Apparently Bryan Singer is really excited to be working on another X-Men film and is taking every opportunity he can to share images of the work that’s being done.

The picture above showed up in Bryan Singer’s Twitter feed with the message:

How many days until @Comic_Con? #XMen #DaysofFuturePast #SDCC

While he doesn’t explain the image, anyone who has seen the first three films will know what it is immediately: The hallways of the X-Men HQ in Xavier’s mansion.

Additionally, earlier in the week he tweeted this image.

With the message:

Hello old friends #XMen #DaysofFuturePast

Yep, wheelchairs. On the left is the one for the older version of Prof. Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and the younger version on the right (James McAvoy).

It looks like things are shaping up nicely for the latest film in the X-Men franchise.

Bryan Singer is going to return to the directing chair of the X-Men film series with one of the most beloved story of the series’ entire run.

Matthew Vaughn directed the surprise hit, X-Men:First Class, but he has opted t step back for the sequel and serve only as a producer. Stepping in to direct the follow-up will be Bryan Singer, the man who directed X-Men and X2, and then has served as a producer on the follow-up films.

Singer did a great job on the first two films, so I have no concerns about his ability to handle the material, but he is definitely takin on an ambitious story, “Days of Future Past.” Published in Uncanny X-Men #141 and #142 back in 1981, the storyline dealt with a future where mutants are hunted by giant robots called Sentinels that imprison them in interment camps or kill them. All of this came about as a result of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants – Magneto’s group – having killed a senator. One of the X-Men from this future sends her mind back in time to warn the modern day X-Men and have them prevent the event.

How much of this will make it into the movie is anyone’s guess, but it’s a heck of a starting point for a film. If done correctly, this could be amazing, but we’ll just have to see how its handled.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is due to be released on July 18, 2014.

The sequel to the successful X-Men: First Class film is set to begin filming in January, but it’s not just because it’s finally ready.

20th Century Fox has been anxious to get the sequel to X-Men: First Class rolling, but it ran into a small problem when Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique, went on to sign for The Hunger Games film series.  She is now locked into at least three films, but she also agreed to three X-Men films.  What’s a young actress to do?

Well, it appears an agreement has been reached between the two studios that will see Lawrence film Catching Fire, the second book in the series, this summer and then go directly to filming her second go in the blue make-up.  The issue that arose was Lionsgate wanted to hold all the actors for seven months in case of reshoots, which would have made all of them unavailable for any other work.  While a nice dream to have, the contract for the X-Men films takes precedence as it is older.

No word yet on how many cast members of the first film will return, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing Mystique.

[via Dark Horizons]

X-Men: First Class may have won the weekend, but it didn’t perform anywhere close to expectations.

Clocking in at $55 million, the newest film in the X-Men franchise beat the debut of the original film from back in 2000, but just barely.  Adjusted for inflation, the prequel fell short of the original based on attendance numbers, and considering the $160 million dollar budget, that is most definitely not a good thing.

The Hangover Part II brought in $31.4 million for a 63 percent drop from last weekend.  Apparently the bad word of mouth finally caught up with it.  It actually brought in less than the original did on its second weekend, but the damage is already done for this film to be considered a success, and a third film is already in the scripting stage.

Also not fairing well was Kung-Fu Panda 2 which fell 50 percent to $23.9 million this weekend.  The original fell 44 percent in its second weekend, and 50 percent is almost unheard of for an animated film in its second weekend.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides fell another 55 percent from its previous fall last week to bring in $18 million.  It’s domestic total stands at $190.2 million, but it’s raking it in on the foreign markets for a worldwide total of $790.8 million.  Rounding at the top five was Bridesmaids which actually had the best weekend statistically with $12 million.

The first full trailer for X-Men: First Class has hit, and … it’s not as bad as I anticipated.

While I haven’t been thrilled with the 1960′s setting we’ve seen in the X-Men: First Class pictures thus far, I have to say now that we’ve got some context, it’s working a lot better for me.  The idea of the X-Men helping with the Cuban Missile Crisis interests me, and might explain some of Magneto’s hatred for humans if they don’t come across as grateful after he saves them.

Could be very interesting, and a heck of a lot better than the third movie or X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Check it out below folks.

