X-Men (Film)
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- For the series, see X-Men (film series).
| X-Men | |
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bryan Singer |
| Produced by | Lauren Shuler Donner Ralph Winter |
| Screenplay by | David Hayter |
| Story by | Tom DeSanto Bryan Singer |
| Based on | X-Men by Jack Kirby Stan Lee |
| Starring | Patrick Stewart Hugh Jackman Ian McKellen Halle Berry Famke Janssen James Marsden Bruce Davison Rebecca Romijn-Stamos Ray Park Tyler Mane Anna Paquin |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
| Cinematography | Newton Thomas Sigel |
| Edited by | Steven Rosenblum Kevin Stitt John Wright |
| Production companies | Marvel Entertainment Group The Donners' Company Bad Hat Harry Productions |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date | July 12, 2000 (Ellis Island) July 14, 2000 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75 million |
| Box office | $296.3 million |
X-Men is a 2000 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first installment in the X-Men film series, followed by X2 in 2003 and X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. The film, directed by Bryan Singer and written by David Hayter, features an ensemble cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Ray Park, Tyler Mane, and Anna Paquin. It depicts a world in which a small proportion of people are mutants, whose possession of superhuman powers makes them distrusted by normal humans. The film focuses on the mutants Wolverine and Rogue as they are brought into a conflict between two groups that have radically different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutant-kind: Professor Xavier's X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto.
Development for X-Men began as far back as 1984 with Orion Pictures. At one point James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow were in discussions. The film rights went to 20th Century Fox in 1994 and various scripts and film treatments were commissioned from Andrew Kevin Walker, John Logan, Joss Whedon, and Michael Chabon. Singer signed to direct in 1996, with further rewrites by Ed Solomon, Singer, Tom DeSanto, Christopher McQuarrie and Hayter in which Beast and Nightcrawler were deleted over budget concerns from Fox. X-Men marks the Hollywood debut of actor Hugh Jackman, who was a last-second choice for Wolverine, cast three weeks into filming. Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March 3, 2000, primarily in Toronto. X-Men was released to positive reviews and was a financial success, starting the X-Men film franchise and spawning a reemergence of superhero films.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Cast
- The mutant founder of the X-Men and the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, who hopes for peaceful coexistence between mutantkind and mankind and is regarded as an authority on genetic mutation. Although restricted to a wheelchair, his mutant powers include vast telepathy, which is amplified by the Cerebro supercomputer that he invented with Magneto's help.
- A Canadian mutant who makes a living in cage fights and has lived for fifteen years without memory of who he is, apart from his tags marked "Wolverine" and an adamantium-encased skeleton (as well as adamantium claws). His mutant powers include enhanced, animal-like senses (enabling him to sense other people) and the ability to heal rapidly from numerous injuries, including the surgery that bonded the metal to his skeleton, which makes his age impossible to determine.
- A mutant Holocaust survivor who was once friends with Xavier (with whom he helped to build Cerebro), until his belief that humans and mutants could never co-exist led to their separation. His mutant powers include powerful magnetic fields, metal manipulation, and a sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation, which he uses to plan a mutation of the world leaders to allow mutant prosperity.
- Brett Morris as young Erik Lehnsherr
- A white-haired mutant who teaches at Xavier's school. Although calm and caring, Storm has become bitter with other people's hatred for mutants, and while comforting a dying Senator Kelly, reveals that she sometimes hates humans because she is afraid of them. Her mutant power allows her to control the weather with her mind.
- The mutant doctor of the X-Mansion who is Cyclops's fiancée. Her powers include telekinesis and telepathy.
- A mutant who is Xavier's second-in-command and the X-Men's field leader, as well as an instructor at the Institute. He is engaged to Jean Grey. His powers include a strong red beam of force shooting from his eyes, which is only held in check by sunglasses or a specialized ruby-quartz visor, which also enables him to control the strength of the beam to fire when in combat.
- An anti-mutant politician who wishes to ban mutant children from schools using a Mutant Registration Act. He is kidnapped by Magneto in a test of his mutation machine, which causes his body to turn into a liquid-like substance. He dies before Jean could save him.
- Magneto's mutant loyal second-in-command, who seems completely facile with respect to modern technology. Her powers include altering her shape, voice and mimicking any human being, which is almost secondary to her role as "the perfect soldier".
- A very agile mutant and henchman of Magneto. His powers include a prehensile tongue, a slimy substance that he spits onto others, and enhanced agility.
- A brutal and sadistic Canadian mutant mercenary and henchman of Magneto. His powers include a ferocious, feline-like nature, enhanced animal-like senses, fangs and healing abilities similar to Wolverine's, and claws extending past each finger.
- A mutant seventeen-year-old girl forced to leave her home in Mississippi when she puts her boyfriend into a coma by kissing him. Her powers include absorbing anyone's memories, life force, and in the case of mutants - powers through physical touch.
Additionally, Shawn Ashmore appeared in a minor role as Bobby Drake / Iceman, a mutant student at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters who takes a liking to Rogue. His powers include generating ice. David Hayter, Stan Lee, and Tom DeSanto make cameo appearances. George Buza, the voice of Beast in X-Men: The Animated Series, appeared as the truck driver who drops Rogue off at the bar at which Wolverine fights. Other cameo appearances include Sumela Kay as Kitty Pryde, Katrina Florece as Jubilee and Donald MacKinnon as a young Colossus sketching a picture in one scene. Gambit was considered for one of the students at the X-Mansion. Singer remembered, "We thought about Gambit as the young boy on the basketball field, but the feeling was that if he has the basketball and then releases it and it exploded, [then] people would be like 'What's wrong with those basketballs?'" Kevin Feige had a cameo as a Weapon X tech, but his scenes did not make the final cut of the film.
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
[edit] Casting
[edit] Filming
[edit] Design and effects
[edit] Music
[edit] Release
[edit] Marketing
[edit] Box office
[edit] Critical response
[edit] Awards
[edit] Home media
[edit] Sequel
After the film's critical and financial success, a series of films followed starting with, X2 in 2003.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Template:X-Men Media Template:Marvel Comics Films Template:Bryan Singer Template:Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 1991–2010
