NEW YORK (Zap2it.com) -- From the scales of Mystique to the blue tattooing of Nightcrawler, the plethora of characters featured in the new film "X2: X-Men United" — including a total of 13 X-Men and mutant adversaries — prompted film studio 20th Century Fox to create multiple posters, each highlighting a different set of characters, to promote the film’s May 2 release.
Publisher Newmarket Press, which is releasing "The Art of X2" (160 pp., $19.95 paperback/264 pp., $40 hardcover), the official companion book on the making of the film, is following suit and publishing the stunning visual book in two different editions, a trade paperback and a hardcover "Collector’s Edition," with a total of three different covers, blue and red for the paperback, with different film characters, and embossed with foil for the hardcover, all with tremendous appeal for the franchise's fan base.
Real treasure troves for fans of the X-Men comics and graphic novels, both paperback and hardcover editions include over 300 full-color images that showcase film stills, concept drawings, set designs and photos, costume sketches, make-up test stills, and storyboards for four sequences of the film. They also feature sections on eleven of the characters, a fascinating introduction on "[Director Bryan] Singer’s X-Men" and commentary throughout from production designer Guy H. Dyas.
In addition, the hardcover "Collector’s Edition" includes the film's script, a spectacular 8-page visual gatefold of Nightcrawler posters (the X-Men character played by Alan Cumming), and a 16-page section of special effects art from the first X-Men film.
The publisher hopes to generate a marketing opportunity for booksellers who can display three distinctive covers to attract the film’s fans: "The Art of X2"paperback comes with a Blue or Red version of the "X" poster, each featuring a different mix of X-Men, while the jacket of the hardcover THE ART OF X2 – Collector's Edition features an altogether different image of the X-Men walking as a group.
The Blue paperback cover features: Storm (Halle Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Cyclops (James Marsden), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and Rogue (Anna Paquin) The Red paperback cover features: Storm (Halle Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Rogue (Anna Paquin), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen).