Last week I brought you an exclusive interview with X-Men: The Last Stand screenwriters Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, who revealed that the whole "final chapter" aspect of the film was dreamed up by the marketing people and not by them. They saw the film as the final chapter in a trilogy, but that there could still be more X-Men stories to tell.
Recently Kara Warner headed to Utah to visit the set of Unaccompanied Minors, whose producer Lauren Shuler Donner is also producing the X-Men films. She had some interesting things to say, some of which reinforces the idea that the creative people behind these films fully expect there to be an X-Men 4. Here’s what Kara tells us:
I figure since CHUD’s all about X-Men this week, I should throw some more speculation on the fire from producer Lauren Shuler Donner (as told to us when we visited the set of Paul Feig’s Unaccompanied Minors, which she’s also producing). Here’s what she had to say about the future of the franchise:
Q: There’s been speculation as to whether there will be "X-Men" spin-offs or if there will be another film called "X-Men."
Donner: I hope so. We were just talking about that. Our original goal was to have [a franchise] like "Star Wars." "X-Men 7,8,9 and 10" because there are certainly enough comics out there… And of course to have spin-offs. It would be nice as we incorporated new characters into each movie, if they could continue to move on [in more films].
Q: What’s the ending?
Donner: It’s a really good movie. It’s the best of the three. I can only tell you that. I think it’s going to be huge. I am thrilled with it. Just thrilled with it. I just go back and forth. That’s all you can do.
Q: Are you involved with "Wolverine"?
Donner: Just had a phone call about it today.
Q: How’s that progressing?
Donner: Really well. We got a great script in. We’re all very happy. That’s all I can say.
Q: Are you close to having a director?
Donner: I can’t say.
Q: Do you think any of the other characters might appear in Wolverine?
Donner: I can’t say.
Q: Who is your favorite X-Men character?
Donner: I love them all.
Q: How many piles of comic book scripts do you get sent now?
Donner: You know not that much. Yeah that’s not true. I get a lot of comics. The X-Man franchise is so far above everybody. The characters are psychologically developed for all those years as compared to some of these other comics. It’s so hard to tell a comic book story. Especially the first one. The origins, because you actually have to speak to the non fans. You have to explain the world and the good guys and bad guys. What’s the overall story? They’re very hard. I tend to go no, no, no, and stick within the X-Men world and I have another one we’re developing too. It’s like anything. There are a lot of scripts out there but there are only a few good ones.
Q: What’s the other comic book you’re trying to develop into a movie?
Donner: What I’m trying to develop is totally different. It’s a DC comic. It’s for Warner [Brothers]. It’s Metal Men, which is much more like "Men in Black." It’s miles away from X-Men. It’s lighter and it’s fun. A lot of CGI. That would be fun for me to try a whole [different] kind of comic.