August 27, 2000... Popcorn over in the UK had some words with Paquin and Janssen. Paquin is ready for the leather outfits
and to start kicking some tail, since she says she was mostly acting like a civilian in the first film. She also, like most women
who read comics, wants Gambit: ""Rogue's traditional love interest in the comic book is this very suave guy on a
motorbike called Gambit. I'd love to see Gambit in the sequel."

As for Janssen, she knows her character's fate. "In the comic book [Jean Grey] does get married to Cyclops and they have
a child. But then all this other stuff happens and she turns into Phoenix and then Dark Phoenix, so I don't know where
they're gonna go with it."

August 30, 2000...Where's the Beast? The gang over at Cinescape may have the clues. Recently in an interview with Eon
Magazine actor John Favreau (The Replacements) shared his thoughts on the Beast character and his hopes at getting a shot
at the role. Favreau, an old comic book fan, seems keen on the Beast should the character be added to the sequel. For more
on the Favreau and the Beast rumors check out the full story at Cinescape. [Appeared at Cinescape and Mothership;
reported by Reg.]

September 18, 2000... Comics Continuum got the latest official word on X-Men 2 from Marvel's Avi Arad last week.

"We're starting development, starting to pick up the story...Hopefully within a month, we'll announce a writer and we'll
go from there."

Arad also reveals the status of director Bryan Singer..."It's all up in the air, but there's a chance. It was a good experience
for him and for us, so we will see. Sequels always create negotiations."

[Appeared at Comics Continuum; reported by Reg.]

And while there was talk less than a month ago that the studio was putting out feelers to James Cameron's office, Coming
Attractions has confirmed that Bryan Singer is now in negotiations with 20th Century Fox for directing X-Men 2. No deal has
been signed, and it could still be a while away before one is agreed to by both parties. [Our friends in the tunnels under New
York City have returned.]

September 24, 2000... The Movie Insider received a scoop that reveals Bryan Singer's long time friend John Ottman (The
Usual Suspects) may be scoring the next chapter in the live comic book adaptation. Here's the scoop:

"For those of you who didn't know, because of scheduling problems Ottman couldn't do the music or the editing for
X-Men. He is a long-time friend of Bryan Singer, and has done the music and editing for both The Usual Suspects and
Apt Pupil. I asked Ottman if he was going to be composing the music for X-Men 2, and he said that as long as
something else didn't come up, he would most definatly be doing the score. So X-Men 2 has a tentative composer and
editor, but only time will tell as the movie is not scheduled to be released until 2003. Who wants to contend with both
The Matrix 2 and Star Wars: Episode II which are both released in 2002? Not me."

[Appeared at The Movie Insider; reported by Reg.]

October 10, 2000... If you think Wolverine can kick some serious ass, you'll definitely want to tune in to these latest rumors.
Guerilla-Film.com reports that the executives over at Fox are seriously considering a solo Wolverine film focusing on the
Logan character and a search for his identity. Here's more on the latest X-Men 2 and Wolverine buzz:

"...Originally, the Wolverine solo pic was being considered as a possible third installment of the series, however, recent
talks have placed the Wolverine movie as a viable alternative to a full blown X-Sequel. You might be saying ' Why
would they do that? ' Well, it makes sense for them on several levels:

"1. Not having to reassemble the massive cast dealing with schedules, negotiations, etc would free up time and allow
the shoot to begin sooner.

"2. Wolverine's massive popularity among fans would ensure a good box office and omitting the other 5 or 6 X-Men
would streamline the story and keep the budget down.

"3. When execs see the possibility of expanding the franchise while keeping the budget and cast concerns to a
minimum, they try and do so."

Our own X-sources haven't heard anything like what Guerilla-Film are reporting, so we can't confirm their claims. [Appeared
at Guerilla-Film.com; reported by Reg.]

