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AICN EXCLUSIVE!! Wanna Know Who
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
My, oh, my... now it’s getting interesting.
When we broke the word that Matthew Vaughn was leaving X3 as director, we tried our best to pry some hints out of Avi or Lauren Shuler-Donner about who might be stepping in to take over the helm. Both of them played incredibly coy, with Avi telling me that the director was someone whose name came up the first time around, but who was busy at that point. “Now that we are further down the road, obligations have changed,” Avi said, “and suddenly someone is available, which is wonderful for us.” Lauren said, “We’re trading up.” They both sounded pleased, but weren’t about to spill the beans.
Another source close to the production dropped a few more hints. “Fans are going to be... vocal... when they hear who it is,” she said. “It’s one of those names. It’s someone who studios like, who is considered an A-list director, but sort of by default.” No matter what, though, my source wouldn’t give me a name.
I mean, I had a few guesses. I was kidding when I mentioned Joss Whedon yesterday. As our TalkBackers were happy to point out, Joss has said that unless he was writing the film, he wouldn’t be interested in stepping in, and I get that. He’s had a chance to work out his X-MEN jones on the comic page, so it’s not like he’s got to do it, or he’ll never be able to tell the stories. In fact, right now, he’s got control of the X-MEN stories he wants to tell, and budget’s not an issue. Making a movie for Fox would be like a step backwards for him, because you’re playing by someone else’s rules, you’re juggling movie star schedules and desires, and you’re having to satisfy the studio and meet their impossible schedule for a set amount of money. My guesses were Francis Lawrence and Zack Snyder. Snyder was one of the names that was supposedly short-listed the first time around, and Francis Lawrence seemed to have a great relationship with Shuler-Donner on CONSTANTINE. But both guys are developing other films right now, with Lawrence allegedly prepping I AM LEGEND and Snyder working on 300 for Warner. And neither one of them seemed like they’d cause much of a stir among fandom... at least nothing on the magnitude that my source had suggested.
Talking to another source today, I mentioned that I wanted to run two names by them. “Okay. You’ve got that right... it’s down to two names.” I tried out Snyder and Lawrence and got a laugh in response. “Nope. Not even close.” They told me the two names that they heard, and suddenly all the clues made sense. I spent the rest of the day trying to get someone from Marvel to comment, while Harry worked on getting Shuler-Donner to respond. Now, understandably, they’re sort of busy right now, so it didn’t surprise me that no one got back to us.
At least, not until late tonight, when I got the two names confirmed from inside the Pico lot, from a spy I’ll call “Putch Harker,” who tells me that we’ll have an announcement very soon. So either we’ll have X3 directed by John Moore, who did solid, sturdy jobs with both BEHIND ENEMY LINES and FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, or...
... brace yourselves...
... Brett Ratner.
Now go back and read those clues that everyone gave me at the start of the piece. Makes sense, doesn’t it? What just fell apart? RUSH HOUR 3. Ratner’s definitely considered an A-list filmmaker. And he’s certainly one of ”those” names. Right now, I’d bet he’s the guy who’s going to end up in the chair by the start of the week.
Which raises the question... which X-MEN 3 is he going to make? The one that Matthew Vaughn left behind, that famous “six day script,” which is still evidently being revised by Kinberg and Penn as we speak? Or something else? With only nine weeks left to go until the film starts shooting, it would seem like they’re pretty much locked into what they’re going to be doing. It’d be nice to know what the general plot is... which characters are definitely in it, and what they’re doing... wouldn’t it?
Well, stay tuned, because as soon as Marvel confirms their choice of director, we’ll be back with a brand-new spy and your first look at the plot of X3. And Avi Arad wasn’t kidding when he called the film “controversial,” either. Three major characters that absolutely should not die, die. Really dead, too. Not Spock Dead. And one mutant who should not lose her powers, loses her powers permanently. Really loses them, too. Not SUPERMAN II loses them. And the sex scene... when you see who does what to who... oh, boy. The entire X-MEN universe may face some incredible overhauls, and it's going to be fascinating to see what fandom does when faced with this stuff. But all that's for next week. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
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Both those guys suck.
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Id love to see them stir the pot majorly. Kill off some of the original team, have others step up. For instance, have Cyclops murdered, have Wolverine take over leading, taking a more responsible role, have Storm killed off, for 3/4 of the movie noone even notices, neither does the audience... then maybe have Rogue killed off, shes been pretty useless in the movies asides the T&A factor...
Sex scene? Dear god I hope it isn't between Juggernaut and Jubilee... -
Jun 02, 2005 6:02:02 AM CDT
Sadly not impressed: "From the director of RUSH HOUR" doesn'
by brokentusk
I mean, sure he's not a BAD director, but I don't think he's up for this. Also, who the fuck is John Moore - if he's allowed to direct this film then I should be given a shot as well surely (cause I'm about as well known as he is).
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This is not a good idea. You dont pick directors like you pick actors, you pick the one with the moment talkent. Not the biggest name, which for directors, is like saying, your picking the president from all the people in arkansas.
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I really hope that Ratner is not going to do it....I just dont have the faith in him to do this film........Can someone please tell the reasons as to why Vaughn left?.....it could have been so good.....im going off to the woods to lament (sigh)
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..but he and X-Men?
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I asked my source when first being told that if it was Paul WS Anderson, and they replied, "No, no... it's not that bad."
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Sounds like desperately scrambling to grab a studio tool now that any talented director has run as far away from this nightmare as they can.
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There should be another level of warning (a la Spoiler!) that says if you read this post, you will evacuate immediately. And I thought that George Lucas had raped my childhood. Marvel is getting me fitted for a doozy.
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This film has enough characters that I'm sure there probably is a willingness there to kill off characters. But still, how do we know until the next film(s) come out, I mean, Spock's death wasn't really a "Spock death" until Star Trek III came out, right? Plus, it is a comic book film, and in the comics ALL these characters have died and been brought back at some point, just saying, never know.
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....and that would be the one...the only.....McG!!!!! ALL HAIL McG!!!!! McG! IS THE GREATEST BESTEST MOST WONDERFUL DIRECTOR THAT HAS EVER WALKED THE LAND!!!! HE IS BIGGER THAN JESU-.....ahh...screw it, you get the point....And thus, back to the bottle! - - - George, The 7th Chicken!!!!
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We should be so lucky.
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I was hoping for Nick Park. "Cracking cheese, Wolverine".
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Jun 02, 2005 6:25:00 AM CDT
The X-Men Film Francise Has officially "Jumped the Shark"
by inzodwetrust
Rattner = Garbage.
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I like the idea of John Moore doing X3 not to mention he's a Paddy. His work on Behind Enemy Lines was top notch and Flight of The Pheonix wasn't bad either. Would like to see what he could do with a really good script. As for Ratner... stick to Rush Hours films.
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the man is a joke. he is the biggest hack in hollywood and no good can come of this. x-men is dead. i'd rather have the coke sniffing one.
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Isn't he only only famous because his family is important in hollywood or something? Boo!. No sir I don't like it.
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Jun 02, 2005 6:25:58 AM CDT
Well, if Tim Story made them happy. Ratner could not be that ba
by lordenigma
You know what that smell is? The board of DC having a bbq because Marvel are self-destructing. Unlike some geeks or film afficiandos, I cannot wait for the Fantastic Four. That flick should surprise people because it has too much talent not to work. After that, it goes down fucking hill. They still want to make an Iron-Man movie, but refuse to accept the power of Ruffalo over DiCaprio. They want to make a Captain America film, but how long with that take. They want to make more and more b to c level characters into movie stars, and it just does not work. Now with one of their FRANCHISES they have decided to totally dismantle it. If characters die, a sex scene ensues, and someone loses their powers this film will fail. Who wants to see that X-movie? Hopefully that movie will die and be replaced with something that does not disgrace the X-Men name. Ratner has absolutely no visual style. Just the lighting kits alone on the Rush Hour films demonstrate his inability to make a set look anything but fake. Go watch the X films, and tell me the design and lighting of that films does not make something so very comic booky. Seem very very real. Do you think Brett Ratner, even as just an overseer of the way a event should be filmed, produce anything close to the opening of X2? Avi, rethink this decision. Go for someone like Kurt Wimmer or Shane Carruth (probably spelt his name wrong but he directed Primer). Be bold. Ratner is just a weak ass move.
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On top of a shit sundae of a morning. Had to get up extra early to be into work an hour before start time and now this. Must be Thursday. Never could get the hang of Thursdays...
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Thanks for the laugh Mori. I have to say I think McG would be better that Ratner. At least it's not Uwe Boll.
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Why were the first X-Men so good? because of Bryan Singer!
why were the Spiderman films so great?
because of Sam Raimi
How don't they even notice that it's the quality directors that makes these films so fucking great!
Why get those hacks, John Moore??? wtf, did anyone see Behind Enemy Lines!!!!
Brett Ratner??? isn't his work on "serious" Red Dragon enough to make them understand he sucks big time!!!
Want some names to direct X3?
how about Vincenzo Natali, Alex Proyas, Danny Boyle, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Mathieu Kassovitz, Tom Tykwer, Darren Aronofsky...
there are so many great directors out there who can handle this film and deliver!!! I'm sure you'll find one that is interested!
Brett Ratner and John Moore! my God this film will SUUUUUCCKKKKKK!!!! -
Jun 02, 2005 6:34:30 AM CDT
Well, shit... if Donner has one foot in the property, why doesn&
by llghtst0rmer
I mean, "From the Director of 'Superman' and 'Lethal Weapon'" sounds much more agreeable than "From the director of 'Rush Hour' and. . . uh. . . "Rush Hour 2!'" Besides, Donner's due for another good one, and I think he'd do well with another superhero flick. All that aside, though... too fuckin' bad it ain't Whedon. This would blow Wonder Woman away.
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Can someone smart please pull the emergency brake on the production of X3 and wait for not only a decent director, but a non-rushed schedule.
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I as a German must say: No Tom Tykwer! But yeah, Vincenzo Natali would be so cool...but I don't think he's on their list...
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...together with Joe Dante one of the most underrated directors ever, would be great, too!
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Go for it man!
shake the Marvel universe up.
One of the mains who should absolutely NOT die might be Xavier himself. (Patrick Stewart)
I mean this IS reality folks..
The man is not wanna gonna be Xavier forever.
He DOES have a career portfolio to think about.
As long as its a meaningful death I am all for it.
Rush Hours 1 & 2 were pretty good
and I get the feeling this next film will be more character driven and not so much effects filled so we should have a much more powerful film to see.
I seriously doubt they will allow Ratner to a whole new script at this point so they may offer more bucks or backend points to sweeten the pot but I feel they definately wanna get this train rolling so they beat Supes and Synger to the screen and stick it to him in 2006
But my two cents?
KIll people!
Not Spock dead...
REALLY dead
shake it up
move on to 4, 5 and 6
which will open the door for all kinds of new characters
lose the baggage of the popular characters and keep going forward.
(after all, back to reality for a sec) you cannot continue to maintain the business of cranking out films if you have to worry about raising the paychecks for each film and having alot of bad press from actresses who are suddenly 'above' the material or actors who demand more and more.
Each new X film could intro all new actors and new X characters and still keep the ever present BOTTOM LINE happy by keeping the budget in reasonable shape.
So, not only does the director have to juggle actor attitudes and storylines but the studio and producers are juggling too with the budget and all.
Lets give them all a chance and see what comes out of it.
theres a chance here to have a huge franchise of ten or more films if handled correctly
(or maybe just six films like they plan with Spidey)
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so it's like an inversion of the Star Wars thing -- in Star Wars you got two bad movies, and one brilliant movie for the coup de grace. in XMen you get two great movies and one piece of crap hack job. oh well, we'll always have our old comics. bye bye XMEN film franchise! we'll miss you!
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Jun 02, 2005 6:45:04 AM CDT
Spielberg better than Hitchcock? Raimi better than Lynch?
by barrelrider
Proof, if any were needed, that this site is for the most part used by a bunch of fucking tadpoles - thanks for again proving your fecklessness, AICNers!
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I never realized how much I actually cared about the X-MEN films until I finished reading this news and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Wow. This could either be some kind of insanely brilliant reinvention of a franchise or it's the untimely death of one that had serious potential. I'm more concerned with the script than with the choice of director (Ratner's films lack any kind of visual flair but they're watchable and I enjoyed John Moore's "Behind Enemy Lines" until the ridiculous ending). I hope this all works out for the best but I'm getting a bad vibe from this whole mess.
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well, it was empty when i started writing sorry.
anyway...
Smallville jumped the shark when they brought Lois Lane in.
I mean she's cute and has great dialogue but he IS NOT SUPPOSED TO MEET HER UNTIL LATER WHEN HE GETS TO METROPOLIS.
Because of that and their inability to dump the Luthor father and son whine soap opera
(kill the dad already, he had liver cancer at one point...that was brilliant...then they chickened out)
or kill off Johnathan Kent already.
The actor himself has stated the story is going downhill.
It would make a great two part episode and push Clark further along the destiny he needs to fulfill.
WE NEED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HERE
Now, back to X-Men
What we dont need is boredom.
Bond is another prime example of a franchise that needs to be shaken up.
I would hate to see X-Men 7 and Wolverine is still doing Eastwood type dialogue and shoving those claws into another bad guy or Cyclops is still crying over Jean and blasting holes in walls with his specs.
yawn yawn yawn
theres a WORLD of X-men characters in the comics begging for screen time and if your going to move the franchise forward and AVOID the number three film trap alot of films have fallen into then THREE is the film to do this in.
Grab us by the throat and shake us up and promise us more to come.
The producers are taking a huge chance here and my hat is off to them.
When this comes out they'll have my 8 bucks and my fat ass in the chair in the front row waiting to be dazzled.
thats a promise.
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Ratner knows what he's doing but the movies he delivers are average and stepping in that late doesn't make it easier to deliver something special.
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Not exactly an "IT" name, there fellas. If you had said Michael Mann or someone like that, then I'd have gone crazy-go-nuts. But no. I'm worried I won't be getting my X-fix.
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That's all the studios care about. They will shit out a crappy film if it will make money for them and thanks to the stupid public, this one will.
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Brett Ratner is a fucking HACK!! His movies all SUCK!!! He will kill this franchise like a bullet. Hasn't Marvel learned anything from the way he wanted to fuck around with Superman? Christ on a bike, DON'T DO IT, AVI!!!!
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I have seen (and own) a magazine quote where Alex Proyas said he wouldn't direct X-Men 3 for "all the tea in China" - and yet he did I, Robot ...
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As far as the storyline goes, I can only assume i'll be a mishmash of the Age of Apocalypse series. Another hint to this may be the X-Men Legends II game, which openly features Apocalypse as the villain. The last game tried to stay somewhat close to the simple plot of the film; being Magneto is a baddy, stop Mags' from using a special device against mankind.
The released gametrailer (www.gametrailers.com) seems to want to emulate the team up scenario from X2, and given the news above, it does seem to match the Apoco' storyline.
My comic info is really rusty, but from what I gather...
The X-Men are torn apart, a lot of team members die, and those that live on must fare off against a future where Sentinels have been activated and slay mutants/imprison mutants by the millions. The last remnants of the X-Men must band together with other resistance factions, and Magneto takes on the role of leader (yeah, i'm real foggy on this, and a lot is imposed from the 90's cartoon series), and eventually we discover Apocolypse as the mastermind behind all the chaos. The world is in a state of war, and a time traveller is sent to the past to assassinate the killer of Professor X.
As for the hookups, didn't Wolvie and Storm get together? -
In my last post in the other talkback for the story about Vaughn leaving. I predicted it would be Ratner and lo and behold...
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Something weird going on when I try to post, hopefully this isn;t another repeat post. Anyway.
In my last post in the other talkbakc about Vaughn leaving. I predicted it would be Ratner, and lo and behold... -
Wow. Now we'll have Chris "I don't have to shoot any friggin' flicks cuz Mr. Nose paid me loads of bucks to LIE FOR HIM IN STAND - yeah, stupid mofo had to sell his farm for me, but what the shit! Fucker play Mr. Sinister (yeah, very literal).
Jackie Chan for Sunfire's all I'm sayin'! Hey Arad, don't forget: You'll have to mention your income from WB as well in the tax declaration! Otherwise, it's smokin' cocks in the locker! -
Jun 02, 2005 7:54:29 AM CDT
I have two words for those kvetching about Ratner: JOEL SCHUMAC
by spyguy
While not an ideal pick, I thought Ratner did a decent job with RED DRAGON so there's potential here for non-suckage. Personally, I would have preferred Joss Whedon, who obviously has a great grasp of the characters as shown in ASTONISHING X-MEN, but he's too busy being non-committal about casting Morena Baccarin in WONDER WOMAN at the moment. It could have been a worse pick, though...Just imagine if Schumacher or Ang Lee got the gig.
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Bret Ratner should be happy that he has a career. The man has NEVER directed a good film. NEVER. He is the very definition of the Hollywood Hack. May he be forced to watch his own films back to back to back to back for all eternity.
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...Yeah, and flaming monkeys will fly out of my butt.
So long X-men, it was good while it lasted. -
Well that's once less summer movie I have to look forward to. RIP X-Men franchise.
