X-Men: Apocalypse Filming

[jo]

That last bear hug from Hugh to Bryan mention ( after the cameo in APOCALYPSE) brought back memories of that hug when they wrapped filming for the first XMEN movie --






How young Bryan looked


And Hugh, too

[jo]

This is the original EMPIRE article on which the Yahoo article ( link provided by Valerie) was based, with a little more detail added --

www.empireonline.com/movies/x-men-apocalypse/bryan-singer-x-men-apocalypse-cameo




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Bryan Singer talks X -Men: Apocalypse’s big cameo


Director and X-Men veteran Bryan Singer has finally broken his silence on the big cameo surprise that popped up in X-Men: Apocalypse. (Naturally, it wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone who saw the trailer, or indeed anyone really who has seen an X-Men film, but nonetheless we should probably say that spoilers follow for anyone who is yet to see X-Men: Apocalypse.

Still with us? Good. It was Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, of course, who makes an appearance in a spectacularly bloody scene towards the end of the film, depicting Logan escaping the hellish confines of his Weapon X prison. Singer had previously told us that “Wolverine was never a big part of the formation of the X-Men, so he can’t be in this story.” We now know that his pants were involved in an extensive conflagration, so to speak.

Jackman – who is winding down his stint as the iconic mutant, with a final solo movie due next year – was on board almost immediately. “I called him up and pitched it to him directly,” as Singer puts it. “It was a rare moment for an actor – usually they say, ‘I’ll think about that’, but he said, ‘no mate, it works brilliantly. Count me in’. I hung up the phone knowing I had a commitment for the cameo, which was unusual. He’s a friend, of course, but you commit to a small amount of time in the life of an actor, and that’s very hard to do.”


Despite the timelines being reset in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Wolverine still ends up in the Weapon X project – something Singer ascribes to “time’s immutability,” explaining: “You can alter time and make ripples in time, but time tends to try to regroup and find where it was intended to go. My feeling with this movie is that it brings each character closer to their destinies.”

Singer praised Jackman’s commitment to even a small cameo that took two days to film (“It’s very important for Hugh that it be him doing the very physical stunts”). He also noted the rather nice circuitousness of Jackman’s final filmed shot, which sees Singer himself cameo as a security guard meeting an untimely adamantium end. “I did that on purpose,” says Singer, laughing. “It’s not my usual thing, but to do it with him and then to get a bear hug from a bloody, but very happy, Wolverine was great. It was very poetic.”

They must have both felt sentimental about that final moment of working together on the franchise! Hope somebody filmed it ( just like the wrap video clip from XMEN1 which I posted earlier) and is uploaded.

But I also thought his comments about "time's immutability" ( "time tends to try to regroup and find where it was intended to go") which he bared to Empire ( a key component of the long-term success of the franchise, with Empire's longterm media support), was very telling. Did he eventually regret not having brought in a beloved and key character in a major way into the plotline...and was the cameo his nonsubstantive mea culpa?

[jo]

My personal impressions of the movie --


I am not too sure -- but to be safe:


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*It qualifies as a full-blown disaster movie that seemed like the end-of-the-world... and nothing much more - explosions, eruptions and conflagrations in a story of attempted world domination!

*The only dramatic arc that is suggested was that of Magneto. I do recall that according to early plans then, Future Past was supposed to be Charles's arc while the sequel will focus on the drama in Magneto's life. As for Raven --it seems she is only featured to show off Jennifer's arguable star power *rolleyes*

*I cannot seem to appreciate how the younger versions of the key mutants will eventually become the principal characters of the first and second XMEN movie. The only ones whose stories have been better fleshed out to prepare to the eventual transition was Cyclops, Nightcrawler...and the introduction of Quicksilver. But I still cannot see how the young Charles here ( McAvoy) can become the patrician and authoritative leader, Prof Xavier of Patrick Stewart. On the other hand, Fassbender's Magneto is too solemn and almost brooding ( although maybe that is because of his background) to eventually become Ian McKellen's almost playful characterization of Magneto.   Jean is not remarkable, maybe until the last act. Otherwise her face and her acting  strikes me as a blank canvas.   As for Mystique - I hardly saw her. It was just Lawrence without Rebecca's eye-catching blue skin, trying to act leader-ly *rolleyes*. Raven comes and goes -- but did we learn more about her story. Nah!

As for the four horsemen, except for Magneto, the other three all seemed like young punks recruited to demonstrate the super-charged action. Save for the introduction of the young Storm, we hardly heard spoken words from Angel and Psylocke. Had the four horsemen been cast closer to the comics - maybe they would have been a more formidable team!

