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Fox's X-Men Issues: Lawrence Unsigned, 'Deadpool' Defections, 'Gambit' on Hold

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Dalek

Member
Fox's X-Men Issues: Jennifer Lawrence Unsigned, 'Deadpool' Defections, 'Gambit' on Hold

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Fox has had movie rights to Marvel's X-Men characters since the 1990s, well before Marvel became its own studio and Fox ostensibly launched the modern comic book movie with 2000's X-Men. But now, after some highs, lows and one reset (2011's X-Men: First Class), there are signs of wear and tear on a franchise that has grossed more than $4 billion.

Apocalypse, directed by Bryan Singer, earned $544 million worldwide, a sharp drop from the $748 million made by previous entry X-Men: Days of Future Past. What's more, stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult have come to the end of their three-picture contracts. If new studio chairman Stacey Snider wants them to return, they won't come cheap.
There are other signs of paint chipping as well. Fox's solidly performing Wolverine spinoff series winds down with Logan (March 3), which is meant to be the last of the Hugh Jackman-fronted movies. (The movie just released a trailer which insiders say was the most watched spot in the history of the X-Men franchise.) In addition, Gambit, a solo spinoff movie to star Channing Tatum, failed to start production this year as planned and in August lost its director, Doug Liman.

And in perhaps the most unexpected development, Deadpool director Tim Miller pulled out of the sequel Oct. 22 after feuding with star Ryan Reynolds. (His composer Tom Holkenborg soon followed.) Deadpool was a surprise massive hit ($782.6 million) in February, so the studio has moved quickly to fill the sequel's director chair, with John Wick's David Leitch now in negotiations. And in a sign of how much faith it has in the Reynolds-starring franchise, Fox already is planning Deadpool 3, readying a filmmaker search for a storyline that will involve another X-team, X-Force, say sources.

Elsewhere, the reset button has been pressed. Sources say the flagship series will be reconfigured, with Simon Kinberg, overseer of the franchise as producer and writer, working on a new script. Singer, who directed four X-Men movies, will not be returning, according to insiders, but the script is being written with Lawrence, Fassbender and McAvoy optimistically in mind.

And after being on hold as Tatum shot Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky, Gambit should move back into active development with a new filmmaker.

One of Fox's best hopes may be The New Mutants, a spinoff featuring superpowered teens with some overlap with the flagship X-Men. According to sources, director Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) could even begin rolling cameras by spring.
 
After Logan and Deadpool 2, I think I'm finished with the X-men. Any other films will just tread the same group of mutants with recast actors or focus on C-tier mutants few people know about, and I don't trust Fox to make them appealing like Marvel did with Guardians, Antman, and Strange.
 

OldRoutes

Member
To be fair, having Matthew Vaughn come on board was a breath of fresh air, so having new cast and a maybe less experienced creative team is exciting!
 

LiK

Member
Does Jennifer Lawrence even want to continue?

No, she only did DoFP and Apocalypse because of her 3-film contract from First Class.Read she didn't want to do them at all and you could tell from her pretty flat performances.
 
readying a filmmaker search for a storyline that will involve another X-team, X-Force, say sources.
They must've been reading my NeoGAF posts calling for Deadpool 3 to be an Uncanny X-Force movie. I been saying this shit forever.
Elsewhere, the reset button has been pressed. Sources say the flagship series will be reconfigured, with Simon Kinberg, overseer of the franchise as producer and writer, working on a new script. Singer, who directed four X-Men movies, will not be returning, according to insiders, but the script is being written with Lawrence, Fassbender and McAvoy optimistically in mind.
Bah, this shit is dumb. You gotta start from scratch or use Deadpool as a launching pad. No more shit from the previous X films. Logan should be the end of those timelines.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
No, she only did DoFP and Apocalypse because of her 3-film contract from First Class.Read she didn't want to do them at all and you could tell from her pretty flat performances.

Sounds legit - she was OK in First Class but Jesus, could have replaced her with a toilet brush with a blonde wig for the last two.

And I do genuinely like Lawrence in some of her other work
 

mjc

Member
Lawrence most likely didn't want to do DofP and Apocalypse. And it shows in her performance. Fassbender even looked slightly bored in Apocalypse.

Deadpool is the new Wolverine, and Fox has to figure out how to branch out from there. Maybe X-Force is the new X-Men after all.
 
I still hope that Deadpool 2 comes out as good as the first movie, but I think I just should lower my expectations right now. New Mutants I'm hoping for the best still.
 

Dysun

Member
Sounds like Deadpool and everything else is an uncertain mess in need of a full reboot
(Post Logan)
 
No, she only did DoFP and Apocalypse because of her 3-film contract from First Class.Read she didn't want to do them at all and you could tell from her pretty flat performances.

Thought so.

More accurately, do fans of the movies even want her back?

Personally I don't like her in this role. Also, the fact they are force feeding us this character because Lawrence got really famous.
 

Prompto

Banned
Keeping Kinberg as a writer is a big mistake. That Gambit film should just be canceled.

And interesting that Logan has so much buzz. Didn't expect that.
 

Corpekata

Banned
I mean, they acknowledge the Logan trailer was insanely popular, so...

Well, yeah, but like it says, Jackman's retiring the role, which means they are losing what is effectively the face of the franchise for a lot of people, especially with it seeming like the First Class series is either ending or winding down too. Lawrence is out, can't imagine McAvoy or Fassbender want to stick around for too much longer either.
 