October 16, 2000... The Marvel.com website has the latest word on the upcoming X-Men 2 feature from producer Tom
DeSanto. It looks as like DeSanto's been planting a few seeds. Marvel adds:

"...The X-MEN sequel is in the earliest stages of development. DeSanto says he envisioned an X-MEN trilogy when
putting together the first movie. 'When I started to structure the story in my head, by some natural accident, the other
two just fit into place,' DeSanto says. 'I have two other ideas in my head which we plant the seeds for in this film.' "

[Appeared at Marvel.com; reported by Reg.]

November 14, 2000... The Hollywood Reporter confirmed what Coming Attractions first reported two months ago: director
Bryan Singer is in early negotiations to direct X-Men 2. Sources tell the trade that Fox would like to get the project greenlit as
soon as possible. [Originally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.]

November 22, 2000... "I had a chance to interview Bryan Singer yesterday at the special release event at Casa Loma in
Toronto for the X-Men video and DVD.

"Here's a rundown...

     Yes Bryan Singer is in talks to helm the sequel... no, it is not finalized.
     The movie will not happen before the posible actor's strike...
     Yes he's working on a story with his production partner, he wouldn't elaborate on the story - he did say just
     "more of the same".
     There have been rumors about another X-disc with "new" scenes - NOT going to happen.
     Singer's relationship with Marvel is very good - he was just visiting a few of his friends at Marvel HQ in New
     york in the last couple of weeks.
     He also said he would love to shoot the sequel in Toronto again.
     He told me that he still reads the comics today - to keep up to date.
     He working on a movie now - the name escapes me - I thinks it's called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but
     anyway - he did say that he hoped Mike Myers wwould be in it - I'm not sure that info's new though.
     The whole thing started with 4 people dressed up in costumes from the movie repelling down the outside of the
     castle - to unveil a banner for the video releease. Singer was outside as well - he looked amused - people driving
     by looked confused.
     The DVD looks awesome - we had a chance to view a few of the special features - Svend Davidson - the
     Manager of DVD Product Development for Fox was there - he navigated around of few of the features - like the
     easter egg with Spiderman (Singer looked very impressed -and even gasped out loud at one point - he also said
     the Spiderman joke took him a few minutes to figure out - he said he was so under the gun schedule wise that he
     was like - that's great ha ha - no back to work).
     Davidson also added a little Star Wars news as well - there are NO, plans for Star Wars DVD's at this point (he
     would know - he would be in charge of them at 20th Century Fox) - he added that it's up to Lucasfilm, and that
     Fox is always second to know - but the standard line from Lucasfilm right now is - "George is really involved in
     Ep. 2 right now - he's not thinking of anything else"

"I have to go back over my tape from yesterday again to see if I have any more, but I think that covers the major
stuff. I should add that Singer was really great - he took the time to speak to almost all of the media one on one - and
talk to a few fans that were there (my lucky day - I'm a fan, and a member of the media - I even got an original press
kit signed.)"

[That report was sent in by Kyle.]

November 27, 2000... Duke sent us his copy of a newsletter he received from MarvelOnline.net that stated not only was
Singer signed, but the budget was expected to hit around $150 million. A start date was slated for late 2001 and an arrival
perhaps the following summer. The cast is expected to return, so the newsletter says. What's really fascinating about this
newsletter is that it's dated November 20th...a couple of days before our last report and a day before Kyle's talk with Singer.
So does MarvelOnline know something the rest of us don't? I mean, we get a little slow in the States around Turkey Day, but
this is ridiculous. But seriously, we think they jumped the cannon a bit--we post the word here so the repeat e-mails will cease.
[Originally appeared from MarvelOnline.net; forwarded in by Duke and also by Father Happy.]

December 28, 2000... All day we've been receiving reports that WWF wrestler The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) has
signed a deal to play The Beast in X-Men 2. The rumor, which has been flourishing all over the wrestling news websites (such
as WWFWCW.com, WrestleZone.com, WrestlingHookup.com, Wrestleboard.com, LordsOfPain.net and so on), seems to
have its origins at WrestlingObserver.com. However, when we went to WrestlingObserver.com to investigate the story, we
couldn't find the original story anywhere on that site.

