Major renegotiations possible stumbling block for new 'X-Men'
By Marilyn Beck And Stacy Jenel Smith
The surprise clip at the end of this summer's "X-Men: The Last Stand," belied the film's title, leaving room for yet another stand of the mutant brigade. But when and which of the mutant posse will be back are the outstanding questions. Exec producer Lauren Shuler Donner reports that renegotiations will be in order for the fourth installment of the big-screen sagas.
"The newer cast members are signed, and the older cast members are not." Considering the older names involved -- Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Romijn, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin -- that could run into a huge chunk of money.
All that's putting the cart before the wolverine, of course, since Hugh Jackman is set to reprise his role as the manicure-challenged mutant superhero in his own film. "Next, we're going to do 'Wolverine,' but not before the end of the year because he's in the Baz Luhrmann film," she says of the filmmaker's untitled Australian epic with Nicole Kidman. However, "We have the script and are working on it."
Shuler Donner reports, "We also have 'Young Magneto' in development." Also on her slate: "Next year, we're going to make 'The Secret Life of Bees,' and we have a movie that's the start of a new franchise at Universal called "Cirque du Freak." It's a series of 12 books originally from England. They're huge best sellers there, and they're going on our children's best sellers list here. We have a script by Brian Helgeland, who wrote 'Man on Fire' and 'L.A. Confidential,' and we're just meeting with directors now. We'll start filming that next summer."
THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: Newly divorced "Scrubs" actor Donald Faison spent much of his series hiatus with his work mates. "Last year I was full of projects and stuff," he notes, "and I felt kind of exhausted halfway through the season. This time, I decided to go on vacation." That included a trek to Amsterdam with castmate Zach Braff, and one to New York to see Judy Reyes perform onstage with Eric McCormack in "Some Girl(s)." Faison says he and Braff and series creator Bill Lawrence spent quite a bit of time hanging out -- and didn't talk about the show.
"I guess we live it for half a year," he notes, "so when we're not working, the conversation is more like, 'How are the kids?' 'Can you pass the shrimp?"'
With "Scrubs" -- which is up for Outstanding Comedy Emmy honors -- returning to production today, Faison says, "I'm really nervous, like the first day of school. It's six years, and the show still feels fresh." He's waiting to find out how the birth of his and Reyes' characters' baby will be handled. And then there's the other big question for the series, which is returning midseason: "How is NBC
going to promote us? That's been an ongoing issue with our show. We've been moved around more than any other series," notes Faison. "To succeed the way we have with the amount of publicity we've gotten is a great testament to how good the show is."
http://www.dailynews.com/celebrities/ci_4177414
You know after the amazing mess they made out of Last Stand I dont see why they will bother. I supose it was a good movie for people who DONT already know the story, but for those of us who do they've ruined the franchise.
It makes me very concerned about the new Spiderman.
I agree. I think after they killed off the professor that was the STUPIDEST thing they could have done, I hope they crash and burn for it.Originally Posted by HawkFyre
I don't know the X-Men story and I thought the Last Stand sucked.
Now stop being so freaking nice, and buy a stun gun. - Krell
Most people are really clueless when it comes to comic movies. A friend of mine insisted their could not be a sequal before I saw it. The thing is in the x men comics their were different teams and apparently from what happened at the end of the movie the gold team (Angel, bishop, colossus,Iceman,marvel girl, storm) may have been created. So in theory another movie would work fine because its already been done in the comics the last stand was nowhere near the end of the saga.
Well as far as the xmen series, you can keep it! I am more for characters that DO NOT CHANGE! That is why batman and superman have been around so long...the character itself has gone through transformations but the character is STILL ALIVE...not dead! Who the hell cares about a series if they kill off the main characters you get used to?
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