogy” was released on April 21st, 2009. All three films are rated PG-13.

X-Men to Become Vampires

X-Men stars Daniel Cudmore (X2 and X3) and Cameron Bright (X3) have signed on play Vampires in Twilight sequel New Moon.
Daniel Cudmore, who is best known for playing Colossus in the X-Men films will take the role of Felix one of the guards of the Volturi.
Cameron Bright, who played Leech in X-Men: The Last Stand, will be playing Alec. Alec is the brother of Dakota Fanning's character Jane, a high ranking and powerful Volturi member.

New Moon is sheduled for release in November 2009.

Cumming Hopeful Of X-men Return

From: Imdb.com

British actor Alan Cumming is still hoping to return to the X-men franchise - after he was dropped from the third superhero film.

The star appeared in the second comic book adaption, 2003's X2, as teleporting mutant Nightcrawler and was contracted to return for the 2006 follow-up X-Men: The Last Stand.

Cumming was disappointed when his part in the sequel was scrapped - and admits he would like to be given the chance to reprise the role in the future.

He says, "Nobody's said anything about it, but it might be quite fun to go back. I was supposed to do it again and they didn't pick up my option for a third one. It was sort of 'superhero interruptus'."

Alan Cumming interview on ROVE (Australia)

Alan Cumming on ROVE live in studio with Rove McManus.
Includes I Bought A Blue Car Today show title, U.S citizen - green card, voting, booing George W Bush, surname Cumming, Valentine's Day, Final Five questions: Backstage ritual, Matt Newtons arse in Underbelly, The L Word strap on, slapped anyone in the face?


This is mainly with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman promoting Watchmen, but Alan mentions his work in X2 at about 3:50.

Hayter hired for 'Lost Planet' movie

From: Digital Spy
By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter

David Hayter has been hired to write the big screen adaptation of Capcom's video game Lost Planet, reports Variety.

Warner Bros is distributing the film, which is scheduled to be officially announced today at the E3 conference in Los Angeles.

Lost Planet focuses on an ice planet expedition to recover a powerful energy source that could save mankind.

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul will serve as producers on the film.

Hayter has strong ties with the video game world, having voiced the Solid Snake character in Konami's Metal Gear Solid franchise. His screenwriting credits include X-Men and X2.

Capcom games Resident Evil and Street Fighter have previously been turned into feature films.

Kevin Durand Briefly Talks Wolverine

From:

Kevin Durand (ABC's "Lost") briefly talked to Thunder Bay's Source about playing Frederick J. Dukes/The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

He spent time in the land down under working on the next installment of the X-Men movies: Wolverine, where he plays alongside Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as the villainous mutant The Blob also known as Frederick J. Dukes, a perennial X-Men character. The film is set for theatrical release in spring 2009.

"I wasn't a comic book kid because I was busy playing hockey here in Thunder Bay. That's all I wanted to do and all I dreamed of really. But when I saw the first (X-Men film), I was just in awe and the second one (X2:X-Men United) just blew me away," he said.

When he heard the news a new installment was in the works, he was hoping the producers would consider him for a part and luckily for Durand, they already knew his name and called for him to take a look at the part.

And to get the larger than life Blob ready for the cameras, it took six months of costume and special effects preparation.

"I have a feeling people are going to like him," Durand said.

Opening May 1, 2009, the Gavin Hood-directed film stars Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney and Lynn Collins. "Wolverine" tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program.

Guillemots: 'Falling Out of Reach'

From: DigitalSpy.com

By Simon Reynolds

Chances are you've heard all about Sir Ian McKellen's starring role in the video for this new Guillemots single. The burning question: is the song any good? Well, if McKellen were comparing the track to his film work, it would rocket past Last Action Hero and head straight towards X-Men 2 greatness. A complete u-turn from the stomping disco of last single 'Get Over It', 'Falling Out of Reach' begins as a stripped-down acoustic ballad and blossoms into an epic, gorgeous summer tear-jerker about two people disconnecting.

