…Having debuted to $103.3 million internationally a week before, X-Men: Apocalypse topped the domestic box office this past weekend with a four-day haul of $80 million, which was $30 million less than X-Men: Days of Future Past managed back in 2014, and over $50 million down on Deadpool’s three-day haul in February. Nevertheless, Fox seemed pleased enough, with domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson stating that: “We’re very happy with this result as we introduce new characters in the X-Men universe. And for us to be at this number globally already means we’re in good shape…”
…Following X-Men: Apocalypse, Bryan Singer has revealed that he plans to take a break from the mutant superhero franchise: “I recently met Danny Boyle — he and I have known of each other for many years but never met. He was prepping Steve Jobs at the time and I was doing this and he said, ‘Are you going to be doing X-Men movies forever?’ And I didn’t actually say no. The reality is, even though I’m very desperate to jump to something completely different, I’ve spent so many years in this universe and I love this cast and the characters so much, I just don’t see myself abandoning them forever. Perhaps as a consultant, as a producer, even as a director, I could see myself returning in the future. Just right now, once this one is done, I’d like to do something really different.”
…As for what he’s like to see in the future of the X-Men franchise, Bryan Singer has suggested that he feels the character of Mystique is ripe for a solo movie – with or without Jennifer Lawrence (who, like her First Class co-stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult, is now out of contract): “I think she’s right for [a standalone film], whether it’s Jennifer or not. She has this different view of the world: Xavier can get into Cerebro and look at the world but he’d rather just teach classes and see the beauty of mutants and humans co-existing in his mansion in Westchester. Along comes Raven with a reality check on the state of the world. It opens up a lot of avenues…”
…With filming on the as-yet-untitled Wolverine 3 now underway, the first set photos have arrived online featuring a bearded and disheveled Logan (Hugh Jackman) stepping out of a car. Not really much to see, but you can take a look at the set photos here…
…Marvel legend Stan Lee has been talking about his rather memorable cameo in Deadpool, where he played a DJ in a strip club, with Stan stating that he was “damn mad” that he never actually got to step foot in the club: “I don’t know if I should tell you the truth about that cameo,” said Lee at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida. “I was not in the topless dancing place. I did that in a studio and then they put it into the movie. I’m damn mad about that! I made them promise on the next one, I’m going to be right there…”
…Fox has been reshuffling its slate this week in the wake of Dylan O’Brien’s injury on Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and it’s had a knock on effect for two of the studio’s as-yet-untitled Marvel projects, which have moved from January 12, 2018 to March 2, 2018 and July 13, 2018 to June 29, 2018…
…Producer Simon Kinberg has been discussing the failure of last year’s Fantastic Four and the potential future of the franchise: “I don’t think that there is, in any movie that doesn’t work, a single decision that is the reason the movie doesn’t work. I think there were many, many decisions we made along the way that led to a movie that people didn’t like and a movie that I would do differently next time. I think the biggest takeaway for me – and there were many takeaways, and this could be a whole other segment – is that the tone of the movie, while interesting, ran counter to the DNA of the source material. The source material of Fantastic Four is bright, optimistic, poppy in tone. There’s sort of a plucky spirit to those characters and we made a darker sort of body horror version of Fantastic Four, which again, even as I say it now, sounds really interesting and cerebrally ambitious…but it’s Fantastic Four. So it’s a lesson that I would learn not just for Fantastic Four but for any movie going forward is to be true to the material…”
…FX Networks has announced that is has placed an eight-episode series order for Legion, the new X-Men TV series from Fargo creator Noah Hawley, which sees Dan Stevens (The Guest) leading the cast as David Haller, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia who comes to believe the possibility that the voices he hears and visions he sees may be real. “We’ve come to expect excellence from Noah Hawley and with Legion he has delivered another major creative achievement,” said FX co-president of original programming Nick Grad. “Just as he did in reimagining Fargo, he is bringing an entirely new aesthetic and sensibility to the enormously popular and richly represented X-Men world. The pilot episode is stunning, driven by incredible performances from Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Rachel Keller and the rest of the cast. We join our producing partners at Marvel in congratulating the creative team for what they’ve accomplished and are as excited as the fans for the premiere of Legion’s first season…”
…Speaking after the series pickup announcement, Hawley has revealed that Legion will take place in a separate continuity from the X-Men movie franchise: “It’s not [connected]. It’s a little more of a fable in my mind. If you were to say, ‘Where is it, and when is it?,’ it’s not exactly clear, I think. And a lot of it is because he’s not exactly clear. It’s the world as perceived subjectively on some level. The recent X-Men movies, starting withFirst Class, are rooted in a time period and a world and playing with history in interesting ways. This isn’t doing that. It’s a standalone kind of thing.” He did however admit that he isn’t against the possibility of following the comic books by having David Haller as the son of Professor Charles Xavier: “He could be [Xavier’s son]. It’s a different story, but I’m not ruling that out…”
…Click below to continue on for Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Captain Marvel, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Spider-Man 4, Jupiter’s Legacy, Doc Savage and more…