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The incredible backlash against Mr. Ratner should tell you something. His "Red Dragon" underperformed badly, Tucker's smart enough to doge the "Rush Hour 3" bullet, with Chan's fame fading by the minute and the AGE OF THE FUNNY BLACK MAN having ended a long time ago.
John Moore might manage this complicated flick of yours, but Ratner -- the fanbase will NEVER accept him and you can kiss all your nice PR away. No matter what, Ratner's X3 will me mocked, locked and burned by people like me. Don't go there. -
Jun 02, 2005 8:15:04 AM CDT
Okay, Ratner is not one of these great outstanding directors...
by derlanghaarige
...but why is there so much hate? From his films I saw Money Talks (lame), Rush Hour (okay), RH2 (Very entertaining!) and Red Dragon (Better than I expected), but many of you seem to hate him more than Schumacher, Boll or Anderson! He's not that bad (but yes, I hope they find a better one for X-Men 3).
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You guys think the studio wants to make a good movie? Gosh, no. They want to make money, and for that all they need is the "X-Men" name, the stars, and a lot of special effects.
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Those two names are so bad that Moriarty has to be kidding just to get the X3 people to step up and give the real names in order to prevent the bleeding. No exec would act all big and hype Ratner... would they? Would they? Maybe so. I guess I am just an idiot for liking comic book movies. Although, I think Ratner did an OK job on Red Dragon.
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The incredible backlash against Mr. Ratner should tell you something. His "Red Dragon" underperformed badly, Tucker's smart enough to doge the "Rush Hour 3" bullet, with Chan's fame fading by the minute and the AGE OF THE FUNNY BLACK MAN having ended a long time ago.
John Moore might manage this complicated flick of yours, but Ratner -- the fanbase will NEVER accept him and you can kiss all your nice PR away. No matter what, Ratner's X3 will me mocked, locked and burned by people like me. Don't go there. -
with tara reed as "six pack."
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...rocks hard. DotD was a great debut, and 300 is going to be badass. Also, he'd make a great X3, it'd just be kenetic as hell.
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I want to see Ratner ruin his career.
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with the exception of X-men 1 & 2, Spider-Man 1 & 2 and The Hulk...marvel seems to be dropping the ball. The Batman marketing looks great and I am eager to see it but the return of Supes is what is really firing me up. Supes is my favorite superhero and I am glad Mori and Harry are confident that Supes is being done right.
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Jun 02, 2005 8:45:53 AM CDT
Could be worse, with all that build up I was expecting for Mori
by big bad clone
So I am relieved by this news exceeding my lowered expectations. Ratner wasn't too bad on Red Dragon. Snyder was damn good on Dawn of the Dead. Constantine...well, it looked 'purty'
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Jun 02, 2005 8:46:41 AM CDT
Give it to RICHARD DONNER for pete's sakes -- let him make a
by spacesheik
Donner can handle action and he would be a much better choice than fucking Brett Rattner. Donner brings class to the project - Ratner is a joke.
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is my sinking hope for this film. very sad couple of days for the X-Men franchise
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Schumacher babies! Schumacher all the way! That swish would be way better than our young Ratner any day... besides, what fanboy out there hasn't dreamed of seeing nipples on Proferssor X? Geek chubbies ahoy!
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ONE: John Moore's job on Behind Enemy Lines was hardly "sturdy." That was a racist pile of dung that was edited in a blender. It sucked. TWO: Bret Ratner? Please. I have seen no indication of talent there. Bret Ratner couldn't direct traffic on a dirt road at midnight. I'm a huge X-Men fan, but if either of these two hacks ends up directing, I may just write the franchise off. Hell, go ahead and get some nipple suits and let Schumacher direct it if you really want to screw up the franchise.
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What you're overlooking is that there isn't any director of worth that would WANT this project as it is now, a script pumped out in 6 days that is still under going rewrites for a big budget film set to go into producion in 9 weeks from now and be done in under a year? Donner (who's actually filming a movie right now), Whedon, Proyas, they're not gonna touch this with a ten foot stick unless someone is willing to hit the pause button and actually let them be directors, and it doesn't look like there's any signs that anyone at FOX is gonna wait for anyone who cares about this film, or has any passion or creativity for it. What we're left with now is a list of competent directors willing to work for a pay check and who will do a good job of listening to the directions of the studio.
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John Moore? Yuk. Behind Enemy Lines was a racist pile of dung that looked like it was edited in a blender. Bret Ratner couldn't direct traffic on a dirt road at midnight. If either of these two hacks ends up helming X-3, I may just write off this franchise. If they really want to kill it, just put Wolvie in a nipple suit and let Schumacher finish it off.
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The site says that both Ratner and Moore have films they are directing currently in production, Josiah's Canon and The Last Mission, respectively. Both movies are listed as "in production" for releases next year. I think Moriarty's source may be wrong . . .
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I'd go with this Moore guy over Ratner. But really both choices are just... dull.
This dosen't look good for the X-men. -
Ratner, at his best, is a shooter. And when a studio settles on a shooter for a franchise that means they are looking for a product to release, not sustain...FOX knows Ratner will not fuck with whatever script they put in front of him because the guy has no artistic compass to tell him right from wrong...easily the worse "name" choice that could be made...as for characters killed - Xavier, Magneto and Jean grey...Storm will lose her powers...this is all a very, very bad move on FOX's part, who apparetnly see the series ending...who the fuck is behind these decisions?
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Ratner, at his best, is a shooter. And when a studio settles on a shooter for a franchise that means they are looking for a product to release, not sustain...FOX knows Ratner will not fuck with whatever script they put in front of him because the guy has no artistic compass to tell him right from wrong...easily the worse "name" choice that could be made...as for characters killed - Xavier, Magneto and Jean grey...Storm will lose her powers...this is all a very, very bad move on FOX's part, who apparetnly see the series ending...who the fuck is behind these decisions?
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X-Men franchise...you had a good run. RIP.
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...but those plot nuggets. Yeesh. They want to kill this franchise? Oh, and that graphic of Harry doing the "Exorcist" thing has GOT to go.
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I have a better idea. Why not let me direct it. I mean shit, I have no experience and have never been anywhere near Hollywood or the film industry, but why should that matter? Oh yeah, apparently it doesn't. Brett FUCKING Ratner! Hey X-fans, bend over. Marvel's going to rape us with broken beer bottles! Yeah!
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Ratner, at his best, is a shooter. And when a studio settles on a shooter for a franchise that means they are looking for a product to release, not sustain...FOX knows Ratner will not fuck with whatever script they put in front of him because the guy has no artistic compass to tell him right from wrong...easily the worse "name" choice that could be made...as for characters killed - Xavier, Magneto and Jean grey...Storm will lose her powers...this is all a very, very bad move on FOX's part, who apparently sees the coffers running dry...Rothman is turning out to be a terrible exec.
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He left regrettably due to personal reasons. To me, that smells like his wife pressured him to quit or something. I sounds like it could be possible. Couldn't u picture Claudia say something like, "Since Rebecca is in X-Men, can't you get me a part?" I can see that happening and Vaughn telling her no and then all heck breaking loose. But this is just an opinion.
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i agree that danny boyle or david fincher would make a better X3 than ratner. the rush hours were good because of the chemistry between chan & tucker. red dragon was only an improvement on the poor hannibal and after the sunset was lame and cliched. ratner lacks emotional depth...they need a director that oozes coolness
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Jun 02, 2005 9:38:19 AM CDT
Fanboys raid Shuler-Donner offices for the raping of X-Men conti
by monkey_king
Avi, Lauren Shuler-Donner(what kind of last name is that anyway?), their "replacement director" and film schedule had best watch their collective heads. The Geeks are on the rampage now.
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Jun 02, 2005 9:39:18 AM CDT
Mori - look into the X rights. It sounds like Fox only has a thr
by genro
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I'm a die-hard X-Men fanboy - have been since I was a little kid - but even I can't stomach the thought of going to see a Bret Ratner X-Men film. Fox has officially lost it. Avi has no true regard for these characters, all he cares about is having a big opening weekend. Fuck this.
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Stop adding question marks instead of apostrophes you ASS.
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Blows & sucks at the same time.
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If it was the latter - I suspect it’ll be Joel Schumacher. Message to production design: Hire me every disco light in the LA area. And Technicolor-up those costumes right now. Storyboard lots of gratuitous male butt shots. More leather. Nipples on Wolverine’s Costume. The DANGER ROOM? Joel’s trailer. If it’s a ’ rockin’, don’t come knockin’. Hurry up boys! That fudge won’t pack itself!
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i'm sure ratner and moore are fine for the movies they do, but they're completely wrong for x-men. thank you, fox, for destroying what little faith i had left.
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damnDAMN!!!
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yowza!!!
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hubba hubba!
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Wasn't Ratner going to direct superman!!!!!!!!!!! and now singer is directing it!!!!!!! and now ratner is directing X-men!!!!!!!! Its like a bad dream.
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Brett Ratner must be one of the worst directors getting work nowadays. He has ZERO visual style, ZERO charm or charisma in anything he does... and his movies have SUCKED ASS! Dante Spinotti cannot save Ratner from himself. Fuck this. X3 has officially jumped the shark as of this moment.
And Zack Snyder? He's done a shitty zombie remake. A poorly directed one.
Why don't they get John McTiernan? Wouldn't he be perfect for this? -
Jun 02, 2005 10:32:25 AM CDT
Do you know what happens to a movie when it gets hit by Brett Ra
by thebaxter
The same thing that happens to every other movie.
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Jun 02, 2005 10:33:52 AM CDT
Chris Tucker propelled the Rush Hour Series to the top...
by adolfoliver
...not Brett Ratner. Hell, Jackie Chan had more to do with the movie's success than Ratner did. If anything goes wrong with this movie however, I blame Avi Arad. After several years in Hollywood, Arad has no doubt perfected the art of lipservice, hence the phony air of confidence about him regarding the subject. The man has too much shit on his plate that it's become too hard for him to put out quality product. What I wanna know: "Is Brett Ratner/the new director an X-Men fan?" I might be a little more at ease if I found out he used to read comics at one point in his life. X3 is only weeks away from production and any director that is not or has not been an involved fan of the series is not up to the task of making a good movie. If for whatever reason this movie fails at the box office, Avi Arad should be the next person to be replaced.
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that he is available at the drop of a hat (or the drop of a director, as the case may be)? But then I guess that could be said of whoever they hire.
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saw layer cake last week, not knowing what to expect. i left the movie having hope for the x-men franchise, my head full of fantasies of what he would've done with the movie. now, that's all i have: the fantasies. sucks!
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does anybody know any details about the Day of the Dead remake? I haven't found anything posted about it on this site...
comingsoon.net had a short blurb about it a few days ago, but i haven't heard anything else.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=9758 -
...limiting superhero movies to two installments.
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Patrick Stewart should put in a good word for him.
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Eisner did a sloid job on Sahara.
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... is a great choice! Also Breck Eisner. I mean, they want someone good? Choose anyone but Zack Snyder and Bret Ratner. Jeeze.
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Joel Schumacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NIPPLES FOR EVERYONE! Err... except the women...
And lotsa scenes of Wolverine checkin’ Cyclops’ ass too! -
Who in their right mind considers Ratner an A-list director? Regardless, he (and John Moore, for that matter) would be an impossibly lame choice. This is profoundly depressing news, and now I may have to avoid X3 like the plague. What a waste of a franchise, all because of short-sighted impatience. Singer was worth waiting for, and earned that right. Marvel/Fox should be more interested in making great movies than arbitrary release dates. And the apostrophe is your friend. ;-)
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Jun 02, 2005 11:04:45 AM CDT
As far was I'm concerned RATner is up there with Uwe Boll as
by industrykiller
I will not be seeing this film if RATner directs. I just saw Layer Cake yesterday and it was fucking brilliant. Vaqughn could have made a better XMen film than either of Bryan Singers overrated films. So Brett RATner is going to ruin an XMen film. I swear the dumbest people in the world work for Hollywood studios. I mean this is How to Ruin a franchise 101. Hes not going to make a watchable film and Fox knows it, but hey Rush Hour worked so what the fuck. They do realize that Rush Hour was only watchable because Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker had likeable chemistry and it had nothing whatsoever to do with RATner. But whatever. Comic book movies ont he whole are terrible. The best the modern wave of comic films have to offer, the XMen and Spider Man films, get every bit as much wrong as they do right. We have just been so consistently disappointed that we willa ccept less. But RATner? He's fucking incapable of making a good XMen film. I will bet all my worldly possessions on that. So Fox if you wanna kill your franchise go ahead and hire RATner, I'll be taking pleasure in the fact that i'm smarter than studio heads who do this for a living.
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Ratner just screams shit.
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Jun 02, 2005 11:12:43 AM CDT
Magneto reveals that he is from Krypton and he flies up into the
by george newman
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Jun 02, 2005 11:17:52 AM CDT
R.C.'s opinion: I'm with Big Jim, Fox should acquire Jo
by r.c. the "wise"
Besides, he could use a solid project to wash away the effects of the debaucal known as Thunderbirds!
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We need him safe and sound for Wonder Woman.
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This is a great choice. Fraser's in it, and now it's directed by the Rush Hour guy. After the huge success of Before Sunset, I'm surprised they could get him.
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Jun 02, 2005 11:31:30 AM CDT
Why would any "real" director even think about taking X3 at this
by duck of death
Come on...with scant weeks to go before production, there's no time to completely revamp the script and put your own personal stamp on the story, so even if you had an Aronofsky or Proyas on the job, there just isn't that much impact that these guys can have on the production at this point. It's a totally thankless task, and at the end of it you still end up with...X3. Let's face it, the only director appropriate for the film right now is a solid journeyman director, the kind of guy who can just slide into a project and do his job with a high degree of technical proficiency, without embarrassing himself too much. Ratner's nobody's idea of a genius, but he makes competent big-budget films that are reasonably entertaining. He may be feeding at the bottom of the A list, but at least he's in there. Anyone who actually thinks the likes of McG or WS or Uwe Boll is comparable to Ratner needs to lay down the crack pipe. Ratner's a hack, but compared to those losers he's freakin' Orson Welles.
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what a piece of crap decision. holly shit. who the fuck thought RATNER was a big name? Well, if they go with the Moore guy, we are also fucked. Sad news... let's forget X3 and focus on the Batman trilogy.
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would be a damn good choice, good call. Too bad he fucked his career with Thunderbirds.
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Scary times to be an X-fan. Joss Whedon is clearly the best choice for an X-Men film. Anyone who's read Astonishing can tell you that. Just looks like this ain't the one. (I'm very excited to see what he pulls out on Wonder Woman.) I'm intrigued by the story clues Mori dropped above (no spoiler tag?) and I think a guy like Rattner can actually deliver on them. I like Singer's work, but--let's not kid ourselves--his visual style isn't nearly as trademarked as a guy like Spielberg or Fincher. A new director can slip into the X-Men world and very little will be disturbed (as opposed to, say, the difference between Spielberg and Joe Johnston on the Jurassic Park films). Watch the Rush Hour films again or Red Dragon. Rattner knows where to put a camera. It's not the most innovative use ever, but it gets the job done and the story told. C'mon, has no one but me seen the "Diddy" video, directed by Mr. Venus Williams himself? Or is it Serena he's dating?
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Jun 02, 2005 11:44:27 AM CDT
brett ratner isn't a step in the right direction. it's a
by quentintarantado
Brett Ratner directs good TV movies of the week starring A list movie stars. His Rush Hours could have been done by anybody, including TV movies of the week directors. His Red Dragon was passable not because of any contribution he made but because his actors were good and Thomas Harris made a director-proof story (which Ratner made incredibly pedestrian). True, Michael Mann made some radical story changes and a tepid ending but his entire version of Manhunter (aka Red Dragon) had a bad-ass attitude. Brett Ratner will make X3 a 3rd season classic Star Trek episode.
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The thing that scares me about chosing Ratner is "Red Dragon." We can all agree that it was a "decent" film. Even "good" by some standards. But well missing the mark of "great." However, it still is good enough to find a spot on the DVD shelf. But that's just the problem. He had an excellent screenwriter, an excellent DP, and good editor, and top notch actors, and the best he could pull off was a "decent film." Fast forward to "After the Sunset." For that picture he had decent to good talent, and managed to pull off a bomb (on all levels). I say give Moore the ball. We haven't seen what he can do if surrounded with excellent talent. Not to mention a half-way decent script. Ratner's still too green and has a lot of learning. Moore...well...I think Moore's a bit of a wildcard and might suprise us with what he could pull off. Now if only they'd do a Project Greenlight show about the making of X3! All this drama would sure make some good TV!! And would somebody get Avi more COWBELL!!
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The thing that scares me about chosing Ratner is "Red Dragon." We can all agree that it was a "decent" film. Even "good" by some standards. But well missing the mark of "great." However, it still is good enough to find a spot on the DVD shelf. But that's just the problem. He had an excellent screenwriter, an excellent DP, and good editor, and top notch actors, and the best he could pull off was a "decent film." Fast forward to "After the Sunset." For that picture he had decent to good talent, and managed to pull off a bomb (on all levels). I say give Moore the ball. We haven't seen what he can do if surrounded with excellent talent. Not to mention a half-way decent script. Ratner's still too green and has a lot of learning. Moore...well...I think Moore's a bit of a wildcard and might suprise us with what he could pull off. Now if only they'd do a Project Greenlight show about the making of X3! All this drama would sure make some good TV!! And would somebody get Avi more COWBELL!!