X-Men: First Class is continuing to film, but the first batch of images from the movie are seemingly growing by the day.

The other day I showed you some of the first images from the upcoming retooling of the X-Men film series, but now even more have shown up that give you some idea of what the film will look like.

A bit of a cast shot looking very … 1960′s.

Kevin Bacon is in the movie as Sebastian Shaw/The Black King, seen here talking with January Jones as The White Queen.

James McAvoy (Charles Xavier) and Michael Fassbinder (Magneto) play chess.

Michael Fassbinder as Magneto. (click for much larger image)

James McAvoy as Xavier. (click for much larger image)

Still a bit nervous about this movie, but seeing some shots that show the characters “in motion” is helping things out.

Although I will say it appears they will never deliver on a Magneto helmet that doesn’t just look idiotic.

While I’ve given up pretty much all hope for X-Men: First Class to actually be true to the comics, I’ve decided to just enjoy the ride.  Thus far the only images to appear online have been unofficial photos taken at a great distance from the subject matter.  Yesterday an image appeared on MSN that was quickly taken down at the request of the studio.  We’re not sure if it was just put up too early, or if it doesn’t represent the final look of the film, but it is interesting none the less.

(UPDATED: Click for larger, higher resolution image)

According to Dark Horizons, the cast seen in this picture includes:

• Michael Fassbender as Magneto
• Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert
• January Jones as Emma Frost (aka the White Queen)
• Jason Flemyng as Azazel (aka Nightcrawler’s father)
• Nicholas Hoult as the Beast
• Lucas Till as Havoc
• Zoe Kravitz as Angel Salvadore
• Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme (aka Mystique)
• James McAvoy as Charles Xavier

Since this picture was ordered taken down by MSN, there’s no telling if things in this picture will change before they get up on the big screen, but my bet is that this is pretty close to final.

I’m not sure this line-up of team members could be more wrong if they tried, but it should still make for an interesting movie, and a potentially entertaining good time for all.

The schedule for comic book movies for the next two years has been shuffled around so much that it has become impossible to know when each is coming out.

As I’ve been writing about all the upcoming comic book movies lately, I’ve noticed that some have been dropped into the schedule unexpectedly (X-Men: First Class), and others have radically changed dates (Green Lantern).  Born out of my own frustrations, I figured I’d give you a run down of how the line up currently stands, but don’t be surprised if it all changes again.

I’ll go ahead and put 2010 on here also as there are still a few to come out.

Comic Book Movies For 2010

• Jonah Hex – June 18
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – August 13

Comic Book Movies For 2011

• Thor – May 6
• X-Men: First Class – June 3
• Green Lantern – June 17
• Captain America: The First Avenger – July 22
• Cowboys and Aliens – July 29
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2 – To Be Announced, though X-Men may shove this to 2012

Comic Book Movies For 2012

• The Avengers – May 4
• Spider-Man Reboot – July 3
• Batman 3 – July 20

Due to multiple studios having the licenses for Marvel films, the schedule is getting choked with their films: X-Men is at 20th Century Fox, Spider-Man at Sony and the rest with Marvel Studios.  DC Comics/Warner Brothers seems to be going with a “one movie per year” schedule, which is fine by me.

And, yes, Cowboys and Aliens is based on a comic book.

Mark your calenders, kids.  June 3, 2011 will see the release of X-Men: First Class.

This long rumored prequel to the successful X-Men franchise finally found a director in Matthew Vaughn who just came off of Kick-Ass.  So, in other words, 20th Century Fox just hired a director who just had a very mild success to direct a movie in just 13-months to rush out an entry in its successful franchise … oh yeah, this doesn’t have disaster written all over it.  Not at all.

The official of the description of the film is:

X-Men: First Class, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

Now, here’s the problem, in the comic books the team was made up of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, The Beast and Angel, but in the movies they have shown there is no way these five can make up the core team. So who in the world the “first class” will be made up of makes no sense. Will it be Storm, Cyclops, Jean Gray and … I have no clue.

The production time has me really concerned. Most major movies require at least two years of production time, and they are going to bang this out in 13 months?

The sad thing is that I enjoyed Kick-Ass, but it isn’t doing well, and a rushed production could make this director look bad.  I don’t know, this just doesn’t bode well for what could be a great movie if done properly, and instead we’re getting a rush job to meet a release date.  Anyone remember Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes?  Same situation.