It doesn't really matter because we know it isn't true. The Rock is not playing The Beast.

When we first reported that wrestler Tyler Mane was cast as Sabretooth, the X-Men film was well into pre-production. The
X-Men team had an office on the grounds of Fox; rewrites were happening on the script; location scouting was taking place;
and the main creative team of Bryan Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter and Tom DeSanto has been hired.

Think about where we are today with X-Men 2: not one production deal has been signed. Bryan Singer has not inked a deal to
direct the sequel. No screenwriters have been hired to write a sequel. X-Men 2 does not have a production office. For any
casting decisions to be made, there would need to be some actual money spent on developing the project at Fox -- and trust us
on this, we would know if there had been any. Hiring The Rock to play The Beast right now makes as much sense as buying
new furniture for a home that hasn't been constructed yet -- it makes no sense.

The rumor that The Rock has been cast as The Beast is nothing more than BS, a story that we never saw any quotes for at all.
It's one of those cyber urban myths that get picked up and spread around the 'net at the speed of light, and it deserves to die
right here and now. Our lovable Rock's next movie will be The Scorpion King, scheduled to start filming next spring, not
X-Men 2.

Trust us on this. We were first to tell you when The Rock was hired in Mummy 2, and we'd be embarassed to call up Fox and
ask them to comment on this one. Chalk this rumor up to someone's bad case of indigestion from turkey leftovers. [Shawn
Carter, Rick Haenze, Steve, 'Fatal Exception', James Hurtig, 'Flash', Brian Pint, Rob Miller, '$wingin' Tree 24K', Todd
H. and anonymous all reported it to us; probably originated at WrestlingOnline.com.]

January 30, 2001... T-Catchu sends in this report: "My fiancee went to a sci-fi convention where Tyler Mane (Sabretooth)
was signing autographs and speaking to the public, and he announced that he was signed on for 2 more movies and
that the pre-production and the script are both well underway and filming should commence before the end of the
year, for a summer 2002 release!!"

That's as maybe, but it's still a frog. With Strike fun still a possibility along with everybody's already crowded schedules, even if
they started throwing stuff together now, we'd be a little surprised if Summer 2002 was accurate. Every day we wait, the more
that 2002 bit looks tentative. We'll see.

[Thanks to T-Catchu.]

February 19, 2001... Empire Online is the first to get official confirmation that Bryan Singer will in fact return to direct
X-Men 2. Speaking to the magazine at the Empire Awards ceremony tonight, Singer told Empire Online, that he's begun
working on the script and wants to begin filming the movie towards the end of the year. "The original cast will join us again,
along with some new characters," Singer told Empire.

To read the rest of what Singer told Empire, including additional quotes from the director, click here to read the full article.
[Originally reported by Empire Online.]

March 21, 2001... In her column yesterday, Sun-Times entertainment columnist Cindy Pearlman spoke to X-Men co-star
Hugh Jackman who explained the latest on the anticipated sequel. Jackman told the journalist that the X-Men 2 sequel was
slated to be turned in this week, and filming is expected to start next January. Jackman was looking forward to reprising his role
as the gruff hero Wolverine. "I'm thrilled to come back and do it," the actor said. [Originally appeared in the Chicago
Sun-Times newspaper.]

April 3, 2001... The Jam Movies website reports today that Vancouver has "an edge" over Toronto for filming of X-Men 2.
The site also says Singer "confirms" three new characters for X2, namely Gambit, Beast and Jubilee. [Originally appeared in
Jam Movies.]

However it should be noted that the Jam Movies article does not point to precisely where and when Singer confirmed the
involvement of the trio of new mutants in X-Men 2 -- meaning that until Singer really does say it in quotes, it's not a for sure
thing. Our sources say the storyline for X-Men 2 still has not been signed off by Fox yet.