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Secretly DC have been watching the incrementle demise of Marvel and will probably not fuck up the movie that they are going to put into production. But I could be wrong, of course.
The plan is to make DC movies with young actors in mind.
People on this site might wretch at that thought but take a look at the evidence batman begins young actor Christian Bale and young Writer/director Chris Nolan and youngish Gary Oldman and Katie Holmes with experienced actors Sir Micheal Caine, Morgan freeman and Ken Wantanabe, Superman Returns with Young Brandon routh and Kate Bosworth backed up by Eve Marie Saint, Kevin Spacey and Frank Langella.
MArvel should look at the pattern that it created with Sam Raimai and use pattern.
But maybe if hollywood did graphic novels and not screw them up in the way they did, hollywood could move on from comic books and film graphic novels istead but I guess that train has left that station with the genius Alan moore on board.
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NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
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Scary times to be an X-fan. Joss Whedon is clearly the guy to direct an X-Men film. Anyone who's read Astonishing can tell you that. Just looks like this isn't the film for him. I'm very excited about the plot points Mori drops above (no spoiler tag?), and I think a guy like Rattner can do a competent job with them. As much as I'd love to see a guy like Spielberg or Fincher handle one of these films, someone with a little more punch in the visual department, let's not kid ourselves. I like Singer's work, but he's not THAT advanced as a visual storyteller. He doesn't have the trademark "Singer" shot, and the X-Men universe won't take a dramatic visual shift when someone new takes over (as opposed to, say, the Spielberg-to-Joe Johnston switch on the Jurassic Park films). Watch the Rush Hour films or Red Dragon again. Rattner knows where to put a camera. It might not be the most inventive use ever, but it gets the job done and the story told. C'mon, am I the only one who saw the "Diddy" video?
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Ratner? He's not bad but he's not good either... and well John Moore... to me he's better then Ratner but still quite the step down from Singer... and those caracter dying and that sex scene... I'll wait to ear more about it but it just makes me become more skeptical... and I was just starting to get excited about this one but now, they'll have to win me all over again... ok, granted I'll go see it no matter what they do with it but the difference is how many times will i go see it, will i buy the DVD... but who knows, maybe I'll be plesantly supprised but this news just drops my excitment factor quite a lot. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that this sounds worse then it really is.
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Well, it's not Uwe, not MCG, and Michael Bay is busy fucking up the Transformers, and I WAS seriously worried it would be Paul WS Anderson, I guess Ratner is the next on the list. Great? No. But better than all the above. I have never seen anything by the other guy, but I'd pick him if these were the two choices. Complaining that these two are workmanlike with no personal visual flair isn't too big a complaint since Singer's X-Men films didn't have much either. I don't hate Ratner as much as other seem too though.
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Avi, you are going to be solely responsible for fucking up a billion dollar movie franchise. Take a time out, and put the project in limbo for a few months until you can find a director/script that works. Unless you are trying to ruin the franchise/Fox affiliation, so that you can make future X-Men properties at your new Marvel studio. If thats the case, then carry on...
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All right, I said "Aww, man" when I read Ratner's name, and I'm very apprehensive and would take John Moore over him any day, but I realize, I've never seen a Brett Ratner movie. MONEY TALKS, the RUSH HOURS and AFTER THE SUNSET all looked like ass so I never bothered, and I totally wanted to see RED DRAGON when it came out but it was this whole thing where my Dad already had, and I just never got around to it--plus HANNIBAL was ass and I think most of the world had a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that we had to wait ten years for a sequel to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and then boom, we get a prequel only a year after that. Talking with customers (or 'guests' as they call them) at Famous Players when I worked box office there, I think the average moviegoing public--most of whom go to the movies an average of only five times a year according to internal FP reports--I honestly think that most of them thought that RED DRAGON and HANNIBAL were the same movie, they came out so close together relative to SOTL. But anyway, yeah, I don't have an educated opinion on Ratner, but I'm also not retarded, I have a brain, and I have a certain amount of trust in the fanboy word in this instance. And I DID see BEHIND ENEMY LINES--I wouldn't freak out if John Moore got the gig. And as for characters dying and losing their powers and shit: rad own, rad own. Shake it up.
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FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!! KEEP BRETT RATNER THE HELL AWAY FROM X-MEN!
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Jun 02, 2005 12:26:35 PM CDT
Instead of rushing it, why not wait until Singer finishes Superm
by russman
Set it out far enough in advance, most will probably have their calendar's open to work... or like Big Jim said, get Frakes.
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When I first read Ratner's name I said "Aw man" and while I am confident he's a pretty shitty choice, I realize I've never seen any of his movies. MONEY TALKS, the RUSH HOURS and AFTER THE SUNSET all looked like ass, and I wanted to see RED DRAGON but it was this whole situation where my Dad had already seen it and I was poor so he needed to pay for the movies we went to see. Plus I think the whole world had a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that we had to wait a decade after SILENCE OF THE LAMBS before we got HANNIBAL, and then a year later, boom, we get a prequel. Talking with customers (or 'guests' as they call them at Famous Players) when I worked Box Office there--most of whom only go to the movies an average of five times a year according to internal FP reports--I honestly think that most people thought that HANNIBAL and RED DRAGON were the same movie. They see a poster with Anthony Hopkins on it as Lector and think they already saw it. In any event, nobody beats MANHUNTER, and Brian Cox is the shizz. So anyway, I don't have an educated opinion on Ratner's work, but I'm not retarded, I have a brain, and I have strong faith in fanboy opinion on this one, so yes, Ratner is a fucking mindless choice. John Moore on the other hand--I did indeed see BEHIND ENEMY LINES--I wouldn't be too disturbed if he got the gig. And as for multiple deaths and muties losing their powers: rad own, rad own. Shake that shit up.
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When I first read Ratner's name I said "Aw man" and while I am confident he's a pretty shitty choice, I realize I've never seen any of his movies. MONEY TALKS, the RUSH HOURS and AFTER THE SUNSET all looked like ass, and I wanted to see RED DRAGON but it was this whole situation where my Dad had already seen it and I was poor so he needed to pay for the movies we went to see. Plus I think the whole world had a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that we had to wait a decade after SILENCE OF THE LAMBS before we got HANNIBAL, and then a year later, boom, we get a prequel. Talking with customers (or 'guests' as they call them at Famous Players) when I worked Box Office there--most of whom only go to the movies an average of five times a year according to internal FP reports--I honestly think that most people thought that HANNIBAL and RED DRAGON were the same movie. They see a poster with Anthony Hopkins on it as Lector and think they already saw it. In any event, nobody beats MANHUNTER, and Brian Cox is the shizz. So anyway, I don't have an educated opinion on Ratner's work, but I'm not retarded, I have a brain, and I have strong faith in fanboy opinion on this one, so yes, Ratner is a fucking mindless choice. John Moore on the other hand--I did indeed see BEHIND ENEMY LINES--I wouldn't be too disturbed if he got the gig. And as for multiple deaths and muties losing their powers: rad own, rad own. Shake that shit up.
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Don't go with a merely competent director just because they're available. Hold out for someone with VISION. You think the Spiderman movies would be the classics they are if just any journeyman director was at the helm? Not a chance.
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Brett Ratner is perfect!!!! They can do the HellFire Club because the only thing that talentless hack seems to be able to do well is party at Hollywood hotspots that aren't too far off from the Helfire Club. So he's doing what he knows which is what they always tell you to do. Oh yeah and Red Dragon was good in the same way that the 11th hour term paper you wrote on Plato was good because you paraphrased everything from The Republic and the teacher didn't care.
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Jun 02, 2005 12:49:08 PM CDT
Ratner? Ahaha! Sucks to be a Marvel fan right about now...
by monkey chops
Remember Red Dragon? Me neither.
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Brett Ratner is perfect!!!! They can do the HellFire Club because the only thing that talentless hack seems to be able to do well is party at Hollywood hotspots that aren't too far off from the Helfire Club. So he's doing what he knows which is what they always tell you to do. Oh yeah and Red Dragon was good in the same way that the 11th hour term paper you wrote on Plato was good because you paraphrased everything from The Republic and the teacher didn't care.
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I thought "Red Dragon" was pretty good but I didn't care about the "Rush Hour". If nothing else it will be amusing to see how Ratner handles this property.
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After reading all these talkbacks I've come to a realisation: these choices SUCK ASS! Just when this series was heading in the "epic" direction, Marvel and Fox actively go and try their absolute hardest to make it TOTALLY MEDIOCRE! BOOO!
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"Want Bryan Singer and all ya can get is Brett Ratner? *WAIT*!!!"
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And WTF is wrong with TalkBack? I've tried to post, like, eight times today?
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Jun 02, 2005 1:34:46 PM CDT
Memo to Mr. Arad: There appears to be a consensus of sorts amon
by johnnytremaine
"Why not Richard Donner?"
And isn't his wife the Producer of the X-flicks? -
The only "film" I associate with its name is the antiadaptation of "Red Dragon", which should actually have been titled "Imbecilic, Inept, Infantile Remake of Manhunter" - yay!
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... today i'm shitting myself as the franchise that resurected comic book movies after the bat-franchise killed them dead will be the one to kill them off the second time. Because what we have here is X-Men Forever. Coming 2008: M-Men and Robin.
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Jun 02, 2005 1:37:46 PM CDT
If The Film Doesn't Kill So-and-So Off, The Contracts Will O
by jollydwarf
"And the sex scene... when you see who does what to who... oh, boy." Lemme guess: Mystique morphs into the shape of Iceman and fucks the shit out of Rogue. And that's how the latter loses her powers permanently. Hmm.
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it would be a damn shame if they killed of cyclops, who, wolverine-be-damned is the and has been the heart and soul of the xmen since 1963. if they're bringing in beast and angel, it would be nice if all five original x men were a part of the team. hugh jackman is gonna have his own damn movie as mr. hewlitt, he does'nt need to lead the fucking x men too. sheesh.
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Jun 02, 2005 1:46:47 PM CDT
RATNER. Marvel has officially slit its wrists and taken a warm b
by quantum_ken
Get the Wimmer on the project.
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This really sounds bad...I've seen "Rush Hour," and who cares? Why in the world is Ratner considered A-list? Because the Rush Hour movies made a lot of money? I don't think that had as much to do with him as with the actors. "After the Sunset"? Riiiight. And killing off characters and a character losing their powers? What the hell is that about?! I have the feeling I had when I started reading about the "Enterprise" finale. It's going to be bad.
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Jun 02, 2005 1:54:36 PM CDT
Wimmer. Age of Apocalypse. Sentinels. Bishop and Gun-Kata.
by quantum_ken
Instead we'll have a director who throws a righteous par-tay. I think I'm crying.
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Blade 2 & 3, tanked. Hulk, tanked. Daredevil, tanked. Electra, tanked. Punisher, tanked. Man-Thing, straight to Sci-Fi channel, tanked. X2, ok. Spider-man 2, ok. Fantastic Four, gonna tank. Here's hoping DC will carry the torch now.
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Mystique will trick Wolverine into shagging a baby into her. I'm not a spy but it's damn obvious.
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There are so many great x-men stories to tell. So much great history and character development. So what do the studios and these idiotic directors want to do, come up with completely shitty alternative storylines just so they can feel like they put their stamp on it.
Singer and Raimi set the template for how to do it right, and still these shitheads keep feeding us steaming piles of crap like Catwoman and Elektra! Their pussy-fied version of Doctor Doom?! What the fuck are they thinking?!?! -
I've read his X-men run. It's way overrated. It's like a bad soap opera, with even less of a plot. I mean, Colossus is alive. Just like that! Like someone coming back to life in X-men is something new. Now we have a big muscle guy on the team again. So what? I'm not a hater, I had to suffer through Buffy for my girlfriend, but I watched Angel and Firefly of my own free will. Whedon's not the one for X-men.
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i remember when i was ten getting into a fight with a friend about who was cooler -- the XMEN or the Justice League. It was my contention that the XMEN in particular and the Marvel universe in general was cooler. He disagreed vehemently. It got so intense at one point that we stopped talking for a few days. Then we got over it and admitted that it was no big deal. This was when I was 10 years old. The moral of the story -- if you are older than 10 and STILL are fighting about which comics universe is better, I suggest getting some intense emotional therapy. Thank you.
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Natural progression from Vaughn, and it won't enrage the fanboys that much (as long as we all Eternal-Sunshine "Swept Away" from our minds).
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remember: two films by Burton and then destroying it by giving it to Schumacher who wanted to make everything "different".
And the poster who suggested Kassovitz and Tykwer: Are you serious???
I still think it'd be the best way to wait until Singer can take the project even if it takes years and years (well it will last long considering that Singer has already another project after Superman) -
Jun 02, 2005 2:43:16 PM CDT
oh yeah, and what the fuck is up with F. Lawrence directing I AM
by chickychow
This movie's been stalling for years and years, and now its a go with this bitchboy at the helm? Granted, the names bandied about were never that great: Ridley, Bay, um.. Will Smith? But I'd like to understand why now, and with this asswipe?
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Most of the time, these talkbacks are far too negative, and rarely come up with good alternatives. But this time? You're all right. DEAD right. This is the end, isn't it? We all knew this ride of Marvel comic book movies had to end sometime, and I'm surprised it lasted this long. Ratner?! Moore?!? Dull, uninteresting, and uninspired. This is like Jurassic Park & Terminator all over again. A franchise with two FUN films by a master, and then the third installment handed over to, while not really a hack, just an all-around BAD choice. The result? Shit. I'm sorry, but JP3 & T3 were overrated upon release, and don't even hold up worth a damn. They learned nothing from the previous installments, and just tried to amp up junk that never worked in the first place. X-Men... Thanks for all the fun! Goodbye... Old... Friend.
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He seems totally in line with the gritty vision Vaughn was going for.
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Jun 02, 2005 2:56:28 PM CDT
there goes the last lingering thread of my entusiasm for this fi
by mwhelan67
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I think Marvel needs to cut their ties with FOX. First, FOX made Singer work against grueling and pressuring schedules to get both X-Men films done. Then, they make Mark Johnson cut 30 minutes out of Daredevil (Director's Cut is definitely the only version I watch), then they butcher Elektra, then Fantastic Four (which in all fairness will probably be "fun," but nowhere near the level of X-men, Spiderman, Hulk, or even Daredevil I'm guessing). Now they're at it again. Aside from the issues of Moore, Ratner, or Carnahan (Let the rumor start!), they're basically hiring somebody to shoot the picture. They don't care who, because to them it doesn't matter. Just get someone in to shoot the movie and be done with it. There's no care for the characters, the source material, or even the fucking fans that pay for this kind of neglect. What really sucks is that Marvel has always tried to think out of the box with all their choices and not conform to what the studios think will make the films successful. Ratner is not the answer. Moore...maybe. At this point, it doesn't really matter, because with all the problems it is pretty unrealistic to assume this one will top the first two (both critically and monetarily).
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I think Marvel needs to cut their ties with FOX. First, FOX made Singer work against grueling and pressuring schedules to get both X-Men films done. Then, they make Mark Johnson cut 30 minutes out of Daredevil, which inevitably hurt the final product on every level(Director's Cut is definitely the only version I watch), then they butcher Elektra, then Fantastic Four (which in all fairness will probably be "fun," but nowhere near the level of X-men, Spiderman, Hulk, or even Daredevil I'm guessing). Now they're at it again. Aside from the issues of Moore, Ratner, or Carnahan (Let the rumor start, baby!), they're basically hiring somebody to shoot the picture. They don't care who, because to them it doesn't matter. Just get someone in to shoot the movie and be done with it. There's no care for the characters, the source material, or even the fucking fans that pay for this kind of neglect. What really sucks is that Marvel has always tried to think out of the box with all their choices and not conform to what the studios think will make the films successful. Ratner is not the answer. Moore...maybe. At this point, it doesn't really matter, because with all the problems it is pretty unrealistic to assume this one will top the first two (both critically and monetarily).
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Think of all the money they'd save replacing the sets and SFX with chalk lines drawn on a warehouse floor? Or how about Spike Jonze... after a script rewrite by Charlie Kaufman, of course.
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Bring in the vertern who knows action and could shoot and cut a solid movie. If the script is there, I have every belief in Big John. Afterall, Fox just wants someone to just shoot the fuckin' thing, so the least they can do is get someone who could shoot it right. Carnahan is also another great choice.
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its a great project. they can't get a fincher or a zemeckis or a spielberg or a tarantino?
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Why and the hell do you have that nasty ass weird exorcist thing in the corner? Anything else would be funnier and alot lot less likely to make me sick at my stomach.
