Bryan Singer atttended the Avatar premiere last night, and let slip during red carpet interviews that he will be returning to the X-Men franchise by helming X-Men: First Class. The comics follow the orientation of the original, core X-Men into life at the Xavier Academy and their very first adventures as the popular mutant team. In the comics the core team consists of Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, and Professor X. This will more than likely be changed due to the way the original three films were handled. The current draft of the script is written by Josh Schwartz (The OC, Chuck).
I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it’s exciting to see Singer back since his X-Men is the film that jump-started the whole comic adaptation movement. However, this just feels like a lazy move on Fox’s part to further cash in by rebooting their own franchise after doing everything possible to drive it into the ground. After that entire Wolverine debacle, I can’t see any fans being on Fox’s side about this even with Singer’s inclusion. And really, the creator of The O.C. and Chuck as screenwriter? I guess time will tell. Singer will start production after he finishes shooting his next film, Jack The Giant Killer.
-Brian
Source: http://movies.ign.com/articles/105/1055999p1.html
I am not a very big Brian Singer fan. I wasn't that big of a fan of the X-Men movies. After X-Men, he moved on to another property I hold dear, Superman, then butchered it. Now, in moving back to the X-Men franchise, I have the utmost confidence that Singer will most definitely destroy the awesomeness of what COULD be X-Men: First Class, by trying to haphazardly integrate it into the flawed continuity he created with the first two films.
Ugh. Not looking forward to this as long as Singer is on the marquee.
Really? I liked the first two X-Men movies, though I thought Superman Returns was seriously flawed.
If you didn't like those, I can't imagine what you think of the 3rd X-Men movie and the Wolverine Origins movie, because those two were pretty bad.
Dennis
Well, let me clarify. I own the first two X-Men movies, and didn't think they were COMPLETELY horrible…I'm just not a huge fan.
Singer is a great director. The first two X-Men Movies and even Superman Returns was very well done from a cinematic point of view. I think its when he gets his hands on a script and starts digging his fingers into it (writing) that we get gems like an island of kryptonite not being able to kill Superman, the idea to make a sequel to a movie that came out in the 70's instead of completely rebooting the franchise, putting the name Rogue on the character of Jubilee, etc.
*laughs* I haven't even SEEN Wolverine, and X3 is a can of worms best not opened.
I think Singer is a great storyteller. Its just when he gets too much input on the plot of a movie he's directing, he ends up telling the *wrong* story.
For me Superman Returns had all kinds of problems, starting with the charachter/villain Lex Luthor. Kevin Spacey's portrayal was flat and uninteresting. We've had great and good Lex Luthor performances by Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum, and even John Shea. I don't know if it was dialogue he was given or the direction, it just was bad (Lex Luthor makes his money by marrying older women and then taking their money when they die???).
There's also plenty of other problems like the reasoning for Luthor to "create" real estate as his end goal. It makes no sense whatsoever. There's even more I won't go into because I could write a 20 page paper on what is wrong with that movie.
Dennis
I can't agree more, and sadly, its those story holes that are making themselves standard in films that have Bryan Singer's name on them. I would have much rather seen a classic Superman villain closely linked to Krypton (say, Braniac) in a reboot of the franchise, not another Lex Luthor real-estate scam. For me, Superman Returns was riding the cape in the wake of Christopher Reeves' death. Which was SO not cool.
For me Superman Returns had all kinds of problems, starting with the charachter/villain Lex Luthor. Kevin Spacey's portrayal was flat and uninteresting. We've had great and good Lex Luthor performances by Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum, and even John Shea. I don't know if it was dialogue he was given or the direction, it just was bad (Lex Luthor makes his money by marrying older women and then taking their money when they die???).
There's also plenty of other problems like the reasoning for Luthor to "create" real estate as his end goal. It makes no sense whatsoever. There's even more I won't go into because I could write a 20 page paper on what is wrong with that movie.
Dennis