Bryan Singer has announced he will be returning to directing X-Men movies.

YAY!

The first two X-Men movies – you know, the good ones? – were directed by Mr. Singer, and he has announced that he has agreed to direct the next film, a prequel named X-Men: First Class.

This new film is based on a comic of the same name that concentrated on the first five students of Professor Xavier’s school: Cyclops (Scott Summers), Marvel Girl (Jean Gray), Beast (Hank McCoy), Iceman (Bobby Drake) and Angel (Warren Worthington III).  While this is exciting, the problem is that unless they throw out all the movie continuity, which is possible, Iceman and Angel were established in the movie as being too young to be part of this story.  Angel they might get away with, but no way could they use Iceman, so the question then is who will replace him in the team.

It’s a trivial thing, and my money is on Storm, I’m just happy he’s back on the franchise.  The first two movies were great, but the third one was a mess, and I haven’t brought myself to watch Wolverine yet.  So, since Mr. Singer seems to have a handle on these stories, and how to make a good one, hopefully he can return some coolness back to the series.

Unfortunately a may be a while before we get this film as he is currently attached to a Battlestar Galactica film that, wait for it, has nothing to do with the just completed television series.  Yep, they are rebooting this story … again.

Oh well, hopefully he will get to First Class soon, and I can’t wait to re-enter Mr. Singer’s vision of the mutant world.

Well, as I predicted, the Marvel movie line-up was overly ambitious.

Marvel seems to have woken up to the fact that they were rushing their films out too fast, and they have announced an adjusted line-up of their films through 2012.  They’ve only shifted three of the movies, but it gives them some more breathing room in the production timeline, and hopefully this will lead to higher quality films.  I imagine this was somewhat assisted by Sony announcing their target date for the fourth Spider-Man movie in May of 2011.

Thor: formerly July 16, 2010, now June 17, 2011
Captain America: formerly May 6, 2011, now July 22, 2011
The Avengers: formerly July 15, 2011, now May 4, 2012

So the new line-up is (films in bold are part of The Avengers “series”):

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May 1, 2009
• Iron Man 2 – May 7, 2010
• Spider-Man 4 – May 6, 2011
• Thor- June 17, 2011
• Captain America – July 22, 2011
• The Avengers – May 4, 2012
• Ant-Man – To Be Announced (to be fair, the press release no longer mentions this film)

There is also some speculation this was somewhat prompted by all of the big named actors being attached to The Avengers, so they may have had to move it further out to accomadate all of the people this film is going to require.  By the time this film roles around they will need Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and which ever actors they choose for the parts of Thor and Captain America will also be in it for sure.  Beyond that, who knows who else they will drag along from these movies to be included, so it is going to be a nightmare scheduling wise to get this many actors together all at once for the project.

One person who is probably thrilled by the move is Jon Favreau, director of the Iron Man films, who is going to serve as a producer on The Avengers.  He was essentially going to have to go directly from work on Iron Man 2 to working on team film, I would imagine he’ll enjoy at least a short break.

I also think this may solve the problem I was concerned with with having the films coming out too fast and wearing out the public.  I would like to see some more space between Thor and Captain America, but oh well, it’s their call.  Lets just hope the public doesn’t fall into super hero fatigue.

It may be hard to believe, but there was once a time where a movie based on a comic book being released was like some sort of weird dream.  It was rare, and it was even rarer that they were actually good.  Luckily all of that has changed over the years, and the rule of thumb now seems to be more towards actual quality and care being put into the productions based on the comic book art form.

With the new Watchmen movie being talked about by every one, it seems like a good time to discuss what some of the best comic book movies are up until now.  The question is do you judge them solely as a movie or how faithful they are to the source material?  I think this is one of those instances where you have to do a little bit of both.  Some succeed as movies in spite of a total difference from the books that spawned them, and others are so dead on faithful that it almost feels like you watched the artwork come to life.

In case you were wondering what qualifies me to speak on this subject the answer is  33 years of comic book collecting, 15 & 1/2 years managing a comic shop and a well-known harsh eye for movies.  So go ahead and click to find a list of what I find to be the best movies based on comic books, and then let me know what your top choices are.
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