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It's a comic book movie. With the exception of Batman, all of the successful comic books have done one single thing right to make them successful:the stuck to the comic book. X Men 3 only requires sticking to telling the story like the comics did and it will do just fine. Look at the loser comic movies... they took the characters and fucked with them... that's when they sucked. People like the comics and they liked to see them brought to life on the big screen. Follow that rule and the movie will be a box office success and respected by fans. The Hulk was a great movie... but fans didn't want an abuse story... they wanted an 80's muscle hero. Bratner knows how to make an enertaining movie. If he sticks to the comic like Singer did he'll do fine. Look at Singer and Superman... he aint fucking with it. Yeah, he changed the costume a bit, but he was smart to do it, that old costume would look pretty goofy today. You guys need to think about the fact that you are once again seeing a static picture of the costume and seeing it completely out of the final composed scenes. Remember Star Wars episode 1? How cool the snapshot montage trailer was, but when you saw it in it's final composed context it was a joke. I was suprised by the suit at first until I started imagining it in the film and remembering how rediculous the flaming bright red looked before... yeah, good choice Singer. Dude knows what he's doing. It's why he is a multimillionaire director.
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It's a comic book movie. With the exception of Batman, all of the successful comic books have done one single thing right to make them successful:the stuck to the comic book. X Men 3 only requires sticking to telling the story like the comics did and it will do just fine. Look at the loser comic movies... they took the characters and fucked with them... that's when they sucked. People like the comics and they liked to see them brought to life on the big screen. Follow that rule and the movie will be a box office success and respected by fans. The Hulk was a great movie... but fans didn't want an abuse story... they wanted an 80's muscle hero. Bratner knows how to make an enertaining movie. If he sticks to the comic like Singer did he'll do fine. Look at Singer and Superman... he aint fucking with it. Yeah, he changed the costume a bit, but he was smart to do it, that old costume would look pretty goofy today. You guys need to think about the fact that you are once again seeing a static picture of the costume and seeing it completely out of the final composed scenes. Remember Star Wars episode 1? How cool the snapshot montage trailer was, but when you saw it in it's final composed context it was a joke. I was suprised by the suit at first until I started imagining it in the film and remembering how rediculous the flaming bright red looked before... yeah, good choice Singer. Dude knows what he's doing. It's why he is a multimillionaire director.
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What the studios fail to realise is that if they listened to the fans and took great care with each film, investing time and money into each project (I'm talking comic book films here), then they will get out what they put in. I mean, look at the SPIDER-MAN films for the perfect example. Studios think they're being strategically clever by casting the "hip" actors or catering for more demographics, but in the end, if they do it right and listen to the artists making the movie, then the film will make money, oh so much money. I can't understand why they don't see this. The casting of Kelsey Grammar is a perfect example of this: Matthew Vaughn had to FIGHT with 20th Century Fox to get them to consent to his casting. Why? He is the perfect actor for the role God dammit. If you cast the right actor, the fans will be happy. If the fans are happy they'll love the movie. If they love the movie YOU WILL MAKE A LOT OF MONEY. Damn this annoys me.
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or does it simply stand for "Ass"?
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I don't know what the fuck everyone is talking about? Have you watched the X-Men movies? Have you seem the Rush Hour movies? He's a great choice. It's not like the X-Men movies were Shakespeare. It's not like Singer had a magic artistic sensibility. Singer stuck to the comic, just like Raimi did, and just like Donner did. That's why the movies were good. I think that as long as Brett doesn't try to pull a reimagining of the comic that he'll do a great job on the movie. Watch any other Bryan Singer movie and compare them to the X-Men movies... not even close in quality. X-Men is great, but it's no Usual Suspects or Apt Pupil. Look at Gandalf in X-Men and Apt Pupil... not even close. The comic movies are JUST comic movies. It doesn't take an artistic genius to make them. I am not comenting on Ratner's artistic abilities, but on my suprise that there are ANY complaints about him as a choice? DO you guys know ANYTHING AT ALL about making movies? You don't sound like it. Man... I remember back when both Raimi and Singer were hated as the directors of Spiderman and X-Men. You guys never know what the fuck you are talking about. Just shut the fuck up and talk about something you know something about.
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What would you prefer? ho-hum panaflex?
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Instead of going with two directors that have made some good films and some sub par films. Why don't you just wait it out until Bryan Singer returns from directing "SUPERMAN RETURNS" I mean it would make logical sense right? Just hold down production and whatnot until he's ready to come back.
I mean I'm sorry but I'm starting to think Avi Arad is a quack. Let Stan Lee decide who he wants to direct his superhero movies, not him. I mean I think if "FANTASTIC FOUR" and "GHOST RIDER" do not deliver than I think you will see the end of Marvel Films very soon. They'll round out what they have left and bring "IRON MAN" and "CAPTAIN AMERICA" to film. The "SPIDER-MAN" and "X-MEN" franchises have only been their two biggest successes mainly because people know the characters very well. "HULK", "DAREDEVIL", "BLADE", and "THE PUNISHER" were pretty good action films, but were not bankable as those two and "ELEKTRA" will be put under the horribly wrong with the original "CAPTAIN AMERICA" movie and that awful incarnation of "FF4."
If I was Marvel I'd fire Avi, wait for Bryan Singer to return, and play around with the story and script a little, because now this sort of worries me just a bit.
Incorporating Juggernaut, Beast, Shadowcat, and Angel is fine with me. Don't have a problem with that, but we need Gambit, The Sentinels, Quicksilver, Avalanche, The Blob, and Scarlet Witch.
Than, for the "WOLVERINE" spin-off movie I want to see him facing off against Omega Red and Sabretooth. -
A new young cutting edge director may have had a chance but we know a psuedo a list director won't understand or care about the material enough to do anything better than Xmen or Elektra. This is the end of the Xmen. The fact they are going to kill 3 characters (my guess is Cyclops, Storm and Juggernaut) it sounds like have wolvie and jean grey bang and it sounds like make rogue lose her powers makes it sound to me like they are going for the old forced tightly wrapped shitty ass ending. Excuse my french but this shit blows. Here is what they need to do CANCEL XMEN FOR SUMMER 06 AND LET SINGER DO HIS SUPERTHING if you are so desperate to humiliate him for leaving putting out substandard crap that Supes will bury is not the way. Wait a few months and get the right people in place and get a kick ass script that is actually TRUE TO THE STORYLINES. PUT SAM RAIMI IN CHARGE OF THE PRODUCTION. Xmen 1 and 2 were fine but that was Singer...without him Raimi is the only guy doing these movies that don't suck. Put his company in charge. If I had to pick anyone out there as director it would be Alex Proyas. The guy proved he could A get a good performance out of Will Smith of all people and B turn a soul-less crappy popcorn movie into a fun ride with some emotion in it. Othe than him I could live with someone up and coming like Kurt Wimmer. He did a lot with very little money and time which seems to be the way Xmen likes to work. No matter what, following the storylines as has been proved time and again is KEY. Have the Hellfire Club and the dark Phoenix. Like with Brian Cox and Ian Mckellan get another old great actor to play Sebastian Shaw-like Hopkins. Follow the formula that has worked and don't do stupid contradictory shit like "cure rogue" (she was never sick dummys...thats the point) or make Angel a chick. It makes no sense. Build on what you've done and connect the dots. You need vision for this...not some hack.
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We don't have a script, arent't sure which one they will use, don't even know what characters are in the film, and you morons are talking about how it is going to suck.
Why not wait for more details? -
OK I liked Red Dragon it fit well in an established series and actually it was beter than that walking piece of crap that came after Silence of the Lambs:)So I say let him loose I think he can stick to the already established Universe adn style that Singer has Established .
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Why don't they hire that guy MG and just TOTALLY ruin the movie? And what's this whole del with killing off characters, losing powers permanently. It's ridiculous!
Unless they're going for a sequel or two to continue after these major changes- which only happens if your last name is Lucas- then this plot sounds like a horrific disappointment. This better be as good as the first two, or i'm goin to hunt down every director ever attached to this movie and spit a phlegmy wad of spit in their face.
Damn you, Matthew Vaughn. -
considering he's doing LOGAN'S RUN right after SUPERMAN
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That could work, but what was the last movie he directed? Is he semi-retired or something? I'm reserving judgement on Fantastic Four. It LOOKS pretty cool to ME, though. I don't know Tim Story from Adam, but God, please don't go with Ratner.
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Jun 02, 2005 4:49:50 PM CDT
All the rage about X-Men, yet MODOK: The Motion Picture still li
by -sfx-
Plus: Magneto and Pyro for the love scene. You know you want it.
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Jun 02, 2005 4:53:11 PM CDT
If no A-list directors are available, how about Jonathan Mostow
by ivan_mtl
Bryan Singer is a FAR less talented director than James Cameron and Steven Spielberg, so why not hire one of the two directors that followed them? Jonathan Mostow did an admirable job on Terminator 3, and Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park 3) already has experience bringing a comic book property to the big screen. His Rocketeer film was one of the best comic book adaptions to date.
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so you know he is good with character-driven films.
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Take the best villain ever created in literature and reduce him to a pathetic caricature. I can't wait until AA is voted out. Marvel needs to get someone who has actually read their comics and has a feel for the characters, frontlining them.
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"Remember when Brett Ratner was directing Superman? And then McG was directing Superman? That is about the level of director we are going to get, some 'up and comer' the studios will throw at a major franchise because they've given us one blockbuster. The studios need a director who can slap a movie together without spending too much time thinking about it. Hey, didn't a deal for Rush Hour 3 just go bad? Ole Brett Ratner is available..." End quote. They should hire me at Entertainment Tonight as a predictor of mediocrity to come.
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"Remember when Brett Ratner was directing Superman? And then McG was directing Superman? That is about the level of director we are going to get, some 'up and comer' the studios will throw at a major franchise because they've given us one blockbuster. The studios need a director who can slap a movie together without spending too much time thinking about it. Hey, didn't a deal for Rush Hour 3 just go bad? Ole Brett Ratner is available..." End quote. They should hire me at Entertainment Tonight as a predictor of mediocrity to come.
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Jun 02, 2005 5:25:38 PM CDT
Mark Pellington, director of THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES and ARLINGTO
by spacesheik
This man has an interesting visual style and can handle action and intrigue very well.
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He has no real love or understanding for any of the properties. They got lucky when they landed the talents of Raimi and Singer, but have obviously not learned a fucking thing. On the verge of greatness, Marvel once again breaks our collective hearts.
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I have to admit that I'm a huge X-Men fan and a big Marvel supporter from way back. I spend way too much time and way, way to many dollars ($50-100 a month) on Marvel products. If what Moriarty said about the killing off major characters is true, I'm done. And not just with the movies, but with the comics, the figures, the RPG - all of it. Just like I dropped Untimate X-Men the minute they killed of Hank *uselessly* and *lamely*, that will end my time with Marvel.
Killing off your heroes is not interesting, it's not fun, and it sure as hell isn't entertaining. It's a giant pile of steaming bulls%^t, and someone should be taken out and thrashed for proposing it.
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by Avi Arad and his scripters. Adding a hack director like Ratner is like jumping up and down on the Titanic to make it sink faster.
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Rat(shit)ner is going to kill the franchise stone dead. No Wolverine solo outing, no Colossus bigger role, no Sentinels, no Quicksilver/Magneto, no fuck-all. Oh well. At least DC seems to be getting it right...
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I dub thee *Mr. Mediocre*
Disclaimer: *not to be taken internaly* -
that would be great. it would have to focus primarily on sweet little Rogue and her slow but sure descent into madness after being repeatedly brutalized by everyone around her. then, at the end, she would have some sort of dramatic holy epiphany and everyone will cry buckets. Triers is great, but man, he sure does love to torture his angelic heroines.
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ALl these other ideas are pretty dumb too. Joe Carnahan? John McTiernan?Get to fuck!
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Jun 02, 2005 6:22:56 PM CDT
Kelly LeBrock circa 1985 as Some Hot English Frankenstein Chick?
by zombiesolutions
that would be "a mind scramblah." boy, she was hot then, but i bet she's beat all to hell now after getting pounded by Steven "direct t o video" Seagal for like, 20 years.
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i know he's busily at work on the KRULL prequel trilogy, but perhaps he could put down his magnificient Glave and film the XMEN? the world has waited patiently for what seems like eons to see the galaxy spanning saga of KRULL Redux unfold before them... but they can wait just... a bit... longer... KRULL!!!
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i know he's busily at work on the KRULL prequel trilogy, but perhaps he could put down his magnificient Glave and film the XMEN? the world has waited patiently for what seems like eons to see the galaxy spanning saga of KRULL Redux unfold before them... but they can wait just... a bit... longer... KRULL!!!
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should direct.
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Guess what, Avi? He's "so hot" and he's probably a nice guy with a sense of humor, but he SUCKS as a director. He just points the camera and makes shit look glossy. This movie will have to ride entirely on its script which, being "co-written" by Simon Kinberg, is probably not strong enough to meet those requirements. And to top it all of, Shuler-Donner said you're "trading up?" Yeah frickin' right. Maybe in terms of how much money each director has made.
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Hey maybe they will get Stephen Sommers. I can see it now. " No NO No Magneto just isn't scary enough, Lets make his JAW drop down to his belly and make him say aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhrrrrrrr like in all my movies. Yeah lets do that. For some reason I am the only one that thinks this is scary" say's Stephen Sommers
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Jun 02, 2005 7:08:01 PM CDT
Most likely they'll start this year no matter what because..
by funmazer
...everybody is obviously all lined up for it (including Ms. Catwoman herself I assume, the "prima donna") and probably all won't be mutually available again for longer than Fox will wait. Even so, they won't do 2007 cuz it'll compete with Marvel's own Spidey 3, and 2008 is too long to wait for a return, so 2006 it is. I mean, come on! Try telling the bank "Um, I'm not READY to make money for a couple years, so I won't pay anything on my mortage til then" A studio is a business, and they want money NOW! Besides, they probably need the cash for the $300 zillion-million dollar "Battle Angel Alita" Cameron is supposed to film after he resurfaces (literally)
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Sad to remember, this kind of news is what AICN used to do daily... before Mori and Harry became players. Ah, ce la vie.
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...so we all know Avi Arad likes to work his PR magic on future Marvel films. Curious to see how he can possibly spin the word on this production, which is a sinking ship as far as I'm concerned. Oh and Avi, on the slight chance that you're reading, no, I'm not "Siskel & Ebert," I'm just a regular schmoe who knows that Ratner sucks balls as a director and that there are a million other, more qualified directors (Bryan Singer included) who would've jumped at the chance to do a third X-Men film if it didn't have to be in the goddamn can by Memorial Day 2006.
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Jun 02, 2005 7:12:54 PM CDT
If it aint Alex Proyas then no thanks. And when is Avi going to
by mr. profit
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Jun 02, 2005 7:13:04 PM CDT
To show how quick Ratner is, he wiffed on a meeting with Connery
by genro
I think it was Serena Williams at the time. All I know is that if you're an action director, and you have the chance to work with the icon of action stars, you don't "pass"...and the reason Ratner is available is because the fame clock is reading 14:45...one more bomb he'll be lensing CSI: Modesto for Danny Canon.
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Jun 02, 2005 7:20:40 PM CDT
please don't go and talk about how singer made the first one
by miltonwaddams
because the first x men was a boring sack of shit with no personality. gonna blame it on the fact that they had to establish backstory? because that's fucking bullshit and you know it. the dialogue was bland and the story came across as fan fiction.
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While Red Dragon was a decent movie, I suspect that it was in spite of Ratner's involvement, not because of it. He couldnt mess it up too badly because nearly everyone else involved (the cast, Ted Tally, Dante Spinotti) was top-notch. In the hands of a great director I think it could have been a great film, instead of just all right.
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Jun 02, 2005 7:28:46 PM CDT
X3 spoilers To take with a grain of salt..(from imdb)
by vncentfilmerset
Spoiler....
Jean, Cyclops and Magneto. The new bad guy is Prophet. He kills Magneto with a plastic bullet at the beginning of the movie. The "sex scene" is between Wolverine and Storm. Storm is the one who loses her powers. All of this is from the most recent treatment (before Vaughn left the project), so of course it's subject to change.
.......
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Jun 02, 2005 7:30:09 PM CDT
X3 spoilers To take with a grain of salt..(from imdb)
by vncentfilmerset
Spoiler.... Jean, Cyclops and Magneto die. The new bad guy is Prophet. He kills Magneto with a plastic bullet at the beginning of the movie. The "sex scene" is between Wolverine and Storm. Storm is the one who loses her powers. All of this is from the most recent treatment (before Vaughn left the project), so of course it's subject to change. .......
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That sounds excellent! I hope that all stays in. And if it doesn't, please let us know how the story was going to go at some point down the line.
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Jun 02, 2005 7:38:33 PM CDT
X3 spoilers To take with a grain of salt..(from imdb)
by vncentfilmerset
If this is true i don't like what i read
Killing jean again? nobody is gonna buy that..killing cyke? i know a lot people don't like him that he has been underdevelloped but to kill him like that will seem cheap..i will seem that they doesn't know what to do with the character...after we don't know when and how he dies..magneto: i pray that his death is useful..it seem really a gratuitous shock like that..the sex scene with halle berry seem gratuitous too...i undertand that there is no other adult chicks in xavier house, but like that it seem forced , just to give something to do to Halle Berry.
and She lose her powers? so wolverine become the leader? meh
i hope that is it will be beter than that.. -
PLEASE NOT RATNER.