Lyrically, the song tends to rely on the rhyming dictionary ("they're trying to make you compromise, this fire burning in your eyes"), but the key is in the delivery - Dangerfield sings earnestly and from the heart. Guillemots even manage to weave whistling into proceedings without making it sound terrible! As beautiful a song as you're likely to hear all year, 'Falling Out of Reach' makes it two out of two great singles from Guillemots' Red album.

Check out the vid.

Cumming: 'Hollywood is homophobic'

From: DigitalSpy.
By Simon Reynolds.

X-Men 2 star Alan Cumming has admitted that media scrutiny keeps gay actors from coming out.

Speaking to the BBC, Cumming said: "I don't think the people that go see films care that much - the media make it more of a deal and it's made into controversy.”

The 43-year-old, who married his partner Grant Shaffer last year, expressed concern about Hollywood's homophobia.

He added: "There is a lot of homophobia in the world - but in Hollywood definitely."

The Scottish actor responded to claims from Stephen Fry and Rupert Everett that gay actors were typecast, saying: "Some of them do [get typecast], but lots of straight actors get pigeonholed in various roles.

"I don't think that I only play gay characters, or I wouldn't be as convincing if I had a wife or a girlfriend in a movie.

"Derek Munn, director of public affairs for Stonewall which promotes equality for gay people, said: "The pitifully low number of openly lesbian or gay actors suggests that there is a problem. The film industry needs to think about why it is that gay actors choose not to come out."

Guy Hendrix Dyas shares stills

Production designer on X2, Guy Hendrix Dyas, has put some rare and previously unreleased images from X2 up on his webpage. Check it out.

Teaser:

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.

Updates to the site.

The main sites for X1 & X2 are up and running properly.

Louise Mingenbach designs threads for 'Wolverine'

From:

According to her listing on The United Talent Agency website, costume designer Louise Mingenbach ('X-Men', 'X2', 'Superman Returns') has joined the crew of 20th Century Fox's 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'.

However, a filmography listed on the personal website of assistant Costume Designer Christine Bieselin also states that Kym Barrett ('Speed Racer', 'The Matrix') is the costume designer on the movie.

We're back!

After a very long hiatus and one or two changes we're back in business.
This will again be the place to come for the new information regarding the X-Men movie magic and all it's spinoffs, including Wolverine and Magneto, both of which are movies we are looking forward to a great deal.

I'll start of easy with a few of the bigger headlines, before the flow of information will once again open.

From

Spoilerific Details Emerge Regarding 'Magneto' Spin-Off
The word is right there at the beginning of the headline, but I'll go ahead and say it again. This post includes spoilers. Do not read this post if you don't want to know the plot of Magneto. Fans of The X-Men beware or enjoy. Yes, over at Obsessed With Film, they've learned the entire plot of the X-Men spin-off, written by David S. Goyer, who will also direct. Deciding not to reveal every plot point, OWF's Will Reynolds provides the basics, including the fact that the film will have... (continue reading)

'Wolverine' Gets New Title, Release Date and Mutant Co-Stars
Talk of a Wolverine movie have been ongoing since (I think) right after X2 came out, and the project has been moving forward (slowly but surely) since that time. Now comes word from Variety that the Hugh Jackman spinoff project has claimed a release date, changed its title (slightly), and promises some new mutants that we haven't seen yet ... as well as some old young friends. (continue reading)

From:

Wolverine Starts Filming Soon.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Hugh Jackman has completed filming on director Baz Luhrmann's Australia, co-starring Nicole Kidman, and will begin shooting X-Men Origins: Wolverine in just three weeks! Leading up to the events of X-Men, "Wolverine" tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe. The Gavin Hood-directed spin-off hits theaters on May 1, 2009.

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Synopsis

In this announcement at ComingSoon.net about 20th Century Fox's 2009 tentpoles, the studio has revealed the official synopsis for X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is set to star Jackman and will be directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition). The producers are Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter (who produced all three previous "X-Men" films), along with Jackman and his Seed Prods. producing partner, John Palermo. The film will be executive produced by Marvel Films' Kevin Feige.
Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine – written by David Benioff (The Kite Runner, Troy) – tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.

More news will follow.