I forgot about the titular character Apocalypse! Personally, I would like to have seen someone who is more credible and more scary or more dominant -- maybe taller, deeper voice, and more commanding presence! I would not be scared of him if I were a fanboy - I would think he was just another overgrown fanboy wearing a costume for the ComicCon


*As for that much awaited cameo --

**It is certainly a forerunner of what might be the Wolverine we will meet in the R-rated WOLVERINE 3. Except this one is very ferocious and savage and mindless! I think that while Wolverine will likely retain some of the character's savagery to some extent, the violence we will see in the solo movie ( like the violence we had to wince through in Prisoners) will be contextualized within his harrowing experiences.

**It is still Hugh's physique in other Wolverine movies which I saw ...but a scene showing him with his back running away reminds me of Hugh on Bondi Beach  ... did he show us more of his body than we usually see in an XMen  movie -- yup! 

**My favorite moment here -- something that I never expected, although knowing how good an actor he is, I should have foreseen it.  First, there were some apprehensions and (even expression of distaste by some) about the wide age difference between the actress who plays Jean ( Sophie Turner, who is in her early 20's) and the actor who plays Wolverine ( 47-year old Jackman). But that didn't seem like the issue at all. For one, Sophie has a mature face and did not look her age.  And don't forget that Wolverine was supposed to be something like 130 years old ( in 2016) - LOL! 


Seriously, that precious and poignant moment when she restores part of Wolverine's humanity and he shows some prescience about the person in front of him ( foreshadowing their relationship in the future) -- Hugh was acting so well, that I could almost feel the pain of unexplained recognition and a longing that somehow they will meet again.  Very fine acting from Hugh (  reflected on his face, and and without one word uttered). He removes the instruments attached to him while Jean removes the helmet that contributed to his animalistic behavior ( because that was how he was controlled by the Stryker men) -- it slowly unravels the eventual Wolverine -- half beast sometimes...but human most of the time!


I did not expect that moment! It was also the one memorable romantic moment in this film!


I did not see any other because of the thunder of explosions and the shoutings! LOL!

[jo]

Some convoluted thinking on the implications of Hugh Jackman appearing as another version of Wolverine in APOCALYPSE --

www.cinemablend.com/new/Major-Wolverine-Questions-We-Have-X-Men-Apocalypse-133677.html


I'm not sure that I agree with their conclusions!

They say that allowing Hugh Jackman to be the Wolverine of Apocalypse missed out on an opportunity to recast the role ( i.e., they could have already cast a young actor together with the young Jean and the young Cyclops).

But they cannot cast a very young actor ( within the same age range as the new cast) for the role of Wolverine. It has been established in comic book canon that Wolverine would be around 100 years old at the time of the Apocalypse era of the 1980's ( as he was supposedly born in the late 1880's) but looking middle-aged because of his regenerative powers. He cannot be as young as Jean and Scott in Apocalypse and age at the same rate when they become the Famke/Jean and James/Cyclops of the original trilogy ( supposedly at the turn of the millennium). Wolverine does not age at that pace. So, it was right for the 47-year old Jackman to be the face of the Wolverine who encounters the young Jean and the young Cyclops.

If they still need Wolverine in future movies of the franchise, they should simply cast a middle-aged looking actor ( maybe in his early 30's) just as Hugh was cast in 1999. Maybe the actor can be with the franchise for the next decade or so. Whether he is an acceptable replacement or not to fans may be the issue. But that is the problem of Fox and the creative team of the franchise!

Jo

[mamaleh]

Caught XM:A at a mid-afternoon showing. It was pretty crowded; maybe others got off from work early, too? Yes, there were explosions aplenty, but there was enough story to hold my attention, especially Magneto's story (although I'm confused--when did he get together with Quicksilver's mom, and who is she?): and of course Hugh's cameo. His face is so expressive; he says so much just by looking into Jean's eyes.

I agree with you, Jo, about Sophie Turner's Jean. She seemed like a cypher with very little personality. Odd--because I find her compelling on GAME OF THRONES.

Nancy R--look for one scene, early on, with a wink to another franchise we're both fond of.

Ellen

[jo]

I think the Magneto relationship with Quicksilver's mom was a nod to something that happened in the comic books. They added it to this movie just to add to Magneto's should-I-or-shouldn't-I moment with Charles again ( first one was in First Class, maybe there was one, too, in Future Past).

The nod to another franchise, unfortunately and unwittingly, is now being used to describe this third movie in the prequel trilogy by quite a few critics.