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Jun 02, 2005 7:42:12 PM CDT
The "we're trading up" crack means they never want to work w
by frankdrebin
How about Alfonso Cuaron, since he wasn't invited back for Harry Potter 4 or 5?
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fox ,hoping that it play better , fox you have to get a director who could do the drama..All Ratner can do is trying to copy the style of others directors with less imagination and intensity AND moore is a basic action filmaker.
get guys like Joe Carnahan, Tony Kaye, Darren Aronfsky or at least Zach Snyder. -
Dammit! If you're going to go crazy, then at least do it with STYLE.
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Give me an up'n'commer with something to prove over "A List" Rattner. C'mon - there has to be a reason why every project he touches recently falls to shit, right?
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What the fuck is going on with these talkbacks? The posts seem to be all over the place at the moment. So take a deep breath before tearing into those who've strayed off topic. It may not be their fault. Unlikely, but possible. As for this train wreck of a film. Ratner is final straw. I didn't think any amount of (pre-production)bad news could rob me of the stiffy I had for X-Men 3. Turns out I was wrong. And no amount of wank by Avi's gonna help.
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Actually this was on comingsoon.net a few hours earlier.
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Jun 02, 2005 8:16:54 PM CDT
justin555, did you actually read the article on comingsoon.net??
by curryice
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Jun 02, 2005 8:19:06 PM CDT
wait a minute, you mean the guy who was supposed to do x3 is doi
by atomheartbrother
christ.
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I looked again and it says "from aintintcoolnews.com" in the comingsoon article so looks like AICN rules and I was wrong. All is right with the world.
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Jun 02, 2005 8:27:07 PM CDT
Pedro Almodovar's "X-men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
by sans souci
You know you want it. It's about time Almodovar made an American film anyhoo. Ahem. Actually, sounds like its us fans who are having the breakdown with the flux of X3.
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it would be my top choice for director he did a good job on blade 2 and hellboy. Or James Cameron should direct X3
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jeez!
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but it would be this totally trashy hero satire thang. i bet it would be a fricken riot though. and super violent. but part of my heart needs something like XMEN be sincere. or as sincere as possible given were talking about a bunch of dorks dressed in tight leather pants kicking the crap out of each other. btw, the Wolvie/Deathstrike fights was great. she's all like... sexy... n' stuff. but seriously, XMEN 1 and 2 were good. we'll always have the memories. fade to corny music...
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Start over with a decent schedule and release it Summer '07. They are going to ruin this franchise. And the Marvel name.
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Hey, Ribbons. How'd I know you'd be here? Heh heh. I don't pretend to understand the intricate workings of the motion picture industry, but it makes no damn sense that, after producing some films that obviously had care put in to them, and performed well, Marvel would be so blinded by some coin as to make a half- assed decision like leaving the fate of this movie series in hands of a director who, while I would hesitate to call him a "hack", has done nothing to indicate he can pull off a something in this genre. I'm not gonna chew about who I think should direct X3; there are "great" directors, and then there are directors who would be well suited to work on this movie (Alex Proyas was mentioned). I believe now would be a damn good time for the PTB to step the hell back and take a real hard look at the situation. Yeah, Avi's a power player, and we all know how comics in general, and Marvel in particular, offers tons of potential storytelling possibilities (which studios fuck up way too often!). But, dude, it's not a fucking car factory! Slow it down... Have some goddamn integrity. You can turn this into a whored- out franchise all you want, license, license, license, make profits, but this is not just some property you own that the general populace doesn't know fuck- all about. I don't give a damn how much momentum you think you have, you can't just slap an "X" label on it, and expect everything to be all good!! You know damn well that we fans are legion, and we are, screw euphimisms, passionate. Like my esteemed colleague, Ribbons, I'm just a regular fella who thinks this movie, this cast, this fanbase, deserves attention beyond release dates and profit margins. I'm just some average cat who sat in the theater in 2000 and squirmed too much to really enjoy X- Men on the first viewing ( my wife, who like a lot of people, knew nothing about the mutants beyond the animated series, fucking loved it), and then told all his friends that X2 was outstanding a few years later. I've been a fan for longer than I care to admit, and really just hate to see X- Men become fodder for dildos who come to these sites to drop their little nuggets of wit.
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Jun 02, 2005 9:03:51 PM CDT
Sounds To Me Like The Death Of Any Chance For An X-Men Franchise
by barron34
Wow. Brett Rattner. No immediate comment. Speechless. They should have gotten Proyas or someone else. Regardless, from the new characters thye have mentioned and from the sound of the script, the director seems to be the tip of the iceberg for the problems on this film. They say they are killing off three characters like it is a selling point for this movie, and another character loses their powers. What the fuck!??! Don't these people understand comics and the term franchise? The X-men are beloved characters. They are never really killed off in some ultimate manner. Their story just keeps going on and on. This keeps the fans coming back for more. This script sounds like a god-damned mess to me, and then throwing in Rattner is like adding insult to injury. No offense, but it became clear when Rattner was attached to Superman that he has no grasp of what comic book fans want and what superheroes are about. Whatever criticisms you might have about Singer (can't direct action, blah, blah, blah) he knew how to stay true to the legendary and essential aspects of the characters. It seems to me that this script is just off the rails and has no real affinity for the property, and will alienate the hard-core fans, who are the engines for the success and profitability for these films. Then you add Rattner, who does a fine job with action comedies (Rush Hour) or horror/suspense (Red Dragon), but clearly has no grasp of the superhero genre ...witness all of the development problems he had with Superman). This is a disaster waiting to happen. Fox and Marvel should do the smart thing: delay production, get Singer back, and chuck out this script for one written under Singer's supervision. Otherwise, my sinking feeling is that this film will be a debacle, and will kill the X-Men as a franchise, just as Schumacher killed Batman for 8 years (this seems to be one of the problems the studios have: just because someone successful like Schumacher or Rattner has been successful at directing prior films does not mean that they grasp the mythology of superheroes. It is not enough to be an already proven director; the director must have some sense of what the mythology of these characters is about. Schumacher clearly didn't, and created such an awful embarrassment about Batman that it took 8 years for Warners to make another Bat-film. Warners probably could have made several Batman movies in that time if the Schumacher films hadn't nearly killed the property. They literally lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Now, in the rush to get a movie out by summer 06, Fox seems to be on the brink of likewise screwing up the X-Men franchise. Just stupid. Why kill the goose that laid the golden egg just because you are caught up in the fever of releasing a film on a certain schedule? Delay the film, do it right, save the franchise. To rush and make a shitty half-baked film, you might do some OK business on opening weekend, but in the long run, you will lose much more money, and turn a loyal audience away from what could have been a sure-thing franchise which had the chance to last for years and years...
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We really have to all get together and post what a HORRIBLE choice Ratner is? Deja Vu. First off, we cannot all agree Red Dragon was a decent movie. It's silly, shrill and poorly written. You have to work hard to make a cast that good suck. And the clmax where he tells the serial killer what a bad boy he is. WOW! Awesome! Hey look, my brother worked with Rat. He's the definition of hack. He's good in a room with the execs. The guy can talk. Know what his shooting strategy is? Coverage. He DOESNT want to make decisions on the set. And guess what? His shit doesn't cut. He pissed off Ed Norton so much he looked into the camera just to fuck up a take. No one did Red Dragon to work with Ratner. They did it to be in a Lecter movie. He's an idiot. Good job, Marvel. Keep churning out movies like Swamp Thing. Or Punisher. Or Daredevil (which sucks in any cut). Or that lovely Fantastic Four. Sure is gonna be sad when Warner Bros learns from its mistakes and you dont listen to your successes. Brett Ratner...you make me laugh. In a any other world that guy would managing a TGIFridays. All I gotta say is Batman Begins.
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Its so obvious.. come on... who's EVERY Studio's 2nd choice??? Why RENNY HARLIN OF COURSE!!!..... joking aside... I think a character piece like XMen (and I know I sound foolish calling it a character piece... but that's what it SHOULD be).. anyway, a piece like Xmen deserves a director with some talent, not someone who can make it look flashy.. I think they did the right thing with Singer initially, when they were first announced I was one of the pro-singer, pro-nolan, pro-raimi voices.. Michael Mann would be brilliant, if he were'nt so 'art-house' (and if it were shot in LA... noone shoots LA like mann)... Alex Proyas, the Crow was ok considering what he had to work with, Dark City was the shit, but he lost me with iRobot, it was just.... meh.... I'd like to see a talkback where NOONE mentions David Fincher... yes, he made 'seven'... lets hear it for him.. he's been living off that for 10 years now.. let it go... I'm REALLY surprised that noone has mentioned James Cameron yet.. apart from the fact that he's real busy.. Jan de-bont was mentioned years ago when xmen was kicking off and names were being dropped (although back then it was due largely to his success with Twister).. Or how about Wolfgang peterson?... no??... then lets talk directors with a bit of spark at the moment.. What about Johnaton Mostow?... Roland Emmerich?... big, flashy, but little substance.. so strike them... Speilberg is too busy and is wrong for the material.. Gore Verbinski?.. too busy.. but could work with it I think... can you imagine the Xmen or the Fnatastic 4 being done by Brad Bird????.... Oh baby.... Oh wait... they already did that.. Ok then... how about Barry Sonnenfeld?.. how busy is he?.. oh that's right... nobody likes him after MIIB.. Shane Black, Brian DePalma, Tim Burton, okay.. here's a couple of names you might not have wondered about who can do action, drama, and character moments.... Doug Liman? Guillermo Del Toro?.... Martin Campbell?... Well whoever takes the job.. it will be interesting what thier take on the story will be.. I don't mind if they kill off some dead wood characters to give the movie a sense of grit, or darkness, but save your main players people.. really.
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I've come the the conclusion that any time someone in Hollywood says something in regards to a superhero movie like "it's going to be controversial" or "we're really shaking things up" or taking things in a "new direction," what they're really saying is "we're doing the best we can to fuck it up and make you hate it."
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Is a logical choice, if you think about it Sci-Fi fantasy is his milieu.. He's my pick....
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i rest my case.
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Hey Harry, Moriarity,
Can you please send this talkback
to the studio department or heads that made this decision. thanks -
It is possible that whoever Agent or Talent Agency represents Brett the Rat nerfer can be blamed for this F----ng dumb ass idea. They play a role in pushing or selling this sorry ass director to the studios. So they can get their sales percentage or commission, whatever....lots of money is involved vs. fucking up Stan Lee's intellectual property. If it's still his at some level.
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This was all about the Producers kicking out the Director for not towing their line and hiring a Hack Director who will.
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A week ago I was annoyed that Guy Ritchie Jr. was directing this.....but now that he's gone and Ratner might be on board....I want Vaughny back!!
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Well as long as this series doen't go down the drain like those schushit bat films.. i'll be happy..
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Fuck ratner!! this series has now gone down the drain. If so I say we get the Malloys to direct it!!!!
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The comment "we're trading up" and "Bret Ratner" being used together causes one to imagine that the original plan called for eating glass and pounding concertina wire up everyone's ass with a sledge hammer.
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Brett Ratner might actually make X-Men 3 a really good movie. We could totally get lucky. It might happen.
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If the script sucks, it doesn't matter who the director is. Fox needs to focus on the tightening up the script and making it a believable storyline. As I mentioned in previous talk back topics, the Dark Phoenix saga is too long and complex for a 2 hour movie. Fox makes movies to make money not to appease hardcore comic book fans. As such, they need to make a movie for mass appeal. Introducing the Sentinels is easier to digest for mainstream movie audiences.
My predictions ? ..... As for killing off people in the film....1) Jean Grey - she's already dead as far as everyone is concerned from X2. Fox can use X3 to plant seeds for her resurrection in X4 and the Dark Phoenix storyline. 2)Halle Berry - she's been dead weight from the beginning. I can recall her appearing on the Tonight Show before X1 came out complaining about the lack of strong movie roles for women. She commented how she had to settle on taking some comic book movie role. The ungrateful bitch was lucky the exposure led her to other roles. 3)Professor X. This leads to turmoil within the school. With Patrick Stewart having heart problems, they need to reduce his role and work load. It forces Cyclops to finally take on the leadership role like in the comics. Although initially he'll share leadership role with Beast (Kelsey Grammer who will be plain old Hank McCoy and not a blue and furry mutant). This will also set up Magneto as a good guy in future X sequels.
With Prof. X out of the picture, Wolverine leaves .... to ultimately star in the spin-off solo movie. No need to over expose Wolverine in X3. The love scene will be flashbacks of Cyclops and Jean Grey. The person who loses their "powers" will be Rogue. After X1, there is no need to feature her in anymore storylines.
In order to introduce new characters such as Beast and Angel, they have to get rid of the dead weight.
Cheers !
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Jun 03, 2005 12:38:07 AM CDT
Director? What about the script? Zak Penn again? Has he ever wri
by mr. waturi
He keeps getting work on these big superhero projects, all of which turn out to be crap. His other whoppers include Suspect Zero, Inspector Gadget, and PCU. And Simon Kinberg has given us XXX:State of the Union. With writers like that, does the director even matter?
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These directors should direct X3 we dont need no untalented or unexpierence director to do a big budget comic film they end up fucking up the whole franchise. My choices would be Tim Burton he did such and excellent job with the first two batman flicks and would be perfect for x3 cause he has a amazing vision and can most definitely put that on film. My second would be Guillermo del Toro he did an exellent job with mimic, Blade 2, and Hellboy also good with action scenes. My last pic would be none the lest the master and perfectionist himself James Cameron such a talented filmmaker and can definitely make a film like anyone else and put the efx where they money is and shut those rookie ass directors up. But thats what i think on who should direct.
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Jun 03, 2005 1:14:11 AM CDT
Dark Phoenix in 45 minutes with plenty of time for the X-subplot
by vynson
Dark Phoenix too "complex" for a two hour movie? Please. Far more complex stories have been told in far less time.
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Doesn't anyone at the studios realize that he is kinda hated by genre fans? Also, even though he directed the RUSH HOUR hits...it was more of a 48 HOURS situation where the STARS made the movie, not the writing or director (all due respect to Walt Hill). Ratner is still unproven, in my opinion. RED DRAGON was coasting on the SILENCE OF THE LAMBS fumes. But then, Ratner did sleep with Rebbeca Gayheart, so...what do I know...?
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Okay...This Brett guy makes movies..I unfortunately do not, but this guy's films are just plain BAD!!!X-men 3 will be disaster if this guy does it...He is the #2 HACK Director(Anderson"AVP" is #1), thank the lord they booted him from "Superman Returns", Ashton Kutcher was so close to playing Superman with this guy Rattner. RICHARD DONNER please direct this...you directed Superman for Christ sakes...direct X-Men 3!!!!!!! Fuck Rattner, he will bury the x-men franchise!!!
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Is he still alive? Where's he been? I think maybe he did the screenplay to THE HUMAN STAIN, so, hey, that's kinda like X-Men territory.
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Someone who is really long in this business and still know how to make a good film (I still say Richard Donner!). Losing a director so close before the shooting starts causes many problems and someone who knows how to handle this ("Been there. Done that.") is the ONLY option!
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No one here wants Ratner. We're your audience and we say Rat is a Hack. Any other director these geeks name is good. As long as everyone else is dropping names I say Woo. No just kidding. John, go back to Hong Kong and make some movies we love you for.
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Jun 03, 2005 1:59:51 AM CDT
FOX is hell bent on a summer release date, so Mr Brett R isn'
by the founder
He isn't going to bring his personel stamp on the movie. Good old Brett will do what he's told, and shoot the script that FOX has laid out. So to me he's not a problem, cause he's made some decent flicks. Rush Hour 1&2 did well, which is why FOX thinkns attaching his name will bring some kind of crediability to the X franchise, it won't, but like i said the man is just there to shoot the movie, and i don't care how FOX and Avi tries to spin it. FOX and marvel is the porblem. I just say please FOX wait, just wait.
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Jun 03, 2005 2:03:49 AM CDT
John Moore like Ratner as i mentioned above will serve just as w
by the founder
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We don't need X3. Especially with all this trouble, I say fuck it. Break the wrist and walk away...
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Jun 03, 2005 2:07:42 AM CDT
3 Xmen getting killed and one losing their powers(Storm) is just
by the founder
One of the most visulally impressive mutants and Marvel is going to let Avi and FOX kill her off. I'm pissed cause she's the only black character on the team, and FOX want's to axe her. Yeah that's going to sit well with us black folk. One black superhero and they axe her. it's probably out of budget. oh hell the xmen franchise is going to suffer.
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Jun 03, 2005 2:08:41 AM CDT
Well I know losing your powers doesn't mean death, but it ma
by the founder
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Jun 03, 2005 2:31:22 AM CDT
Calm the fuck down, fanboys. Ratner did a good job with Red Dra
by assking
nfm.
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And, action, Brother!
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Jun 03, 2005 5:16:46 AM CDT
Alfonso Cuaron wouldnt touch this - besides "Y tu X Men tambien"
by spacesheik
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...but I'm curious what Rob Zombie's X-Men 3 would look like? (I mean, if he would only direct and had nothing to do with the script).
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He was the first choice for directing Blade Trinity! And his film "Das Experiment" is one of the greatest thrillers I've ever seen!!!
