CHAPTER 2:
ALONG CAME BRYAN
After getting attention from The Usual Suspects, Bryan Singer went over to FOX hoping they would find him a sci-fi film to direct. FOX offered him Alien: Resurrection. But Tom DeSanto, a producer on the film, said he should direct X-Men instead. I think we can all assume Bryan Singer is actually a mutant who can see into the future and saw how bad Resurrection would be. So by 1996, Bryan Singer was officially the director of X-Men.
In 1998, Singer & DeSanto sent FOX a script for the X-Men which had Professor X & Magneto as representations as MLK & Malcom X. Also he took the subplot with Wolverine & Jubilee, and replace Jubilee with Rogue, as Signer felt her powers would make her a bit more dangerous, therefore making her and everyone else scared of her powers.
Anyway, this script also had Beast, Pyro, Nightcrawler, and the Danger Room. However, they had to be cut. Although, Beast's medical knowledge was used for Jean Grey, and Pyro made a cameo. Anyway, Christopher McQuarrie & David Hayter were brought in to help with the script. Only Hayter got screenplay credit as McQuarrie asked to have his name removed.
Russell Crowe was wanted for Wolverine, but Crowe recommended his friend, Hugh Jackman. Jim Caviezal was supposed to play Cyclops, but James Marsden got the role after Caviezal dropped out. Janet Jackson and Terrance Stamp were considered for Storm & Magneto, but they didn't get therole. Finally, they had a choice between Rachael Leigh Cook and Anna Paquin for Rogue.
The choice was rather simple.
Before I talk about the film's release, I want to bring up something I talked about last time. The fact that CBMs in the 90s were mostly terrible. And there were NO GOOD MARVEL MOVIES! So even if this movie was good, it may not have done well if not for...
1999 saw the release of the first GOOD Marvel movie. And one of the few good CBMs of the 90s. Plus, it was this, X-Men, & Spider-Man that started a HUGE CBM boom.
Anyway, in 2000, X-Men opened up topraise form fans and newcomers alike, and was a bigger hit than Blade. The film also pretty much started Jackman's career. While there were some critisims (Storm, Cyclops). People loved it. So it wouldmake no sense if there wasn't a sequel.
So with an X-Men sequel on the way, Singer had only one thing on his mind... RESEARCH! Singer researched tons of X-Men storylines (including the Legacy Virus). Bryan also wanted to explore something else... humans. He wanted a human villain with a "blind rage". Hayter was brought back for the screenplay, with Zak Penn joining him. But Dan Harris & Michael Dougherty were brought in for rewrites.
In the sequel, Singer was finally able to bring in Pyro & Nightcrawler. He tried to bring in Beast and Angel (who was to become ArcAngel because of Stryker), but they were cut. Although similarto Pyro in the last film, Beast got a pretty cool cameo. Sabretooth was supposed to return, but no one liked Tyler Mane in the role, so he was deleted. Anyway, after Halle Berry's Oscar win, the script was rewritten (AGAIN!) to give Storm more screen time. Also they tried to bring in the Sentinals and the Danger Room, but they got cut (AGAIN!).
Anyway, Byran Singer wanted Alan Cumming to play Nightcrawler from the very beginning. However, that didn't happen so quickly. Neil Patrick Harris auditioned for the role, but Alan Cumming finally got the role because he could speak German. Although, I would love to be in alternate universe where NPH PLAYS NIGHTCRAWLER!
Also, the movie was first rated "R" because of some blood, but that got fixed right way. Of course, FOX would never try to go the "R" route ever again.
Anyway, this movie had a lot to live up to. So it was a relief when peoplefound out it was better then the first movie. People praised it for the action scenes, the action,and the development of Wolverine. It was an even bigger hit at the box office and a sequel was instantly announced.
However, before we can talk about that, we have to remember that FOX didn't just make X-Men movies. The movies were doing so well, that FOX decided to copy their own sucess and try to bring the man without fear and the first family of comics to the big screen.
TO BE CONTINUED...