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

[Alidar Jarok]

My point is, if you're going to change everything, don't call it Days of Futures Past.

If you send the same character who went back in time in the comic but bend the rules of time travel to allow that, it's changing everything, but if you send a character who famously dies in the future back in time, it's not? I hardly think that's changing everything. We're still talking about an X-Men storyline involving a dystopian future, Sentinels, and traveling back in time to change that future. The details are clearly being changed either way and I don't think the exact rules of time travel are important.

Granted, it's been a long time since I saw the 90s version, but was Bishop's memories sent back in time or did he physically travel?

 

[bbjeg]

My point is, if you're going to change everything, don't call it Days of Futures Past. With what has occurred in the movies so far, this is the closest they can get to DoFP so I'll accept the naming but if all of a sudden they have an actual time machine to physically send someone back and they send Kitty, she has no frame of reference in the 70s. She'd be one of the worst to send back.

If you send the same character who went back in time in the comic but bend the rules of time travel to allow that, it's changing everything, but if you send a character who famously dies in the future back in time, it's not? I hardly think that's changing everything. We're still talking about an X-Men storyline involving a dystopian future, Sentinels, and traveling back in time to change that future. The details are clearly being changed either way and I don't think the exact rules of time travel are important.

Granted, it's been a long time since I saw the 90s version, but was Bishop's memories sent back in time or did he physically travel?

Check my bold text above. The X-Men movies can't do DoFP because the universes are different. The reasoning for physically sending Kitty back in the movie universe (regardless if she was the one they sent back in the comics) is flawed. Why is she going back to to 70s instead of the 2000s? How will she find Professor X in the 70s? If future Professor X told her, why didn't he go back?

And they didn't send Kitty back in the cartoon because it wouldn't have make sense either. She didn't even exist in the series.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I'm too lazy to google box office mojo but as I recall FC disappointed at the box office, making less than TLS or Origins, despite being the best-reviewed X-film since the second, if not best ever (for my money, it's even better than X2). So, given that its also the film with the least screen time for Logan, the reasons for putting Wolverine centre stage would seem to be pretty evident, if that's correct.

X-Men: First Class earned $146 million domestically on a $160 million budget. It also earned $350 million worldwide. It's the fifth lowest grossing X-Men film only trailing The Wolverine, which earned $130 million domestically. The Wolverine could be used as example of Wolverine's diminishing popularity or it could be as a result of the lackluster quality of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (even though that earned $180 million domestically and remains the third highest grossing X-Men film).

FWIW, X-Men: First Class is on par with X2: X-Men United over at Rotten Tomatoes. Both have a matching score of 87%. They are also the highest rated X-Men movies.

It'll be interesting to see how X-Men: Days of Future Past fares at the box office. X2: X-Men United was the last X-Men movie to break $200 million domestically and X-Men: The Last Stand still remains the highest grossing X-Men movie ever with $230 million domestically. The X-Men movies have never been high grossing films when it comes to the box office, but Days of Future Past has the bonus of having the best cast out of any previous X-Men movie to date including the biggest scope & action.

 

[Aldo]

Making Logan the star of this film just reminds me of the trap that the TNG films fell into by focusing solely on Picard and Data to the detriment of the others. I'm sure when fans were gearing up for Generations they never thought they'd be seeing their favorite characters relegated to the background.

I'm not saying Kitty absolutely had to be the start of DoFP, but if it turned out that Wolverine followed the same path he did in the comics and it was Kitty (Ellen Page) who headlined the movie and got sent back in time I would be a lot more interested in this movie as I am now, because at least that would have shown out of the box thinking.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It's a Bryan Singer film. Logan was always going to be the centerpiece of it. You guys seem to be fixated on him for some reason when the trailers have clearly shown that Xavier and Magneto are also going to be central characters in this and Mystique seems to be a big part...not to mention Trask as well. It also makes sense based on what has been established and created within the context of the film continuity.

Singer has stated a couple of times now that the comic has served as inspiration for his and Kinberg's story. It's not going to be a literal adaption of the comic story. It will possess core elements of the story, but incorporated into the context of the film continuity and build upon what Vaughn and Singer already started with First Class.

Also in an article I'm pretty sure I linked previously in the thread, he stated the first thing that he did when he first got the gig for "X-Men" was watch all the Animated Series episodes. I think fans underestimate the work he's actually done and how much the animated series actually has influenced his films rather than the comics. He would have been most effected by their adaptions of The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days...and maybe the "One Man's Worth" two parter.