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Only time I have ever wanted to join a fuckin' talk back on here but this is the best place to stick it *bends over* go on make your funny remarks...finnished good...
1 trilogy, looks like Spidey is the only one due. I want 1 superhero comic adaption with the same cast, crew and directer who cradle the baby, send it to school and watch it grow into the trilogy that gives all others a run for their money. How hard can it be?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Avi Arad can kiss my starfish *asumes position* because unless he takes his skinny lips of the Hollywood cock he's well on his way to sucking Marvel dry. -
Sure, League is pants, but I'll stand by Blade.
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Jun 03, 2005 6:45:04 AM CDT
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Ratner is an A-List Director? For th
by triumph poops!
Hey, RUSH HOUR 1 was fun for what it was...RUSH HOUR 2 was weak... and his take on RED DRAGON was incredibly pedestrian and film school student level it was so average. Which is pretty telling considering what a fucking amazing book it is, and how faithful the script actually was. Seriously, watch Michael Mann's MANHUNTER then Ratner's RED DRAGON and learn the difference between someone with a visual sensibility versus a paint by the easy numbers sort of guy. If Ratner is now being declared an A-List Director by the studios, then they've just given cause for a whole new generation of bad, uncreative high school seniors to send off their applications and money to try and get into film school and to delude themselves into believing they have "talent." All because they'll be saying "Well if they think HE'S A-list, I KNOW I can make it now."
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Really, I love Death Machine, but Blade is crap, LXG is for me nothing more than good 80's-style-sunday-afternoon-entertainment.
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maybe we're reading this wrong. they're not saying "A List" as in quality, they're saying "a list", as in, "Brett Ratner is on a list of hacks who can shoot this piece of crap in time for the big opening weekend, after which we can shelve it and go on to ruin another group of beloved comic book characters."
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...would be an excellent choice. That guy knows how to make an entertaining, quality movie.
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Yea, he did Mouse Hunt and The Mexican, he'd still be a great choice, even his crap is in a different league than guys like McG and Ratner. But be sure, even he's got too much integrity to latch himself onto something like this.
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How about Luc Besson?... hmm having said that though.. for every "Leon" (If you haven't seen it.. SEE IT!) , and "the Fifth element"... we get a "Transporter" and a "Kiss of the Dragon".... still.. he has the know-how to do some good here... I'm throwing every name I can at this puppy.. every name but Ratner... Hell I'd have a Michael Bay Xmen over Ratner for gods sake.. I won't go as far as a McG.. I'm not THAT emotional over it.. but SURELY we can do better than this FOX??!?!?! And how on earth is Ratner or ANY of the directors listed in this piece considered A-List?... or is that a play on words.. they were on 'a list'... it would want to be a very LONG list..
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*Sigh*.... Either I'm not paying respect to his post.. I'm too slow... or it's the damn time difference here in Australia.. I think I'm going with time difference... yeah thats it... it's the time difference.
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Jean Grey has a mental affair with Wolverine whilst getting it on with Cyclops. An inadvertent threesome.
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Jun 03, 2005 7:57:58 AM CDT
Get Clint Eastwood -- a sombre Lennie Niehaus score, fight scene
by spacesheik
just kidding - eastwood rocks as a director
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the geeks had to sit at their own table in the high school cafeteria......their conversations were so mind-boggling stupid. And Morty, stop writing like that queen hack over at E! Online.
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...I really like After the Sunset; it was a fun little caper flick. Don't know if that means he can do X-Men...Red Dragon was kinda garbage, but the script sucked.
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are gay or something.
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Jun 03, 2005 9:53:16 AM CDT
I didn't really want to know that people died and lost power
by soylentphil
Thanks for the spoiler warnings, shitheads.
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i posted for cauron in the last x3 talk back and got lil feedback but glad to see others in this one posting for him. i think he'd do great on a comic movie, but which one? verbinski is an interesting name put out there. either way when are they anouncing the new director? this weekend? next? anyone know?
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Jun 03, 2005 11:22:41 AM CDT
RE:ZombieBubPaltrow i don't gove a sht about the D@mn NBA.
by the founder
you may find this hard to believe, but not all blacks are sport fans, and the same with a lot of other people in this country. i could care less about the NBA, cause i don't watch the games. Why you felt the need to tell me about a lone white guy on a team in the NBA has no meaning, CAUSE I'M NOT A SPORTS FAN @SSHOLE.
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What this flick needs:
-Chris Tucker as a wise cracking, street smart Angel.
-Jackie Chan dipped in Blue Man Group paint as Beast.
-Giant Spider. -
I actually liked The Family Man and that was Ratner.
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He did say the "W" word that makes people who use it automatically gay afterall.
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Well crap, why not let Terry Gillium have a go at it? If it keeps that rat-snorkeling Ratner bastard away from the Xmen...(Bryan Singer, please come home...)
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...and have one long shot through the corridors of the x-mansion. Cue: Wolverine crying while masterbating, Cyclops watching gay porn, and everyone else singing some depressing Aimee Mann song.
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Holy. Shit. Most disturbing Harry animation ever. Cannot comment on actual topic. Must go throw up.
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Such a tragedy about Vaughn. X3 had such promise. I still hold out hope, but not so much with these two director names. I like a lot of the suggestions I'm hearing in this thread, though. And don't rush this into production or everything and everyone invloved will suffer.
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I wish someone would spend a crap load of money and make a realistically designed animated superhero movie. Not cartoony like The Incredibles (which I dug) but a straight forward ANIMATED version. Sin City worked live action wise, let's take it a step further... let's make it animated. That way, you could have as many freaking superheroes in the movie as u want. Hehehe.
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BRETT RATNER is a fucking awful director. That is all!
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This series looks like it's giong to go out with a whimper of mediocrity.
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Jun 03, 2005 12:53:02 PM CDT
Dont stars like Patrick Stewart, Mckellan or at the very least t
by spacesheik
if so i dont see Ratner joining -- to all those who knocked BEHIND ENEMY LINES - it did some damn good action scenes and Gene Hackman always rocks and it dealt with issues of genocide of bosnians - it may have been a bit too gung hoo and hollywoodish but the film was decent - fuck the flying scenes alone were worth the price of admission.
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Jun 03, 2005 12:54:07 PM CDT
come to think of it Gene Hackman should be in a X MEN film
by spacesheik
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IMDb was reporting that Mission Impossible 3 was falling the hell apart of late. JJ Abrams, who's certainly taken some wild swings at superhero stuff, might thus be available. Were that the case, and given that he's done some neat pseudocinematic stuff with Alias and Lost, I'd be enthusiastic to see what he does with X-Men. ********* (Also, I'm an X-Men fan from late '80s to late '90s, but having just re-read "The Essential vol. 1" covering stuff from Giant Size, and 94-119, I've lost a lot of my reverential enthusiasm.)
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Jun 03, 2005 1:12:10 PM CDT
MI 3 is going to hell cause its gonna cost the studio 150 millio
by spacesheik
i mean dont you guys get it? look at LAST SAMURAI - the most vicious, formidable and toughest samurai army get slaughtered and the only one who surives is Tom cruise who gives a speech to the emperor in the end about the ills of imperialism. fucking ridiculous - gimme a Charlton Heston over Tom Cruise any day - at least Heston died in his films.
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He won't do it. They won't offer it to him. Still, he's a legend (NEVERENDING STORY anyone?) and would do a decent job. I'd rather see him make Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty's ENDER'S GAME though. That movie would kick the shit out of X-MEN and laugh as it lies in pain on the floor... then it would kick it again just for fun.
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I would much rather see that plump little man that won Project Greenlight Direct this movie that this hack. At least that guy cares about the product he works on.
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Jun 03, 2005 1:48:04 PM CDT
brokentusk - WOLFGANG PETERSON is busy with THE POSEIDON ADVENTU
by spacesheik
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Jun 03, 2005 1:53:18 PM CDT
fuck it, maybe Joe Dante can bring a lunatic touch to the superh
by spacesheik
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Jun 03, 2005 2:04:02 PM CDT
Let's not get all up in a tizzy, cause really, Singer wasn&#
by homer sexual
See, let's all remember that X-Men was pretty crappy. Yes, yes, X2 ruled! So Singer was 50/50, and his non-X-Men films have been pretty spotty as well (Good on Usual Suspects, not good on Apt Pupil). I seriously question how many people have seen Layer Cake because even here in LA it's in limited release. So his going was no loss. Now, regarding Brett Ratner. Rush Hour wasn't for me, Red Dragon was mediocre. But he isn't the worst. His first movie that I saw was Lawnmower Man, and I think he did a very good job on that.
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Who absolutely should not die? Well, Wolverine for sure. Mystique shouldn't. Jean Grey shouldn't. I am most concerned that they will introduce characters such as Jubilee, Beast, just to kill them right away. And I hate the whole depowering thing (this most likely will happen to Famke Janssen, IMO). Three deaths in one movie, along with a depowering, seems like too much. But, since Halle is such a bad Storm, her death wouldnt be so bad. Nor would Cyclops. And Rogue has been wasted so far.
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Jun 03, 2005 2:17:45 PM CDT
Xmen2 ruled but how come i never felt the urge to see it again..
by spacesheik
very strange reaction...something about the last 1/3 maybe in that tunnel with the mind fuck between prof x and the old dude and the lame fight between wolvering and the catwoman type put me off
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Uhm...
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Sorry, but the best part of the first two was the first 15 minutes of XMen 1. As Batman seems to be showing, these movies need atmosphere and attitude. David Fincher would be my #1 choice.
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http://imdb.com/name/nm0711840/ -- he never made no Lawnmower Man, just some videos, then Money Talks, then Rush Hour and we arrive at the present.
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"Brett Ratner - Cocksucker" Indeed. Matthew vaughn has shown he has an interesting visual style and can handle a tricky narative. Brett Ratner has shown he can make expensive boring films.
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was, according to IMDB, directed by Brett Leonard. Brett Leonard was also the director of Man Thing (yikes). If it came down to Leonard or Ratner for X-men I would say the lesser of two evils would be Ratner (but that's not saying much).
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this movie is going to suck. putting a deadline on a movie isn't unheard of, but COME ON this is the movie that will make or break all future X movies... unless they're thinking ahead 10 years when they tap christopher nolan to co-write and direct XMEN BEGINS oh goddamn marvel = pure unfettered GENIUS!!!!
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...folks are so surprised and/or aghast at this development. We knew the movie was pretty much on autopilot with the studio pulling Vaughn's strings and Arad swallowing whatever they fed him. Now they've brought in one of the most vanilla directors in Hollywood to sit on the egg until it hatches. I can't get concerned about it, no matter how hard I try. As for the character deaths, don't expect Xavier or Magneto or Jean Grey to be on that list. They make too much sense. They've died in the comics, so it wouldn't be shocking or "X-treme" enough. They won't kill Colossus for the same reason. My money's on Nightcrawler buying it early in the film during some moment with religious overtones, Cyclops going out in an uncharacteristic Wolverine-style berserker rage and Wolverine biting it at or near the very end in an uncharacteristically noble/heroic moment (of course, with Wolvie they can just pull an Alan Quartermain from LXG and show his clawed hand busting up out of the grave before the end credits). As for who gets depowered, Storm is too obvious for the same reasons as the undead pool. I'm betting it'll be Rogue at or near the end of the movie so she gets her happy ending. I'm not dreading this movie because the X-movies are what they are. The first two have been entertaining (2 far moreso than 1), but the characters have never felt like the ones I knew from the comics (except Xavier). So I'll see this and, if and when it does whatever the hell it wants, I'll likely shrug and say "whatever" (there's always the chance I'll be pleasantly surprised). The only way they could've gotten me truly excited about this movie would've been to wait for Singer and let him wrap up the story he started. Now it'll just be something to do on a hungover Sunday afternoon.
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all you saying X3 is going to be shit and everything but brett ratner isnt conrimed for the director is he? this could still have some sort of light?
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Jun 03, 2005 4:41:35 PM CDT
Dark Phoenix Plot in 45 minutes ? Then the movie will suck !
by aint-no-fool
If X3 were to only target comic book geeks familiar with the X-Men storylines then 45 minutes would be appropriate. However, for mainstream PG-13 movie audiences, you introduce Beast, Angel, Sh'iar, Starjammers, Dark Phoenix without the proper character development. Not all movie-goers read the comic books. There are plenty of adults who saw X1 and didn't fully understand the movie because there was too much going on and such a large ensemble cast. "Dumbing down" of American movie audience ? You bet. That's why X3's storyline won't be based on the Dark Phoenix saga and why they now want Brett Ratner to direct. I think they can plant the sub-plots now for X4. Bottom line ...as of now..the script still stinks. Cheers !
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muthafucking yeah , limp bizkit in the hizeyoin house.(btw Chocolate Starfish and the hot dog flavoed water, one of the best comedy albums ever released!!!)
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Jun 03, 2005 5:11:07 PM CDT
If the director of BARBERSHOP did FANTASTIC FOUR, surely the dir
by spacesheik
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Malcolm X-Men: The Death of Storm. The plot revolves around Storm's growing demands for more visibility and greater leadership role leading to the X-Men conspiring to kill her off. Although a person is held responsible for Storm's death, the movie ends in controversey when it is revealed that Halle Berry's career was actually killed off when she starred in Catwoman. The golden rule in Hollwood is if your demands are too high, you will be killed off.
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SHATNER makes his triumphant return to the directors' chair, after years of waiting for the right project after his critically acclaimed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
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It *does* make me wonder sometimes about these people adapting stuff to movies: If you hate the source material so much that you change it completely, why bother to make it in the first place?
Director: "What? Why *can't* I kill off 'Wolverine'?"
Marvel: "Because the next three films featuring him will make two billion dollars..."
Director: "What? Why *can't* I make Cyclops gay?"
Marvel: "He has existed for 30 years and been married with kids!"
Director: "So?"
Director: "What? Why *can't* I have Professor X and Kitti Pryde in a torrid affair?!"
Marvel: "First, this is a family film! Second, he's old enough to be her grandfather!"
Director: "I was going to call this film 'X-Men 3: Last Tango In The Danger Room.' No? 'Behind The Danger Room Door'? 'Kitty Does Westchester'?"
Director: "What? Why *can't* I have Magneto turn out to be an alien slug from Planet Sluggo?"
Marvel: "You're fired!!! Is Ratner available?" -
Seriously, it's warped and judging by your pervy reviews of late... you badly need help. You're a sick man!
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get uwe boll to direct this train wreck,with paul.w.s anderson as a secound unit director thats one film i will start queing up for now p.s dont get kurt wimmer the guys another fucking hack give it to johnathan mostow
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Shi'Ar and Starjammers? Are you high? Why waste valuable screen time with that ClaremontVomit? That crap is tangental and has little to do with the core of the Dark Phoenix saga. Did you see Jean Grey get blasted on the moon in X-Men 2? No. She bought it in the rushing waters of a friggin' lake. Do you really think X-3 is gonna bother with Shi'Ar and all that alien nonsense?
And just to stay on topic: Ratner still sucks. We'd be better off if Halle Barry and Famke Jannsen carried around a Sony Digicam for a week and edited out the best 100 minutes. I'd pay 10 bucks to see that, but you'll have to pay me to sit through another Ratner shitfest. That said, I'd rather Ratner be required by law to direct all superhero films than to have to sit through another offensive, racist, Serb-bashing hunk of steaming goat feces like Behind Enemy Lines. -
i can see him making a mojo movie though.
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I've got to agree with the "hiring a shooter" comment. Fox just wants the damn thing made. They don't give a shit if its a work of art or a steaming pile of shit. Just put the product on the market, slap the X-Men label on it and (in their minds) rack in the $$$. Short term thinking, baby. Because it will make money. No matter how bad it'll make a profit because of the anticipations of NON-fans (the average uninformed moviegoer) who will be expecting a worthy follow up to X-men 1 and 2, not hastily slapped together mess. But it won't be a hit. And just like Batman & Robin (which made a slight profit, but wasn't a hit) it'll have piss poor to non-existent home video sales.
Vaughn probably left X-Men for the same reasons that irked Kevin Smith when he was working on Supes. Constant and idiotic "suggestions" from those in charge. He probably realixed after the initial charge of excitement wore off that he'd NEVER get to make an X-Men movie that'd be his. I haven't seen Layer Cake, and so have no opinion of his talent, but he's not someone used to working in the "our way or the highway" atmosphere of Hollywood. Where Ratner is just the kind of smarmy talentless whore they want. Takes orders, does as he's told.
(I read this article 'bout Ratboy once and the acompanying picture showed his DVD collection. Hundreds and hundreds. And he talked about how great his collection was. It was like a nouveau riche prick buying up works of the Masters because they're "art" without a single ounce of understanding as to WHY they are great....fucking prick.)
Wolverine is clearly NOT one of the 3 who die. No way in hell. Even the dumb ass suits know that Wolvie is the money man. When Singer was trying to sell them on Stewart for Prof. X they said, "Why should we spend all this money on casting Prof. X when Wolverine is the most important character?" They've been talking about spinning off Wolvie since before X-Men was released. They need to milk that cow before they slaughter it, baby.
