X-Men 2 News
Thursday, December, 12 2001Fox announces "X2: X-Men Sequel" dates
LOS ANGELES--Dec. 12, 2001--Twentieth Century Fox today announced that it will release X2, the second film in its X-MEN motion picture franchise, on May 2, 2003.
X2 reunites all of the principal cast members of the 2000 blockbuster, which theatrically has grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, was a video and DVD phenomenon, and revitalized the legendary comics series.
Also returning are the original's key creative team, including director Bryan Singer; producers Ralph Winter, Lauren Shuler Donner and Avi Arad; and screenwriter David Hayter.
X2 is scheduled to begin principal photography in May 2002.
In addition to its star-studded returning cast, X2 will feature several surprises, including favorite mutant characters from the vast X-Men comics universe, who are new to the film franchise. Since the release of X-MEN, the worldwide fan base has been burning up the Internet with speculation on which new characters would appear in the sequel.
Director Bryan Singer's credits include the acclaimed drama ``The Usual Suspects'' and ``Apt Pupil,'' as well as ``X-Men.'' Producer Lauren Shuler Donner's credits include ``Free Willy,'' ``Any Given Sunday'' and ``Volcano.'' Ralph Winter, who recently signed a producing deal with Fox, most recently executive produced the studio's summer blockbuster ``Planet of the Apes.''
"X-Men 2" plot revealed?
Friday, December, 7 2001
The 13th Street (http://www.13thstreet.com) reports that they have grabbed the premise for "X-Men 2," which is what 20th Century Fox is currently going for after looking at the two scripts written by David Hayter and Zak Penn. Here is what they say:
"The story involves the appearance of the menacing 'Legacy Virus', a man-made disease that is only infectious to mutants, eventually resulting in their deaths. The X-Men must face the creator of the Virus as well as battle the spread of the disease as it vectors through the public."
Interesting enough, the site reports that Ray Park and Tyler Mane will not reprise their roles as Toad and Sabertooth, respectively.
Halle Berry talks "James Bond 20" & "X-Men 2!"
By Lisa Zlotnick
Halle Berry was recently in New York City promoting her new movie, “Monster’s Ball.” The day of the interview she won a Best Actress award from the National Movie Review Board for her role of Leticia Musgrove. Not only did she discuss her new movie but she also gave us some insight on the Bond rumors and what we can expect from "X-Men 2."
Are you going to be the next Bond girl? Is that rumor true?
You know what, I don’t know and the truth is I’m trying to work out the dates with "X-Men 2." I’ve been having a really hard time working around my X-Men schedule because it’s a sequel. They are in first position so they have to approve of every movie that I take that could possibly interfere with their start date. Trouble is, they don’t really have a start date. So, it’s getting very gray because I really want to be able to go work but at the same time I have to honor my contract with them, so they’re trying really hard to work it out with MGM and I hope it works out.
Now, you are supposed to be playing a villain in the Bond movie?
Yes, I am his nemesis this time around. I will not be topless. I actually have a clause that says, “I will not be topless in this movie.”
Will you be getting more screen time in X-Men 2?
The problem was that there were so many characters and I think they had to hone in on one story or else it would have probably come off like a bunch of vignettes. I think they opted to tell Wolverine’s story. They also had to play to a mass audience that maybe knew nothing about the comic books so they had a lot of back story and back history to tell. I am hoping this time they will get into some of the other characters and learn…all I know right now is that Storm gets a haircut, that’s all I know. She gets a bob or something.
What more would you like to know about Storm?
Storm is like the den mother of the group. It didn’t really come across in this movie. She is very nurturing, very mother-like. She is solid. Even Wolverine, they come to her to look for guidance and advice and I would like to see more of that. I’d also love to understand a bit more about where she came from. She’s from Africa and I’d like to understand and have the audience understand why she came here and what sort of led her to that, how she discovered her unique power. It’s a really interesting story how she discovered that so I’m hoping some of those elements will be in the new script.
Jackman talks "X-Men 2"
Thursday, December, 7 2001
The World Entertainment News Network (http://www.wenn.com) reports that Hugh Jackman is on a rough diet in order to build his physique for "X-Men 2," in which he will be reprising his role as Wolverine.
"It's hard to change your body if it doesn't want to. I've been doing nausea-inducing strength training four or five times a week for an hour with my trainer Josh. He's the guy who worked with Angelina Jolie for Lara Croft. I also do 20 minutes of hard aerobic sessions three times a week. And I eat all the time. My breakfast is oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder, an egg white omelette, low-fat baked beans, low-fat cottage cheese, a couple of slices of ham and sauteed spinach. I eat five or six times a day, but I make sure not to eat any sugar, breads or pasta."
Halle Berry almost set to join
007
BY THOMAS CHAU
Wednesday, November, 28 2001
Variety reports that Halle Berry is the frontrunner to star alongside Pierce Brosnan in the next 007 feature, which will be the 20th James Bond film in the franchise. A finalized deal has NOT taken place yet, however.
The reason? The next Bond movie begins shooting on January 14th, which happens to be around the same time Berry is committed to film the "X-Men" sequel. A scheduling scenario in which she can do both films has not been worked out yet.
Previously, Berry had to drop out of "Gigli," a romantic film with Ben Affleck, due to conflicts with "X-Men 2."
The still-untitled James Bond film will be directed by Lee Tamahori ("Along Came a Spider") and will be released in the 2002 holiday season, marking it the 40th anniversary James Bond film. It will also most likely be Pierce Brosnan's last dance as Agent 007.
Saturday, November 10, 2001 1:29
CST
13th Street
reports that 20th Century Fox and director Bryan Singer are
currently disagreeing about where "X-Men 2" should be filmed.
The studio apparently wants the film to shoot in Vancouver instead of Toronto
(where the first film was shot). On the other hand, Singer is said to be
comfortable with returning again to Toronto and hoping to once again capture the
atmosphere that made the first film a success. He is also said to be comfortable
with the crew he had worked on the first film with and wants to reunite with
them again.
The site goes on to say that it is rumored that Tom Sizemore ("Saving Private
Ryan," "Black Hawk Down") may play the part of the human "military leader" who
is against the X-Men and mutants.
Production on the film is targeted for spring/summer of next year.
Tuesday, November 6, 2001 1:13
CST
"X-Men" scribe David Hayter has been
talking to the
Comics Continuum and says he continues to work with director Bryan Singer on
the sequel.
"Actually, we are closing in on the final draft," Hayter said. "I had a great
meeting last week with the studio (20th Century Fox), Bryan and Marvel, and
everybody seems pretty happy. I can't say much about it story-wise, but it's
going to be really cool."
Hayter and Zak Penn both worked on versions of the "X-Men 2" script this summer.
At this time, however, "Bryan and I are working together on a final draft."
He also went on to say that "X-Men 2" is "definitely bigger. What I'm telling
people is that it's the second part of a much bigger, three-part movie."