Initial release date: July 14, 2000
Studios: 20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment/The Donners' Company
Tagline: Evolution begins
Plot: They are children of the atom, homo superior, the next link in the chain of evolution, which at puberty manifested itself in extraordinary powers. In a world filled with hate and prejudice, they are feared by those who can't accept their differences. Led by Xavier the X-Men fight to protect a world that fears them. They are locked in a battle with a former colleague and friend, Magneto, who believes humans and mutants should never co-exist.
Cast
Hugh Jackman - Logan/Wolverine
Patrick Stewart - Xavier
Ian McKellen - Magneto
Famke Janssen - Jean Grey
James Marsden - Cyclops
Halle Berry - Storm
Anna Paquin - Rogue
Tyler Mane - Sabretooth
Ray Park - Toad
Rebecca Romijn - Mystique
Bruce Davison - Senator Kelly
Matthew Berry - Henry Guyrich
Shawn Ashmore - Bobby
Writer: David Hayter (Watchmen; X2: X-Men United; The Scorpion King)
Director: Bryan Singer
I initially planned to start my X-Men review series when I checked out Deadpool and Wolverine, but got behind on a few things. And, my vacation was right after. So, now, I will finally go through the entire X-Men/Fox universe, including the Deadpool movies and The New Mutants.
X-Men is a 2000 superhero movie released by 20th Century Fox that still holds up today. This movie delivers a lot of action and the visual effects still look really awesome.
And, honestly, one of the best things about this film is the casting. Surely, down the road Marvel will be recasting these iconic characters. But, with how popular these characters are and the actors that play them, I honestly can't really see any other actors portraying them.
The action sequences are visually incredible and the third act Staten Island sequence is one of the best third acts in a superhero released in the early 2000s. Just like some superhero flicks, X-Men does have some flaws and a couple kinda silly moments. But, nonetheless, it's an entertaining start of the X-Men/Fox universe.
Here are some fun tidbits about the 2000 movie X-MEN!
Shortly after accepting the role of Magneto, McKellen was offered the role of Gandalf, which originally, he had to decline. He spoke to director Bryan Singer about his interest in making Lord of the Rings, and Singer agreed to rearrange this movie's shooting schedule so that McKellen would finish his scenes by the end of 1999, freeing him up to travel to NYC in January 2000.
In order to keep her look a secret, Rebecca Romijn had to sit in an isolated, windowless room when not required for shooting.
Patrick Stewart was the first actor to be cast as a mutant, and in fact, had been a fan-favorite for the role of Professor X since the early 1990s, especially after X-Men: The Animated Series.
This is the only X-Men movie to be mostly an original story. All of the other movies were loosely based on specific stories from the comic books.
Singer's first choice to play Wolverine was Russell Crowe, but he turned it down. Other actors considered: Mel Gibson, Aaron Eckhart, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Viggo Mortensen, Edward Norton, Bob Hoskins, Keanu Reeves and Gary Sinise. Dougray Scott was cast but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Mission Impossible II.
Wary of the risk of starting an expensive franchise that could've died after just one movie, 20th Century Fox's studio executives assigned this movie a budget of only $75 million, quite low for a big summer tent-pole release, when the average summer blockbuster budget at the time was upwards of $100 million.
Most of the cast, especially James Marsden and Patrick Stewart, prepared for their roles by reading the comics.
Angela Bassett was considered for the role of Storm, who in the comics married the African King superhero T'CHalla (Black Panther). She appeared in Black Panther and the sequel Wakanda Forever as T'Challa's mother.
Executive producer Tom DeSanto chose Bryan Singer as director after watching The Usual Suspects, impressed with how Singer handled an ensemble cast in that movie.
The 9th highest grossing movie of 2000. The previous 8 are the following: Mission Impossible II, Gladiator, What Women Want, Cast Away, Dinosaur, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Meet the Parents and The Perfect Storm.
Marvel Comics writers and chief editors Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas wrote an X-Men screenplay in 1984 when orion Pictures held an option on the film rights, but development stalled when orion began facing with financial troubles.
In December 1992, Marvel discussed selling the property to Columbia to no avail. Meanwhile, Avi Arad produced the animated X-Men TV series for Fox Kids.
20th Century Fox was impressed by the success of the TV series, and producer Lauren Shuler Donner purchased the film rights for the property in 1994.
After the disastrous reception of Batman & Robin in 1997, the release of Blade convinced some film studios that a Marvel character "could carry on" a movie.
In North America, X-Men opened on July 14, 2000, and made $21.4 million on its opening day. This made it the third highest Friday gross, behind The Phantom Menace and The Lost World. It warned $57.5 million in its opening weekend and had the highest grossing opening weekend for a superhero film at the time, a a non-sequel and a July release.
X-Men grossed $157.3 million domestic and $139 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $296.3 million. The success of the movie started a re-emergence for the comic book/superhero genre.
Comments