I also have a hard time believing that after all the ass kissing they had to do to get Halle to agree to sign for 3 that they'd minimize her role by taking her powers away or killing her, UNLESS it was a major plot point and then I can totally see it. And there was that whole story arc in Claremont's day where Storm DID lose her powers. Back when she was shtooping Forge. The mohawk era. Erm. I think. Been a long time and way too much weed since I read it last...
The characters that die are most likely going to be killed off solely to clear the clutter so they can focus on those they view as more valuable while bringing in new ones. And since they just don't GET X-Men, Cyclops HAS to be one of them. They've never utilized him that well. (And this is coming from someone who is a MAJOR X-fan but always thought Cyke was a whiny dink. Damn mopey bastard.) For the other two?
*shrug*
How about THIS for a possibility? Jean Grey comes back, and SHE'S the one who loses her powers. Hence she becomes completely boring and useless as a character and implodes.
Quite frankly I couldn't give a shit. I always try to reserve my judgment for the final product, but after reading this nonsense I'm so apathetic about the future of the cinematic versions of the Children of the Atom that I may not even bother to check it out. And I watch EVERYTHING. I saw Mortal Kombat: Annhillation in the theater and almost had an anyurism (fuck, I can't spell...)
...man...MK 2...You guys hate Paul WS Anderson but at least HIS Mortal Kombat didn't make my eyes bleed. I just don't get the WS bashing though.
Anyway. As a filmmaker I'd love to tackle the X-Men, but I'd never in a million years do it. Not only would I have to deal with the suits that own it and would want me to include Shaolin Monks and Polar Bears, but I'd have you whiny fan boys threatening my life because Jean Grey's hair isn't red enough. Feh. Fucking losers.
Whoo! Abrasive. -
A 6 script from the writers of XXX2, Inspector Gadget and Elektra was bad enough now they're going to hand this thing over to Ratner? Not good. I was so looking forward to Vaughn's vision of the X-Men, an 'Unforgiven' type theme....how great would that have been. As for possible directors...Donner seems the most feasible choice and one at this point I would be extatic over. Why wouldn't he want to direct? Are studios knocking down his door after the critical and commercial success that was 'Timeline'? Granted the guy probably doesn't want to work for his wife and who could blame him. And who the hell is this Moore guy? Behind Enemy Lines? Flight of the Pheonix? Remember in Back to the Future III when the train was careening towards the cliff...well somebody better get the hooverboard and kick this bitch up to 88 mph or were all fucked.
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Professor X...Cyclops...Storm
Rougue to lose her powers. -
This just in: Marvel has apparently seen that episode of The Brady Bunch in which Greg shoots a film for school about Thanksgiving. Marvel was so amazing how Greg was able to shoot the movie in one afternoon and so far under budget that they decided to hire Greg to direct X3.
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Jun 03, 2005 10:41:31 PM CDT
Whoever said Gore Verbinski is a worse director than Brett Ratne
by ribbons
By the way, Ratner didn't do a "good job" with 'Red Dragon,' he did a competent job. Certainly nothing new and certainly nothing that would have been nearly as entertaining without the script (and Ralph Fiennes')'s help.
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You Got Served Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Catwoman, Thunderbirds, Without a Paddle... I could go on.
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If he directs, it will suck, although it mattesr none. I will see X3 and skip right past Superman just to spite Bryan Singer.
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that if you kill off Prof. X.... or perhaps M-Men if you have Magneto replacing Xavier's role
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http://www.scoremagacine.com/Noticias_eng_det.php?Codigo=42
Sounds like Ratner is officially on the gig with Schifrin doing the score. I didn't even know Schifrin was still alive, honestly. Dude has never had a good score -- just the one really good theme from Mission Impossible, and he's been living off it ever since. Ouch.
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If they kill off characters just because they don't want to replace them with different actors or pay them. Count me out!
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Jun 04, 2005 9:38:16 AM CDT
Fuck it let Blake Edwards direct and have Julie Andrews play Jea
by spacesheik
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Ken Kwapis would be a much better choice for director. Either get Vaughn back, or get Singer back, or hire Kwapis. If nothing else, get Irvin Kirshner, for crying out loud!
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Watching a Brett Ratner movie is like using your balls as anal beads on a very very tight old man. All right, don't quote me on that.
The studios had been doing some interesting things with their big summer movies (i.e. comic book adaptations) by tossing interesting independent directors at them (Singer for X1+2, Nolan for Batman, Raimi for Spiderman), but now they're going back to tried and true hackery. Screw it. -
... I think I might have tried to post this before but my stupid computer ate it. He said this, I think on the Robocop Special Edition DVD that there's only a few directors for whom people will specifically go to see a film because they directed it eg: Spielberg. Verhoeven doesn't count himself amongst that number. He was also very honest about the people he'd upset or fought with. The key thing for this film will be a good script and someone who knows what they are doing. Name recognition isn't so important. Most people couldn't name the director of most films they see. For reference, see Joe Queenan's excellent article about how he quizzed people coming from cinemas about the name of the director of the film he just saw. He averaged between 0% to 10% per film. Spielberg got the best score of 50% for Jurassic Park. Other popular and wrong choices for it included Stephen King.
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Jun 04, 2005 3:12:37 PM CDT
Pity Irwin Allen is dead. He could have produced a kick ass X Me
by spacesheik
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... if the script royally sucks. Even the best director can't salvage a shitty script that no one wants to see. Like I want to see a cool summer film movie where everyone I like dies? Even more importantly, who would want to buy the DVD and watch that crap over and over?
Man these guys need to get a reality check, and NOW. Hey, if you send Scott and Jean into the ether, so be it... you can always explain it later with some mumbo jumbo, and send them back in time to do the "Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix" storyline with Sinister, or, hell, ahead to introcuce an Age of Apocalypse universe with Cable and such. Why the hell would you *kill* anyone? You want more movies... that make more $$$$$$$$$... right? -
a great director can save the day.
Have you ever seen predator?
whitout Mc thiernan it would have been a disaster. -
it was a a lightweight, action less affair
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Could you imagine? Michael Ironside as Mr. Sinister...Sharon Stone as the White Queen...Wayne Knight as the Blob...and we'd have to find roles for Peter Weller and Ronny Cox. It would fucking rule! I'm only being half-sarcastic because I think Verhoeven kicks ass.
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Jun 04, 2005 5:46:45 PM CDT
Why oh why is Ratner even being considered? I shudder to think
by freakemovie
seems a lot like Schumacher taking over Batman.
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Hell just read the plot of Rubber Johnny, his time is now!!!
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Since the X-3 shoot is starting to look like PGL, why not? Actually, he would probably do a decent job!
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Jun 04, 2005 8:19:16 PM CDT
If you guys REALLY want to try and make all this worthwhile and
by xwatcher
I sure hope someone from Fox who has clout actually reads all this. Why not everybody just try and call in to Fox. Ask for the Development dept. You'll be surprised how FAR you just MAY GO. It's worth a shot at making your opinions worth something. All you talkbackers who are filmmakers know HOW to get Direct numbers. The number to Fox is not a secret for everybody not connected to the business. The KEY: Don't act like a FAN to the main operator. Ask for the Motion Picture Development Dept. Better yet ask for Development. Make sure you sound like you have some legitimate business, when they transfer you: Give it to them!
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In teh Next movie they must use the Beat from the CX-men Comic book. Here goes why they should use him: He is a big blue naked RAPISTT! Yes! You heard me! Why is he blue and always furry and naked. Its because he is a deviant! Nightcrawler should turn uut to be his bastard son after it is found out that Beast the rapist raped Mystique in a night of hot animal passion! Then one night Wolverine is sleeping and Beasyt the rapist breaks into his room silently climbing the ceiling upside down. After wolverine wakes up with beast cock in his anus, he turns and slices the blue penis of beast! Best movie ever!
MOOMBA has SPOKEN!!! -
You just made my point. Predator sucked. Thanks!
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Why are people speculating as to whether they would kill Jean Grey? I thought Jean Grey died already in X2. How could they kill her again?
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Please, just shelve this thing until the right people can take the right amount of time to make something good. Please.
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Kidding? Not kidding? If not kidding, watch the last shot of 'X2' again. Watch closely.
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I don't own the DVD. I watched it on cable a couple of times. As far as I remember, the water comes crashing down on Jean after she lifts the plane up. What did I miss?
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Jun 04, 2005 10:18:33 PM CDT
If you guys REALLY want to try and make all this worthwhile and
by xwatcher
I sure hope someone from Fox who has clout actually reads all this. Why not everybody just try and call in to Fox. Ask for the Development dept. You'll be surprised how FAR you just MAY GO. It's worth a shot at making your opinions worth something. All you talkbackers who are filmmakers know HOW to get Direct numbers. The number to Fox is not a secret for everybody not connected to the business. The KEY: Don't act like a FAN to the main operator. Ask for the Motion Picture Development Dept. Better yet ask for Development. Make sure you sound like you have some legitimate business, when they transfer you: Give it to them!
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Jun 04, 2005 10:34:05 PM CDT
I think Al Vinci probably has made it impossible for anyone to e
by fluffyunbound
But who knows, maybe you can get through.
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I now know the "real" ending to X2. LAME! I liked the movie better when Jean Grey died. So are they making X3: The Search for Spock now?
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Posting to try and get to see the rest ...
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Whoever said that should have there balls cut off and then shoved up their ass, so everytime they shit, they shit all over their balls. Predator ruled cockfag. :p
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I can see the television ads already.. "From the creators of such hits as 'Elektra' 'XxX: State of the Union' and 'Rush Hour 2' comes the next step of an epic saga. . ." Yeah, right. And Fluffy, Jean becoming Phoenix is one of the older and most famous of X Men stories- it's not like they thought it up over some drunken weekend just to fuck with people's heads.
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Avi, even though I know you won't read this, and pay no attention to people like me I do have a suggestion. Scrap X3 completely. Bad script, worse director, and lackluster fan interest. Rather than make something like...oh, I don't know...the Roger Corman version of Fantastic Four, or the old Captain America movie, you could pause, collect yourselves work on a decent story and possibly get a quality director who wants to see this thing through and perhaps is a fan of this type of thing. No don't go jumping into Kevin Smith teritory. I mean a quality director. Why not shoot high and go for a John Frankenhimer. Seriously, you had to have liked Ronin. James Cameron? He can get this thing going in a short period of time and have it come out great. What about Fuqua? Tears of the sun was a weak story and it turned out pretty good. John Woo doesn't seem to be doing anything right now. And lord knows that there are some doves that need work. Or my personal pick, Matthew Vaughn. That's right, you had your guy, stick by him. Delay production, fix the script and keep the guy you really want. I understand that there is money involved. But if this movie is done right, it is like James Bond and will make money for decades, and fans will wait for it. Plus, you have a chance to make scripts that are good, unlike the latest Bond flicks (Goldeneye excepted). Waiting may cost some money now, but if you can pull off the Spider Man 2 domestic gross of $350 million, isn't it just a drop in the bucket to simply wait for your guy and take the time to get the story right? Waiting seems like a bad choice from a current perspective, but trust me, it will be worth it. I know you won't read this, but if this somehow finds its way to you, remember your core audience, and remember the choices that got Marvel its high standards and fan appreciation.
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now just delete the John Woo part. I'd rather Ratner then that hack.
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Just kidding.
I think it's too late to get someone like Cameron or Verhoven. There's not enough time to let them work any kind of magic on this thing. But why should Fox chase after "hot" hacks like Ratner when there are plenty of seasoned vets out there who could pull off a rushed-written-and-produced-by-committee-studio-piece-of-product?
Frankinhiemer, kirshner and the like? Their not working enough now and have talent to spare on any thing their given. When everything else is falling to shit, you should have a veteran at the helm to at least hold it together better than some "Music video" hot shot. I'm looking at you Fincher. 7 was written well, but shot in the dark by a blind epileptic.
This films not going to be what it could've been, Not with the short lead time it's got. But I think Fox is more concerned with hitting the summer '06 release date than anything else. I don't think they want to kill it. Though the talk of killing characters would support that. I'm sure they don't want to loose the Wolverine spin off. Marvel, on the other hand, have a much sweeter deal set up at Paramount and might be up for losing the fox deal to take their characters to a studio where they wont have to share so much profit.
Just to get this off my chest. Avi sucks. His pre-release press only shows his ignorance of his company's characters, And he's just as happy about Elektra and Daredevil as he is about Spidy and X-Men. That would be one thing if he was only Marvels PR guy. But he takes personal credit for Marvels hit movies like he actually did anything even remotely creative on them.
And don't hold your breath waiting for Bryan Singer's return, Fox wasn't happy about him leaving them in mid-contract to do Supies. That's why the rush to beat Supies to the theaters. And the fight over talent that Singer wanted to take with him to Warners. -
He can't do X-Men 3!
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That animation is sick as hell even for this site. Please get rid of it. While you're at it, give us an option for a skin with a static (non-animated) GIF there. I get really tired of seeing these anims playing over and over again.
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brett ratner is a fucking moron...
his films have al been popcorn fodder date action movies with zero fucking style, and no actual sign he knows what he is doing...
seriously, why won't people listen to us fans when we say he is THE worst choice ever to do this...
I would prefer paul WS Anderson, cos at least his heart is in the right place....
he just seems to be the studio whipping boy for piss poor summer movies...
(i like AvP though, my friend Sam Troghton was in it, at the same time as i was making a film with his brother William - fact fans!!!)
How about this....
PAUL GREENGRASS!
Watchmen has just been put on hold, paramount are umming and arring...
now, let him direct another film of the same ilk, with a company that paramount have just signed a huge deal with, and then see how he works out with a good budget and a fan loved franchise...
If the boy does good, then we may all get the double pleasure of a fucking WATCHMEN greenlight finally!!!
I am a genius.
Give me the executive washroom keys, the limo and an office with a view Avi, i'm the new producer in town.
SL -
Jun 05, 2005 9:03:42 AM CDT
Brett Ratner must have gobbled satan's black worm semen to g
by tonywilson
AAAAARRGH!! I fucking hate the ma and what his appointment says about Shuler-Donner, the studio and well frankly anyone who thinks this is a god idea.
Ok rant over, im sure the abuse will flow. -
The ending of 'X2' is kinda Khan-like.
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Jun 05, 2005 9:05:36 AM CDT
Possibly the one lot of people i hate more than Ratneritee are t
by tonywilson
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John Moore while not the obvious choice at this point it time is the best marvel will get. Stop dreaming about Fincher there is nowhere near enough prep time for a director of his calibre to come onboard. Its a damn shame Vaughn pulled out he did a great job with Layer Cake and i'd of loved to have seen his version of X Men but shit happens and i think moore is a very assured hand with action and character and i'd give him a chance before shittin on the guy. As someone else has pointed out Ratner has worked with a great DOP,script and cast and made a good film....not a patch on manhunter but good. Moore made something outof nothing with behind enemy lines...as for Frakes......that'd be fuckin worse than Ratner
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Jun 05, 2005 9:25:23 AM CDT
Two years ago we complained MARVEL was KING and DC and WB were t
by spacesheik
SUPERMAN RETURNS looks very good and BATMAN BEGINS is getting raves -- WB fixed its shit and got serious about its franchises - and us fanboys helped with that belive it or not. Now we have the reverse situation with MARVEL properties after dogs like ELEKTRA, DAREDEVIL and pretentious claptrap like THE HULK, and X MEN 3 is floundering to the point they want a Brett Ratner (who was up for SUPERMAN) -- LOL - the irony!
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paul greengrass, edgar wright, zack snyder at a push, chris cunnigham would kill all with his visuals, michel gondry would make it awesome...
marvel had the best directors working on their films....
that was their special skill, they employed directors who think outside of the box....
Ang Lee, Singer, Raimi...
if they were to suddenly go for a ratner or a moore, then they would be doing a warner bros. and sell out the product for a quick buck...
for ten - twelve years DC films were sucky because of the choice of director... Ever since burton left the bat frnachise they strugled with their property.
Marvel seemed to see this mstake and sidestep it with great bsiness decisions... why all of a sudden, when another great director choice (Vaughn) has to back out, do they panic and do a WB director decision...
"erm?!! shit... fuck it, lets hire Pitof..."
"who the fuck is pitof..?"
" he made a commercial for martini that people liked..."
"a martini commercial people liked?> shit, guy must be good!"*
HIRED!
*i hear he was a TV ad director and music director. i was clutching at straws for an example.
BLOW ME.
They need to stop production, and wait for a good new director to step in, or they can kiss goodbye to the entire franchise.
If characters are indeed going to die, then ratner would not be strong enough as a director to handle the pathos and emotin this requires.
SInger could do it in his sleep.
Look how much we loved Benicio Del toro and how sad it was he died in USUAL SUSPECTS.. even thouugh he was tiny character...
Do us all a favour, and hire with the fans, the readers, and the franchise future in mnd marvel! don't for gods sake, take the easy way out....
S to the motherfucking L homeboy... -
Unless that turd is the beach of course, if the script is halfway good and i think a controversial X-Men film would be good...afterall as it is in a different medium i dont think we need to be comic faithful (completly). Then again he probably would not do it he turned down Alien 4 afterall.