April 5, 2001... Yesterday the Comics Continuum website reported screenwriter David Hayter was working on the second
X-Men film, although in an unspecified capacity. Hayter also denied the report that originated in last month's Chicago
Sun-Times newspaper that a finished script was going to be shortly handed in. [Originally appeared in Comics Continuum.]

Morlock sources for Coming Attractions report that Hayter has handed in a treatment for the storyline of X-Men 2. The
treatment 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.

The treatment is being considered by 20th Century Fox and a decision whether to commission a script or another new
treatment will be made shortly.

['Callisto' patrols the tunnels that run under New York City. She also has Blue Cross coverage.]

June 6, 2001... Could this be the real deal? CA isn't sure, so we wouldn't bet the farm on it, but it's a possibility that this
scooper has indeed read the screenplay for the proposed X-Men sequel.

We know for sure that two writers who worked on idea for X-Men 2. The question is...did one of the proposals (or both) get
to the stage where an actual full-length screenplay was written? Our next scooper says yes, and the draft of X-Men 2 he read
was from David Hayter, the writer who was given sole screenwriting credit on the first film. Without having seen the script with
out own eyes, or without receiving secondary confirmation about the details contained in the following review, we can't back up
what our scooper is telling us to be true. There's no mention of the Legacy Virus storyline, which we know exists somewhere in
the proposals, and no mention of Sentinels. What is mentioned is who the main villain would be for X-Men 2, and that's not the
same fellow we've heard from other mutant sources. But again, without knowing what the differences or similarities are between
Hayter and Penn's two storylines, who's to say for certain?

So, in the interests of remaining thorough, we present to you this unconfirmed synopsis for David Hayter's X-Men 2 script. If
anyone else can step up to the plate and help us out, you know where to reach us.

"Wishing for the next installment in the X-Men franchise, I was in for a suprise when one of my friends got ahold of the
X-Men 2 script. It said: 'X-Men 2 by David Hayter.' Anyway, here is my script review for X-Men 2.

"It opens with a fight between a number of military vehicles against the big Juggernaut, half-brother of Charles
Xavier. There is a huge action sequence here involving a young Jean Grey and a young Cyclops along with a walking
Professor X battling it out with Juggernaut. In this scene, we see how Xavier injures his legs and the big half-brother's
banishing into a prison. Cue opening credits. Here, the story is a continuation of the first. Wolverine reaches the
abandoned military compound where he learns secrets about his past (there is a little flashback to when he was in high
school and him being discriminated against and a little glimpse into when he was on the same military compound).
However, his visit is cut short when Mystique, Toad, and Sabretooth break Juggernaut out of his prison to help free
their leader, Magneto. The metal mutant, as mad as ever, makes the X-Men pay by getting the people of New York
City into mass hysteria. This is part of another, bigger plan for Magneto to get the all-powerful Cerebro. Cue big
action sequences, and there's a wide-open ending left for another possible sequel.

"The script I read was kind of rough, but I enjoyed it nonetheless making it a very intense read. Some of the
descriptions would be great special effects. The suits at Fox will have to provide a bigger budget for this movie. The
audience will be introduced to two more X-Men: ShadowCat (she showed up as 'Kitty,' the girl who can walk through
walls) as well as Jubilee (who, if you own the DVD was edited out of the first, but makes an appearance here). There's
also the growing attraction between Jean Grey and Wolverine including a brief love scene. Overall, its a great script
much like the first but less setup because you know all the characters and there's much more action here will more
special effects. I have great expectations."

[This scooper, who wants their name withheld, is rumored to be on the Mutant Registration Act board of directors.]

June 12, 2001... Marvel had a big poster at the NYC licensing show touting their slate for
TV and film through 2004 and the end of time...this film appears on there with a 2002
date. If they truly are shooting for 2002, all we can say is...better shake a leg, guys. [J.
Dymes is not Onslaught. Trust him.]

June 20, 2001... Hugh Jackman appeared on The Panel, an Australian talk show, and mentioned an interesting X2 tidbits.
According to the actor, Jackman said he's "expected" on the set of X-Men 2 come next January or February. [Scooped by
Andy, 'Surak Wen'.]

