I don’t want to be some kind of a negative nelly here, but it seems like every day brings new information about X3 that further guarantees that this movie will truly and royally suck.
I don’t have to tell you the storied history of this project up until now – at least I hope I don’t have to tell you, since I don’t have all night to write this shit up – but ever since Matthew Vaughn left, it has seemed more and more like madness to keep aiming at a summer 06 date. But Fox is doing that, and they’re sticking by it even as everything slowly crumbles.
One good bit of news, though – word is that the script that was reviewed on Aint It Cool News some weeks back is old. There has been work done on the script since then, although who knows what they’re changing. Brett Ratner has supposedly been using issues of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men in auditions since they don’t have sides ready, but let’s not take that as a sign that they’re attempting to write something Whedonesque.
The biggest news is that the film has lost its Shadowcat, which might be good news as well. Maggie Grace, the annoying blonde from Lost (who is actually sort of shy in real life), was supposed to play everyone’s favorite 14 year old Jewish phaser, but she’s dropped out. There are now a number of actresses vying for the role. I don’t think Grace was a good fit for Kitty Pryde, and I only hope that someone reasonable is cast.
Meanwhile any rumors you have heard about Angel being cast are supposedly untrue. Also, the latest word is that perhaps Daniel Cudmore, who played Colossus in his brief cameo in X2, will return for this film. Nightcrawler is reportedly “pretty much out” of the film, which sounds like they’ll be finding someone less expensive than Alan Cumming to play the bamfer, as I suspected.
This seems to mean that the film is really moving slowly, especially if they’re still reworking the script. And who wants to bet that Vinnie Jones’ role as Juggernaut is about to be given to someone else now that Vaughn has left?
Weirdest of all, Fox is developing a third X-Men spin-off movie. Just because there are 200 X-comics doesn’t mean the movies need to go the same way, guys! IGN makes it sound like the film will be essentially a New Mutants movie (or New X-Men: Academy X, as it’s called in its latest comic incarnation) and will focus on younger students at Professor X’s School for the Genetically Awesome, including some already familiar characters.
While I have no faith in Brett Ratner (and who knows, he may well be the next guy to drop off this project), other films with famously bad luck – like say, Titanic – have proven to work in the end.