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I'd read people online saying that X3 would be "The Phoenix storyline", but to me that was just a name. I didn't know it meant Jean Grey came back from the dead. I never read the comic and only knew these characters from watching a few episodes of the TV cartoon. And I think I probably enjoyed X2 MORE because of this. For me, the dambreak scene went like, "Oh, bullshit, she's not gonna die...Yeah, right, they'll kill a character...Oh, yeah, this is sooooooooo dangerous - fucking spare me!...Oh, shit, she's dead...Wow, they actually killed her...Damn...Wow!" I guess if I knew the comic better, that scene would have gone, "Oh, yeah, this is where Jean Grey dies. I wonder if we'll get to see Phoenix in this movie or the next one." Amazing - I actually had an unspoiled movie experience for the space of one scene. In this day and age. Looking back, after being educated about the real ending last night, it's kind of striking.
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> Yeah, I am a 'fag' (and happy to be one, you bigoted dweeb). And Predator SUCKED - it's unwatchably bad, even for a f-grade action film. But hey, even so, it was a cut above Layer Cake, or worse, any Guy Ritchie film. The 'British gansta' is a laughable genre that makes most of the general public cringe. Vaughn was a rotten choice, and I'm thrilled the he realized that his balls were way bigger tha nhis dick and bailed because he knew he couldn't cut it. Of course, I couldn't handle Fox contantly making idiotic 'suggestions' either, but hey, i wouldn't have taken the job since their controlling nature (and stupidity) is legend.
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Jun 05, 2005 11:58:40 AM CDT
If you guys REALLY want to try and make all this worthwhile and
by xwatcher
I sure hope someone from Fox who has clout actually reads all this. Why not everybody just try and call in to Fox. Ask for the Development dept. You'll be surprised how FAR you just MAY GO. It's worth a shot at making your opinions worth something. All you talkbackers who are filmmakers know HOW to get Direct numbers. The number to Fox is not a secret for everybody not connected to the business. The KEY: Don't act like a FAN to the main operator. Ask for the Motion Picture Development Dept. Better yet ask for Development. Make sure you sound like you have some legitimate business, when they transfer you: Give it to them!
If it just HAD to be a final decision between John Woo and the RAT, I'd take my chances on John. So he fucked up on Windtalkers. Blame that on MGM suits for thinking he can direct a World War II movie. I have no idea what was on their minds. -
i don't see why y'all hating on king brett, the great ratner. i mean he'd be perfect for this movie. he's got a bunch of great characters to work with such as die-hard and um die-hard 2 and 3 or 4 or whatever. he'd be great adapting this to a movie. it has lil story and he can put chris tucker in as a hobo somewhere. so i don't see all the backflash. don't fear that he'd screw up your beloved youngblood or ripclaw adaptations. huh? what do you mean this isn't about youngblood....errmm...........oh x-men 3.......good god, how come no one let me knew. for heavens sake don't let him breath on it. might as well give x3 to tarantino.
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Jun 05, 2005 2:01:46 PM CDT
Get Paul Schrader - hed shoot a literate, meditative superhero f
by spacesheik
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The reason all this gets my fur up is, the X- Men movies were among the first ( since Superman, and along with Spider- Man)to "get it right", to do justice to the source material, a fanboy's dream come true. X2 was successful because it was one of those rare sequels that had the balls to surpass its predecessor, with tons of dramatic character development and action, the single most immersive comic book movie experience I had had up to that point, while leaving the door wide open for plot threads and character appearances in the inevitable follow- up. To look back on it, is to appreciate the synergy of writers, director, performers, and effects crew. Their universe had grown in resonance and complexity to match Middle Earth, and the Star Wars galaxy. Even non- fans could see the potential, the promise that ending offered. At last, we could have a perfect onscreen lineup of Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Colossus. The Danger Room. The Hellfire Club. The Sentinels. And Phoenix! Moviegoers would have a chance to see a character with vast super powers get swallowed up by them. I long ago accepted the fact that some dreams will stay just that- dreams. For reasons of logistics, budget, licensing, and what-have-you, certain events are never gonna happen: Big team movies, cossovers with other characters ( I longed to see a nod towards Xavier's school or Nelson & Murdock's lawfirm in one of the other Marvel movies), I understand these things are a headache to accomplish while trying to avoid the inevitable cheese factor, and that different studios hold the rights to the various franchises. But with X- Men it's all right there, man. I've spent what adds up to probably too much time this weekend wondering what director, in lieu of Bryan Singer, would be best to come save this series. Doug Liman; Gore Verbinski; HELLO! Fucking Guillermo Del Toro?!? Yeah, I know, how geeky is that? In addition to the suggestions ( In today's entertainment climate of dreamers-turned-visionaries, you would think it wouldn't be that hard to find writers and a director with RESPECT for the material), I've read the speculation. And I hope that supposed storyline is just grotesque hyperbole. I'd like to submit my own humble suggestion- No one is expecting a panel- for- panel adaptation of the Dark Phoenix saga, heaven forbid. Just stick with what has worked, and customize it, scale it down, such as, say, instead of having her consume a sun, have Jean devour a nuclear power plant, that being the catalyst for the world at large, and Xavier's students in particular, to put a stop to her threat.
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Perfectly captures the frustration of a fan in the aftermath of this news. Wouldn't it be ironic if this project kept threatening to get off the ground in starts and fits until Singer finished 'Superman?' But, due to ego and the news about a composer being named, it sounds like Fox is gonna go ahead and name Ratner the director. Even though almost nobody outside of themselves thinks it's a good idea. Oh well.
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ratner was gonna direct superman, he got kicked off, now singer's on superman, and ratner's being considered for x3... one of those things makes me happy and the other does not. take a guess.
for god's sake just get somebody who has made a good movie before. that should be the only criteria. neither of these suggested x3 directors have met that criteria.
god dammit, x-men was a series you could show to non-geeks and they would like it, because they were good movies. my teenage sister, complete teenybopper high school plastic girl, loved the x-men movies. this is going to ruin that. -
And I totally agree, fercryinoutloud, the least they could do is get a director who's work doesn't reek of lowest- common- denominator commercialism. [sigh.] Thanks, Ribbons. You're probably right. Last I checked, Ratner's all but a done deal. It's sickening to think if they could just postpone production, this could've been avoided.
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Yeah, right. Nuthin' t'do but pray now.
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Jun 05, 2005 5:03:28 PM CDT
Ratner is to the 90s what Sidney J. Furie was to the 60s and 70s
by spacesheik
Ratner is a step above michael winner, j. lee thompson, mcq and paul 'avp' anderson - but not by much.
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1. The US-made Jackie Chan buddy comedy that wasn't as good as High Noon; 2. The version of Red Dragon that wasn't as good as the other one; 3. The Pierce Brosnan thief movie that wasn't as good as The Thomas Crown Affair...
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Done deal
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the_jury, please tell me your joking about that variety confirmation.
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http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117923934?categoryid=13&cs=1
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and I actually think RUSH HOUR 2 is one of the finest action comedies of all time.
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Lissen to the folks above. Done deal. Fuck you, Arad.
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See what I get for being so lazy, I confused Ratner and Leonard. Should have checked my references. Oops, my bad.
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Jun 05, 2005 7:56:25 PM CDT
OK... I officially no longer give a damn about X-3. Ratty can d
by vynson
X-MEN--Nothing to look forward to any longer. Any hope of quality is gone with Ratner on board. I was at the midnight sneaks for X-1 and 2, but I doubt I'll bother seeing this one. WATCHMEN--Seems to be dead. V FOR VENDETTA--Sounds like it's been spayed/neutered. HULK, ELEKTRA, PUNISHER have all been screwed up in their initial outings. I've got my fingers crossed for FF, which in spite of the messed up Electro/Dr. Doom hybrid BS looks interesting. I think Singer will give us a kick ass Superman. I think Nolan will deliver Batman for the first time ever (Keaton came closest so far in spite of Burton's goth/camp crap). And I am confident that Sam Raimi will continue to respect us with his excellent take on Spider-Man.
I'm putting X-3 out of my mind. It's obvious that Marvel and Fox don't give a crap about it or they wouldn't put Ratty on it. Might as well cast Gary Coleman as Wolverine while you're at it. Hulk Hogan as Prof. X. Abe Vigoda in drag playing Rogue. Who cares? So, if they don't care, I'm not going to waste my time or money on it anymore either. Hear that sound, Avi? That's the sound of me washing my hands of X-Men... the sound of my money (7 tickets--my geekiest daughter and I catch the sneaks and then we take the whole family over the weekend-- at 10 bucks a pop and 20 bucks for the DVD) staying in my wallet. -
Arnold has just nailed a rebel to the wall with his knife and we get a line like "Stick around". That is gold, pure gold. We can only hope for that type of quality in X3.
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Ratner may not be the best director, but at least we now have a chance of actually having a director that can actually DIRECT an action scene. You have to admit Singer's action scenes were pretty much shit.
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singer is not much of from the ridley scott school of action shooting. ratner will do a better job with that but on character development that where the whole sha-bang crumbles. hmmmmmmmmm.......jackie chan as angel.....oh ratner yay. so will ratner be announced tomorrow along with who ever is playing angel?
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my grammar is as woeful as this news of ratner taking over the helm of the x-franchise.
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I don't really have the hate that everyone else on this board has for Ratner. I mean, in all of his movies I've seen, I've never gone "This direction sucks!" I agree he doesn't seem to get the VERY BEST out of his actors, but he seems to do solid, don't rock the boat stuff. I imagine that after two directors have just given you the finger FOX is probably looking for a little bit of that right now. These actors know these characters so, hopefully, that will help out a little. I really think it's not Ratner that will ruin this movie. It is the script. Everybody hated Singer when he first came on, then they hated Vaughn when he was announced, as I see it, with this kind of hate for Ratner this movie has to be good.
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because i'm going to jump.
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So eh.
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Jun 05, 2005 10:39:15 PM CDT
Ratner--ehhhherrrrmmm, and ONE death would be acceptable, mayyyy
by demosthenes2
Sad times for the X-Men films. I know it's pretentious to say, but given the superhero films that have worked and haven't worked in the past decade, we clearly need someone who has serious auteur vision in the director's chair on these projects. Unfair to say maybe, but Ratner seems like the guy who studios and producers love because maybe he's undemanding compared to other directors who need so much for their art, but we have little evidence that he's creative enough for a project like this. Even beyond it just being horrendous timing, it's especially frustrating losing Matthew Vaughn when I just saw Layer Cake and loved it, better than any Guy Ritchie in fact.
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I was so hoping the fanboy backlash would at least delay the announcement. This is the same guy who couldn't get Superman off the ground after an entire year. Ok, i'm officially pissed off.
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http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=9892
Looks like CSN got this first after all. -
Or not. Again. Oh well.
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Jun 05, 2005 11:00:34 PM CDT
Is it weird that two Ratner apologists pop up out of nowhere AFT
by ribbons
Ratner sucks. I don't care if he doesn't "rock the boat" or if he can shoot an action scene okay. If being able to shoot an action scene or not rocking the boat were the criteria, there'd STILL be better choices than Ratner. His movies are lowbrow garbage, even 'The Family Man,' which I sorta liked.
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this just keeps getting worse and worse.
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20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment set Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour" films) on Friday night to replace Matthew Vaughn as the director of X-Men 3, reports Variety. Shooting will start in August for a Memorial Day weekend 2006 opening date.
A comic book enthusiast, Ratner was among the helmers considered to direct the first X-Men. The job went to Bryan Singer instead. Ratner then spent a full year developing Superman Returns, the film that ultimately prompted Singer to drop out of directing "X3."
The trade adds that the "X3" budget is locked, and Fox and Marvel brass consider the script by Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg to be at least as strong as that of the first two installments. The original returning stars have been signed, and the cast is bolstered by Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut and Lost star Maggie Grace as Kitty Pryde (aka Shadowcat).
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well think about this- brett was set for superman, and was an original choice for the first x-men film. then the guy who directed and got the x-men franchise off the ground and then LEFT the x-men franchise- bryan singer is now doing superman-the movie brett spent a year developing...maybe brett ratner wants to show the world what he can do- and try to prove he's better for the job and better than singer, and in the process kick bryan singers superman movie in the ass. like two kids at a playground- maybe brett will grow some balls and just make an incredibly amazing movie- JUST to spite bryan singer...hopefully...i'm hoping...it's all i've really got now.
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Jun 06, 2005 12:21:14 AM CDT
Ratner, considering absolutely no one is happy about you directi
by freakemovie
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Screw Joss Whedon, that loser. He screwed up the Alien franchise 10 times worse than Fincher did. I'm still pissed at that sloppy script he crapped out! And how is he taking a step back?
How is directing a big name franchise under anyones rules a step back? Whatever... -
..Ratner's safe, by-the-numbers style of directing will ensure that X3 is nothing short of mediocre. Great!
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Hey, so what do you guys think of the news that Brett Ratner is going to direct X3? Pretty awesome, eh? Is this thing on?
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In Sin City.
After seeing the fight between Mickey Rourke and Elija Wood.
Think Wolverine vs Sabertooth.
Robert is good with multi-thred stories and using large groups of characters.
Robert Rodriguez would be perfect for this job.
TC FOX don't let us down. -
There was buzz about Ratner doing the Superman. Then Singer got the movie (says he's going to ignore Superman III.. good choice, but don't forget the delightful Superman IV). But here's the rub, Singer will take out Superman III and instead replace it with X3 by handing the directorial ball to Ratner. And really, if you want to follow some screwy logic... Singer in effect is going to annihilate the Superman franchise when he puts together another sub-par superhero movie, has a fit, and hands it off to another bubbleheaded director like Ratner.
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...maybe he will do alright? After all when I heard he was going to be making the Hannibal Lecter movie, I was like Ugh! But it was surprised. I don't know, not letting myself get too hyped about this one...for now.
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dumb ass. You like pulling childish pranks on these Talkbacks because you think you're pushing people's buttons. Only post if you want to talk movies.
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dumb ass!
You better squeeze your twat, cunt! You know you like this. Stop making racial slurs about Halle Berry. The only buttons you're pushing are the people who are more crazier than you. Watch your back BITCH! By the way, Don't bother posting to respond to this. I WONT BE READING TALKBACK FOR A LONG TIME. So quit acting like calling yourself Sodomy makes you not vulnerable and doesn't bother you because deep down inside YOU KNOW IT DOES! and it bothers you. I won't be on talkback for a long time so get revenge on YOURSELF by shuttin you're dumb pussy up, and just start crying.....
Apologies to AICN and fans, but no one was regulating this BITCH for racial slurs and extreme obscenities. I am Vigilante.
See you all next year! RabbiSodomy, watch yo back, BITCH! -
Doubt he would do the third film in.
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Originally it was Bryan Singer opted out from XM3 because directing a Superman film was his dream project. Now Ratner (besides claiming he isn't the anti-Christ, and isn't that just the sort of thing the anti-Christ would claim?) is saying that Singer didn't like the script and that's why he turned it down. I've got an increasingly bad feeling about this...
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Ok, just for a moment lets consider the minor squabbles pre-rease reviewers have had of Batman Begins. Primarily I hear that Nolan just isn't an action director, but nails the parts and the pacing etc. Well what the hell was Singer? Brian singer was not a good choice to bring X-men to the big screen in the first place, though I do not say this without backup, nor without reservations. First off I do admit that Singer created a tangeable X-Men universe, similar to what Nolan has seemingly done with Batman. The difference to me at least is that Batman needed a bit of gritty reality to make the film complete yet to me X-Men though character driven has never been terribly gritty. Bloody? Yes? Dramatic? Yes. But realistic? Fuck no. My main dissapointment with the X films is that it completely grounded the characters to a point where I could just give up on seeing any of the crazy cosmic shit and giant Sentinels that I was expecting to see. Instead I got a contemporary retelling, with a great cast, decent dialogue and all, but overall I was vastly underwhealmed by both films. And though I agree the second one is better, it doesn't go that far in redeeming the things I didnt' like about where Singer went. The films ended up being somewhere between where I wanted them to go and the gritty reality that Batman Begins looks to be going, but to me it was a trudging middleground that lacked either the true grittyness required to make me but this contemporary setting, nor the amazingness that I expect out of X-Men like any good science fiction. I don't think the series has gone in the best direction so far, though it's still a solid couple of films and I'd just be ignorant to completely say that they are crap, because they are not. But one things for sure, I'm glad Brian Singer is off of them and I hope it's for good. Granted somebody else might have done worse, but I can't believe Ratner is going to dissapoint me any more than Singer has. There's still hope for these films to go where I want them to, but they really need to retain the drama that they've obviously got pinned and take the action and settings beyond secret labs and watered down versions of the comics. Now in Singer's defense I do believe that he might just do a better job with Superman, that is if he can come up with his own visual style finally and without 2 dozen different characters to deal with he has no excuse not to nail both the characters as well as the technical requirements to make it happen. Though I find it hard to believe that anyone but Richard Donner or Sam Raimi could do this justice. Unfortunately we'd never see a Raimi Superman, it's too much like his wonderful Spiderman films. Here's hoping one comic book fan to another! - Az
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...If they can get Del Toro on this shitstorm waiting to happen. he did an amazing job on Hellboy. We'd get a darker X-men story, faithful to the last two x stories, and no fucking costume nipples. So no, Shoe-upper-asser or Ratshit would be franchise death as far as I can see.
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