X-MEN: Days Of Future Past (Casting, Rumors, Pics till release)

[Timby]

I'm not sure what your point is supposed to be. They shot something early on that wound up getting edited out of the film because they found that it didn't work as they edited the film together. That's how these things are made, and more directors should learn how to exercise such judgment (*COUGH*PETERJACKSON*COUGH*).

Yep. I don't see any indication that they went into production without a finished script; Singer just said that, as they were editing, the scene in question was discovered to be not necessary and a good place to trim the fat. I've read interviews with writers and directors where they say the editing room is often seen as where they can have a last "draft" of the script, because they can finally see the movie as a whole and see what works and doesn't.

As an extreme example of how this happens, Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen, Jason Patric, Gary Oldman, Bill Pullman, Lukas Haas, Viggo Mortensen, and Mickey Rourke were all completely cut, and Adrien Brody's role was changed from being the protagonist to having only a few minutes of screentime, from The Thin Red Line during that film's editing process.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah the editing stage can make all the difference to making or breaking a film and IMO it's the sign of a good director not to be too precious about certain scenes if it doesn't work in the context of the rest of the film.

I still think it's a shame from a character POV, but it's understandable. X-Men has always been an ensemble piece and with such a big cast of characters some are always going to get lost in the shuffle.

BTW, I always thought it was obvious why they originally cast Rogue in a role that felt more like Jubilee: her powers. Making magical sparkly lights from one's fingertips doesn't *quite* embody the sense of isolation and social ostracization that is the mutant experience quite as well as being unable to touch a person without all but killing them.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Indeed, many films undergo substantial editing, sometimes involving reshoots, only after a rough edit is screened. It's exactly the sort of situation that the phrase "it works well on paper, but..." describes.

 

[Aldo]

BTW, I always thought it was obvious why they originally cast Rogue in a role that felt more like Jubilee: her powers. Making magical sparkly lights from one's fingertips doesn't *quite* embody the sense of isolation and social ostracization that is the mutant experience quite as well as being unable to touch a person without all but killing them.

Well when you put it like that....

My wanting Jubilee in place or Rogue in the first film is more wishful thinking on my part than anything else. Not only does her powers make her isolate, from a story standpoint it makes perfect sense because Magneto needs her to power his machine.

 

[Noddy]

To think she's cut because of bad blood really is an immature analysis of the film making process.
[/QUOTE]

Is it? When Margot Kidder was vocally critical of the producers of the Superman movies firing the original director, Richard Donner, when Superman III came around, her role as Lois Lane was reduced to just short cameos at the beginning and end of the film.

 

[Noddy]

Besides, as I understand it, they're featuring all the other members of the X-Men cast (barring Cyclops and Jean, of course, but they have a good excuse, seeing as they're both dead), and only Rogue has been cut. Yeah....I'm not seeing how that's fair.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Is it? When Margot Kidder was vocally critical of the producers of the Superman movies firing the original director, Richard Donner, when Superman III came around, her role as Lois Lane was reduced to just short cameos at the beginning and end of the film.

Don't you think that's a little different?
She was written out of the majority of the picture before production began on the third movie because she was so vocal about that before pen hit paper.

There's nothing like that here. Paquin had 1 minor scene (3 segments for 1 scene) and it sounds like it had zero bearing on the story they were telling and it was cut. This is more like Wesley Crusher not being in Nemesis than the exaggerated "oh no, hollywood hates her now!"

She could have just as easily not been asked for the cameo (it's all it really is) than going through all that trouble to get her.

 

[JD]

I doubt that this has anything to do with anybody being unhappy with anybody else. It just sounds to me like they decided the scene was unnecessary and cut it. There are tons of situations where a character's whole role was cut from a movie.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Besides which, Singer stated that Anna was completely fine and understood the decision. I doubt it was a big deal.

 

[Thestral]

Still, while it's obviously over the top to see this as a deal-breaker I think it's fair to be disappointed (including with the original plan), considering she was one of the mains while Singer helmed the movies and was majorly shafted when he left.

 

[Pauln6]

Bring on X4 I say.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Oh, it's disappointing indeed. I was looking forward to seeing Anna as Rogue again, but perhaps we will see her in "Apocalypse". I didn't really think she would be a big part of the film in the first place.

I would say that "Days of Future Past" and "Apocalypse" have replaced the numbered films. The last update on a "X4" was back in 2011 from Lauren Donner saying it was still in play, however now that Singer has returned and directing the franchise again, it would seem like Fox has decided to take a different route with their franchise. I suppose an "X4" could appear in name, but I have a feeling we will just get these subtitled films moving forward in addition with whatever else they're planning such as Jeff Wadlow's "X-Force".

 

[Tosk]

Considering there was never really an X-Men 3 in the first place, I'd say the numbered X-Films are long gone.

 

[Pauln6]

Considering there was never really an X-Men 3 in the first place, I'd say the numbered X-Films are long gone.

It happened plus it plays into the Wolverine so you can't ignore it as much as you want to.

Personally while I found X3 to be weaker than the others, it was entertaining enough. It's the first Wolverine movie I can thankfully ignore.

X4 may not be completely dead. Marvel is milking the Avengers franchise and they may feel that there is enough scope for a couple of 'prime' sequels left, especially if the original cast expressed an interest after DoFP. We'll see.

 

[Tosk]

Considering there was never really an X-Men 3 in the first place, I'd say the numbered X-Films are long gone.

It happened plus it plays into the Wolverine so you can't ignore it as much as you want to.

I wasn't jokingly ignoring the lackluster Ratner film...what I meant was that there is no film titled X-Men 3 (It's called "X-Men: The Last Stand"), so it's pretty unlikely there will ever be a film titled X-Men 4.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Oh, it's disappointing indeed. I was looking forward to seeing Anna as Rogue again, but perhaps we will see her in "Apocalypse".

I think Apocalypse is going to use the First Class cast, so you won't see her there either.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I totally forgot that "Apocalypse" was using just the First Class cast. Ah well. Singer did mention that we would possibly see the sequence included with the DVD/Blu-Ray release.

 

[kitik]

With a cast of dozens of mutants, I can't really say that I'm too terribly upset about one of them getting their 60 seconds of screen time cut. Stronger storylines for just a few core characters is infinitely preferable to a million pointless cameos.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Were any of them actually numbered except by fans? I remember X-Men, X-Men United and X-Men the Last Stand.

 

[kitik]

Were any of them actually numbered except by fans? I remember X-Men, X-Men United and X-Men the Last Stand.

The official titles of the movies were:
X-Men
X2
X-Men The Last Stand