That same date was later heard by Clint from Moviehole who interviewed Jackman as he made the rounds promoting the
Aussie opening of Swordfish. In addition to dropping the mention of a February 2002 start of filming for X-Men 2, Jackman
told Clint he is drastically trying to grow his facial hair back for his second round as Wolverine. [Like we said, Clint Morris
from Moviehole was the source.]

But is a Jan-Feb '02 start date really locked in? Without a final X-Men 2 script in place, a location chosen and all of the
production's key crew members slotted in place, maybe it's a bit ambitious to say the film will be rolling in the early part of
2002. Still, it does give Singer and his team six months to get ready -- let's wait and see what happens.

June 29, 2001... In a posting made yesterday on his website, actor Ian McKellen was asked if he would be returning for
X-Men 2. The answer? "I am contracted to play Magneto in the sequel to X-Men which is scheduled to start filming by
the end of this year for a Christmas 2002 release date." [Slipped to us by an anonymous Brotherhood of Mutants
member.]

July 26, 2001... A teaser poster that was seen by many in the Marvel booth at San Diego Comic-Con has made its way to the
Net courtesy of Counting Down. However, in talking to Fox, CA has learned that the poster is not an official teaser poster at
all, nor is the November 2002 date accurate. Since it did appear in the Marvel booth, we can only assume it's something they
whipped it to promote the feature based on their characters. But according to Fox, it's very unofficial. [Thanks to Fox for
helping us out.]

August 15, 2001... Hugh Jackman is in Brazil promoting his latest movie, Swordfish, and also
                      fielded questions about X-Men 2. At a press confernece Jackman told reporters that he knew
                      "more about the film than he should" because he had been talking to one of X-Men's producers at
                      a recent Hollywood party, and the producer had "drunk one too many and was talkative".
                      Although the script is not ready yet Jackman assured the reporters that the movie will be centered
                      on Wolverine's search for his origins and his true identity. The last piece of information he gave
was that shooting on X-Men 2 was pencilled in to begin in March 2002.

Jackman also said that he didn't know anything about X-Men 3, but he "would bet on it."

The Brazilian article reporting on Jackman's press conference can be read here. There are also five photos of the actor, wearing
the goatee he's recently grown, at the site.

[Reported by anonymous; originally appeared at Terra Networks Cinema site.]

August 24, 2001... Hmm. Take this as you will, but our latest scooper sends in the following scrap of news as to why Fox is
eyeing a March '02 start date: "The reason for the March 2002 start instead of January is because Fox wants to see how
people react to the Blade sequel (superhero sequels in general) and certain new special effects in the film, so that they
know to add any in X-Men 2." [Anonymous.]

Now this is exactly the same kind of thing that happened with the first picture; Fox was leery of putting money into an untested
franchise so soon after spending major dollars on films that lost the studio money, like Fight Club (cost = $70 M; made
$30-odd M). This is why a number of fight sequences and X-Men characters (like The Beast) were removed from the
ever-evolving storyline. However, after X-Men opened with a first weekend gross of $50+ million last summer, the talk then
shifted to how Fox should have spent another $20 M on the movie to bump up the action. That could have made the difference
between X-Men grossing $150 M, which it did, or $200 M.

Now it appears the same game is once again being played out in the early design phase of X-Men 2. From what our scooper
tells us, Fox is leery about commiting more money on the sequel, creating the same vicious circle once again. We'd love to get
some more feedback from our old scoopers on both sides, so write back and tell us what's up, willya?
 

Okay, before I get hit with legalities and such, all copyrights and trademarks and stuff belong to their... well... you know that I didn't create them. And you probably know, don't know, or don't care who did... so there.  I don't, probably won't, and can't collect any money from anything so what is this gonna hurt? Anyways, I collect the news bits from Coming Attractions, and sometimes Ain't It Cool News. I'll try to keep this updated, but don't hold your breath.

Last Updated: September 22, 2001

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