Anth0ny

Member
might be time to pull a sony and team up with Marvel :)


Get back Fassbender and McAvoy. These guys are incredible and worthy successors to Mckellen and Stewart, which is very high praise. Pay Jackman. He IS Wolverine, and age doesn't mean shit when you're on the juice. Lawrence is WAY too expensive (highest paid actress in hollywood, by a lot) and no one gives a FUCK about Mystique. Hoult you can take or leave, too.

Of course, give the Deadpool team anything they ask for. Deadpool is their biggest character right now, bigger than Wolverine.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
Despite how good Deadpool was. I feel in general Fox has handled Xmen pretty terribly. About the only positives is that with the R rated films they can go past the current MCU in terms of territory. That's about the only reason I would want them to stay at Fox.
 

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
None of that is a surprise. Lawerance didn't give a shit after the first one, once she became a star. Fassbender seemed bored out of his mind too in the last one and Singer not returning is a good thing.

I think keeping McCoy around would be nice and have team form around him.

The other two we're a given for a while
 

Raziel

Member
Apocalypse, Deadpool, and the Wolverine movies all sucked, so I'm open to wiping the slate clean across the board.
 

firelogic

Member
Jennifer Lawrence is inconsequential. She doesn't bring anything special to the role. They could and will have no problem recasting the role. Explanation? Well, she's a shape shifter. She's choosing to use a different face/body now. Easy.

Gambit? That was a dumb idea to begin with and they should just permanently shelve it.

Deadpool issues? Non-starter. As long as the rest of the creative team along with Reynolds are there, it doesn't matter who they get to direct. Junkie XL leaving in solidarity? No problem there. I don't remember any of the score. I do remember the OST though.

Despite how good Deadpool was. I feel in general Fox has handled Xmen pretty terribly. About the only positives is that with the R rated films they can go past the current MCU in terms of territory. That's about the only reason I would want them to stay at Fox.

It's because they have a weird love affair with Singer. I've maintained that his X movies have all been mediocre to bad. He says he's a fan or at least, became a fan and yet it doesn't show at all in any of his movies in the series. Get him away from the property please!
 
Well, yeah, but like it says, Jackman's retiring the role, which means they are losing what is effectively the face of the franchise for a lot of people, especially with it seeming like the First Class series is either ending or winding down too. Lawrence is out, can't imagine McAvoy or Fassbender want to stick around for too much longer either.

Which still bugs me. This is the X-men not the Wolverine show. I mean I liked his performances, but at the cost of the other characters. I don't think it was worth it.
 

Corpekata

Banned
Jennifer Lawrence is inconsequential. She doesn't bring anything special to the role. They could and will have no problem recasting the role. Explanation? Well, she's a shape shifter. She's choosing to use a different face/body now. Easy.

I get that people really hate her in the role, but they aren't worried about it because they want to keep using Mystique, they want her. She's a popular actress. They aren't worried about continuity lol.
 

Akahige

Member
Atleast they got the Fargo guy on the tv front.

They honestly just reboot the series, Deadpool in every ad explaining shit.
 

kunonabi

Member
Keeping Kinberg as a writer is a big mistake. That Gambit film should just be canceled.

And interesting that Logan has so much buzz. Didn't expect that.

Well Logan looks like it might already be making X-23 a more worthwhile character than she ever will be in the comics so it doesn't surprise me.
 
How many times has Gambit failed to start production? At least 2, no?

I think the problems with Deadpool 2 are being overblown. True, Tim Miller did a great job with the first one but most of the strength of the movie came from the script that didn't change much from the one that had been leaked years ago before Miller become involved in the project. The writers want to keep it a low budget affair that allows them to keep it R Rated and that's where Deadpool really makes a difference.
Turning it into an epic scale adventure like Miller wanted doesn't really work with Deadpool, I think.

Losing Lawrence in X Men wouldn't be a bad thing. I like her but I don't think she is still that big of a box office draw and she clearly doesn't want to do them.
Turn the focus on the young X-Men team they have now and work from there.
McAvoy seems happy to keep playing Xavier so that part is good.
 
My guess is they focus more on Deadpool (which production wise is going to be fine) and tangentially start trying new teams like New Mutants and X-Force. It is pretty crazy that the main X-Men franchise is pretty much up in the air right now though.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Lawrence was kind of a bummer as Mystique, anyway. Good thing it's the easiest character to recast.

I hope they start having more fun. The X-men movies always have a foot stuck in the early 2000's "people don't like comic books or superheroes, so tone ALL of this down until it's 'realistic'" tone and aesthetic. The little bit of Colossus and Nega Sonic Teenage Warhead from the Deadpool movie felt the most X-men out of any of the films so far.
 

Sesha

Member
I wonder if the next mainline X-Men will be modeled more after the 90s X-Men. The entire planned line up sounds very 90s so far, with New Mutants, X-Force, Gambit, and a Deadpool sequel with Cable, all in the works.
 

vinnygambini

Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
I think they'll keep Mcavoy for X-Force and possibly have a
F4 & X-Men crossover film :D
 

Christian

Member
Who owns the rights to X-Statix? Wouldn't mind an off-the-wall movie about those weirdos. FOX seems incapable of coordinating more than one quality movie in this franchise, at a time.
 

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
It's disappointing to see how mismanaged this property has been compared to the MCU.

I feel like they need to commit to a greater overall plan for all of their movies like the MCU.
 
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