…The 2017 live-action superhero season gets underway this coming week with the release of Logan, and early box office tracking is predicting a $60 million domestic weekend for Hugh Jackman’s X-Men swan song. That would put it ahead of the $53 million debut of The Wolverine, but down from the $85 million opening haul of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As you’d expect, it’s also down considerably from Fox’s previous R-rated offering Deadpool, which pulled in $132 million across the Friday to Sunday period last February on its way to becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. Be sure to check out Rob Kojder’s ★★★★★ review here (and the accompanying critics TV spot here), and on the opposite end of the scale, Oli Davis’ op-ed ‘I’m Sorry Everybody… I Didn’t Like Logan’ here…
…A couple of new Logan character posters surfaced this week for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Dafne Keen’s X-23, which you can see here alongside some new TV spots; meanwhile, amid news that Fox had extend the run time by three minutes, Collider dropped a rumour that a post-credit scene had “100%” been added, and then changed its mind and said it was actually a scene before the film once director James Mangold debunked the scoop, stating categorically that there is nothing during or after the credits. Meanwhile, Mangold also opened up about why he chose not to include Wolverine’s classic yellow costume in the film, as well as stating that he’d be shocked if we don’t see young X-23 back in the X-Men franchise at some point…
…Although he’d previously stated that he wasn’t quite ready to give up on playing Professor Xavier, Patrick Stewart has now changed his mind, revealing that Logan will be his last X-Men appearance: “A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, [Hugh Jackman, James Mangold and I] sat watching the movie. And I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it. Maybe it was the company of these two guys, but the movie ended and — this is an admission — but at one point [Hugh] reached out, and he took my hand in those last few minutes, and I saw him go [mimes wiping a tear from his eye] like this, and then I realized I had just done the same thing. Then, the movie ended… and we were going to be taken up on stage, but not until the credits were over. So, we had some time to sit there and, as I sat there I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told Hugh that same evening, ‘I’m done too. It’s all over…’”
…Jackman also seems to be sticking to his guns that Logan will be his final X-Men outing, revealing that – much to the disappointment of many fans, I’m sure – he won’t be reprising the role of Wolverine for a team-up with Deadpool: “Ryan Reynolds is currently sleeping outside my house. [Laughs] Look, if that movie had appeared 10 years ago, probably a different story, but I knew two and a half years ago that this was the last one. The first call I made was to [Logan director James Mangold]. I said, ‘Jim, I got one more shot at this,’ and as soon as Jim came up with the idea and we worked on it, I was never more excited. But, it feels like the right time. Deadpool, go for it man, do your thing. You don’t need me….
…However, it seems Jackman would be open to one more appearance – if it was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “If that was on the table when I made my decision, it certainly would have made me pause, that’s for sure. Because I always love the idea of him within that dynamic, with the Hulk obviously, with Iron Man but there’s a lot of smarter people with MBAs who can’t figure that out [laughter]. You never know. At the moment, honestly, if I really did have them there, I probably wouldn’t have said this is the last…”
…20th Century Fox may have decided on a director for the next instalment of the main X-Men series, with writer and produce Simon Kinberg reportedly tapped to make his directorial debut on X-Men: Supernova (although Kinberg was giving very little away when asked about it this week). Meanwhile, it seems that James McAvoy (Professor Xavier) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast) have revealed their return for the film, where they’ll be joined by the only other confirmed cast member to date Sophie Tuner (Jean Grey)…
…Another X-Men movie may have also found a director this week in X-Force, with rumours arriving this week that Joe Carnahan (The Grey) is either 1) writing the script, or 2) directing and co-writing the script with Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds…
…And speaking of the Merc with a Mouth, it’s been reported that filming on Deadpool 2 will get underway in May, and that Drew Goddard (Daredevil, The Cabin in the Woods) has come on board the project as a “script consultant” (the original report said he was replacing Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, but Reynolds debunked that, stating that the two screenwriters remain involved). Meanwhile, having been linked to the role, Kerry Washington played down talk of her casting as Domino, while Simon Kinberg gave an update on the status of the sequel: “Ryan and the guys have been working hard on the script. We have a really good script for that movie, and we’re into the casting process right now for some of the new characters. There aren’t a lot of new characters, but there are some big ones, as I’m sure you can imagine. And the plan would be to shoot that movie this year as well and have it come out next year…”
…X-Men: The New Mutants is set to begin filming in May, and Kinberg also offered an update on the status of that project, which is being directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars): ““New Mutants we’re waiting on a new draft of the script, which we’re all very excited about. Josh Boone has been prepping that movie. Josh is someone who is a lifelong, hardcore fan of New Mutants, and the plan is to make that movie late spring, early summer of this year, and have it come out next year…”
…Remember the Channing Tatum-headlined Gambit movie? Well, it’s still happening, according to Kinberg: ““It’s in active development. It’s a movie that we hope will be ready to go by the end of this year and shoot next year. We have two or three X-Men related movies this year so it can wait for a moment. The process has been that Channing Tatum is as determined about getting the character right as Ryan Reynolds was about Deadpool and Hugh Jackman was about this Logan movie. We know that when we get those right, the movie succeeds so we want to make sure we get Gambit right because we want him to be the beginning of a whole new franchise…”
…One Fox Marvel movie that doesn’t look to be happening is Fantastic Four 2, although Kinberg has suggested that the studio isn’t quite ready to give up the rights to Marvel’s First Family: “I think the truth is we would not make another Fantastic Four movie until it was ready to be made. One of the lessons we learned on that movie is that we want to make sure we get it 100% right, because we will not get another chance with the fans.” Asked if we’ll ever get a Director’s Cut of Josh Trank’s original vision for the first movie, Kinberg responded: “I think B-roll is probably the place where they will see it. And for us, it’s in the past in the sense of lessons learned and we would love to make another Fantastic Four movie. We really believe in that cast, and I think the lessons that we learned would help us make a more consistent movie than we did the first time…”
…Bryan Singer’s as-yet-untitled X-Men TV pilot picked up its second cast addition this week, with Jamie Chung (Gotham) signing on alongside Blair Redford (Switched at Birth). Chung is set to play Clarice Fong, a.k.a. Blink, who is described as “a sarcastic and lively tomboy, Clarice’s naturally strong exuberance has taken a hit after a sudden and traumatic upheaval of her life. As she adjusts to the new people and places that are suddenly ‘home,’ Clarice is slowly becoming herself again…”
…Be sure to read Rachel Bellwoar’s review of the third episode of Marvel’s X-Men series Legion here, and take a look at a promo for the next episode here…
…Click below to continue on for Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Doctor Strange 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain Marvel, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans, Iron Fist and more…