 

[JacksonArcher]

As much as people bemoan the choice of making Logan the time traveler, it makes sense given the narrative and thematic continuity of the series. It wouldn't make sense to send Kitty Pryde back in time since she wouldn't have been born in the 70's. As mentioned above, it is also easier to make Hugh Jackman look younger because the man barely ages. It not only makes sense on a thematic level, but on a logical level as well.

As Admiral_Young said, the film is an ensemble... which Bryan Singer excels at. Even though Logan has been a leading character in all the previous X-Men films, other characters always had time to shine. Also, judging from the trailers, it looks like Xavier, Magneto and Mystique all have big, leading roles as well. Writer Simon Kinberg mentioned the protagonist of the film is Charles Xavier in a recent interview regardless. He's the emotional epicenter of the film.

Besides, from what we've been hearing, this might be the last time we see Logan in an X-Men ensemble film for a while. X-Men: Apocalypse is said to mainly feature the First Class cast. He's got another Wolverine solo movie on the way, but Days of Future Past might be Logan's last hurrah with the X-Men for a while. So it makes sense to bring him back one last time - just like we are likely seeing Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, etc. one last time.

 

[JD]

I've gotten the impression this is going to be kind of a passing of the torch type thing. One last big hurrah for the old cast before the new one takes over completely.

 

[bbjeg]

^Then Wolverine is the Prime Spock of NuX-Men.

 

[The Old Mixer]

In that context, it certainly makes more sense to use him than an actress who only appeared in one of the previous films.

 

[bbjeg]

Maybe it's the end of the black leather uniforms too. First Class had colorful uniforms and to avoid looking like villains and in the light of Wolverine's message of the future, NuCharles may wish to astonish viewers with colored uniforms. Wolverine would finally have a reason to wear yellow.

 

[C_Miller]

Personally, if I want to see Days of Future Past as it was intended I'll read Uncanny X-Men #141 and #142.

Honestly I'm glad comic movies don't tell the exact stories in the exact way. Different mediums, do something different. Now that's not to say that I think every change is good. Far from it. One could easily take issue with Singer making Wolverine the one being sent back to the past. But I don't see how a scene to scene adaption is the answer.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Some of the posters on this page confound me. It would be like having a picture of Don Cheadle for an Iron Man 3 poster and saying the movie stars Robert Downey Jr.

Sure it does, but that's not who the character poster is of.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Only one of the posters says who it stars and that poster features the person mentioned, no?

 

[JarodRussell]

Some of the posters on this page confound me. It would be like having a picture of Don Cheadle for an Iron Man 3 poster and saying the movie stars Robert Downey Jr.

Sure it does, but that's not who the character poster is of.

http://nukethefridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/X-Men-DoFP2.jpg

That must be an error.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

OK. I guess that one didn't load on my phone. I see what he's talking about

 

[JD]

Yeah, it is weird that they would put Hugh Jackman's name on a poster with the two Magnetos. They're both fairly well known, marketable actors too, so it's not like people won't recognize their names if they put them on instead.

 

[bbjeg]

I assume the movie will be heavily centered on Hugh Jackman. You would never see a poster saying Samuel L. Jackson stars in Iron Man 1 even though he's in it.

 

[JarodRussell]

Movie credits are more a reflection of paycheck/contract than of screentime, though. But yeah, since Wolverine is the time traveler, it's a given that the movie centers on him.

 

[RoJoHen]

I assume the movie will be heavily centered on Hugh Jackman. You would never see a poster saying Samuel L. Jackson stars in Iron Man 1 even though he's in it.

But if Samuel L. Jackson is the only person featured on the poster, it would be weird to see someone else's name.

That's the point being made. Not that Hugh Jackman is the star of the film, but that Hugh Jackman's name is the only name on the poster, even though the poster itself features other characters.

 

[bbjeg]

I assume the movie will be heavily centered on Hugh Jackman. You would never see a poster saying Samuel L. Jackson stars in Iron Man 1 even though he's in it.

But if Samuel L. Jackson is the only person featured on the poster, it would be weird to see someone else's name.

That's the point being made. Not that Hugh Jackman is the star of the film, but that Hugh Jackman's name is the only name on the poster, even though the poster itself features other characters.

I'm just saying some people like movies because it's a Michael Fassbender or Halle Berry movie. I believe the designers of the posters don't want people getting their hopes up for other specific actors or actresses in this movie, their all just supporting roles.