Er..."third time around is the worst"


Hope that does not happen to WOLVERINE 3, although because ORIGINS was practically written off in APOCALYPSE ( the retelling at what happened at Alkali Lake) maybe it will confuse any count-offs


Jo

[jo]

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_apocalypse/


With 230 critiques in ( probably getting close to the total number that will be submitted), the Rotten Tomatoes combined rating for ALL critics is 48%. If only TOP critics votes are counted, it goes down to 36%

By way of comparison to the three most recent movies from the franchise --

Days of Future Past -- 91% for All Critics; 94% for Top Critics ( with 276 total votes)

Deadpool - 83% for All Critics; 73% for Top Critics ( with 263 total votes)

The Wolverine -- 70% for ALL Critics; 63 % for Top Critics ( with 234 total votes)


60% is the minimum rating to be certified FRESH!

[jo]

Looking further into the rating of THE WOLVERINE ( in the hope that James Mangold will again find the right formula for Hugh's finale Wolverine movie ) -- this is the summary review by ROTTEN TOMATOES :

Critics Consensus: Although its final act succumbs to the usual cartoonish antics, The Wolverine is one superhero movie that manages to stay true to the comics while keeping casual viewers entertained.

"stay true to the comics" --

the clueless clues (LOL!), at the moment, seem to be make the fans hopeful when some speculations on the villains have come out as discerned from the post-credit scenes of APOCALYPSE, some scoops about The Reavers, and Singer's pitch to Fox for a female Wolverine ( X 23). It is amusing to note that the quality of superhero movies are sometimes judged on who the villains are in the storyline ... Inspiration from the comic books ( via the western-like saga of Old Man Logan, but not necessarily an actual retelling of that tale) seems to be also a hallmark for the forthcoming Wolverine solo film.


"while keeping casual viewers entertained." --

this is with reference to the general public who are not actual comicbook fans but enjoy well-told action movies. The mention of the "western tone" and " radical" elements by Kinberg could be a clue on why this is going to be a different kind of XMEN movie. Of course there is also the promise of an R rating -- but to me, I am hoping that it is not simply license for more violence and gore -- but that the storyline will include plot points and characterizations that make for satisfying viewing for both fanboys and mature audiences!


Taking a lesson from DEADPOOL, it is not so much the R rating that I am hoping will influence WOLVERINE 3 (because the reasons for possible duplication of this rating for Wolverine 3 are likely going to be very different from that of Deadpool) but that the Deadpool movie dared try a completely different way ( but still very true to the comic books) to tell a comic book story. I think what failed with Apocalypse was they tried to tell another disaster tale much like other disaster tales in the genre( Independence Day, anyone? Except Apocalypse is a home-planet villain ) and offered no new or refreshing insights. Even the perennial conflict/friendship pull between Charles Xavier and Magneto was told a third time!


I am confident that James Mangold ( who has directed/co-written some well-received and diverse movies like "3:10 to Yuma", "Walk the Line", "Girl, Interrupted", and even Jackman fan favorite "Kate and Leopold") has the right touch and creative juices ( both as a director and as a co-script writer) to find the right balance for this movie.

And Hugh wants only the best for his swan song to Wolverine! I am hoping that the reason it took them a fair amount of time to agree on the script was to be able to give us a refreshing viewpoint, and not just another comicbook story, of this (hopefully) encompassing Wolverine tale.

I hope it sets the standard or bar so high that it will take a very long time, before FOX goes back and attempts another cinematic Wolverine tale!


Jo

[jo]

A lot of post-mortems ongoing with fanboys on IMDB because of the very disappointing box office results expected of this opening 4-day weekend and because of the scathing reviews at Rotten Tomatoes ( now down to 48%).

A lot of responses point out to the lack of a real part for Wolverine ( a cameo is just a cameo) .

But this one even speculates that the cameo seemed rush and could have been done better...while making some assumptions that Wolverine was deliberately left out of the project --

I think it honestly would have worked better if it had been in the script to begin with and they were to film it during the period of reshoots - when he would actually be available to work with - instead of them deciding not to include Wolverine, and then shoehorn him back into the movie when they realized that Jennifer Lawrence isn't the box office draw that she was a few years ago.

While another IMDB poster made this observation --

I just noticed that not only is he uncredited, but the movie came out in America yesterday and Europe last week (not sure if it came out on Oz yet) and Hugh hasn't tweeted ANYTHING about apocalypse. He hasn't prompted the movie at all, not even from a tweet like he did when he helped Reynold promote Deadpool. I do wonder why. He posted the teaser of Wolverine once but it wasn't even an obvious tweet. The average person looking at it wouldn't even know what it was unless they click on it if memory serves me right.

LOL - I wonder what really happened?


Jo

[jo]

A critic who didn't exactly like APOCALYPSE said that he attended the press screening in NYC for the movie. One of his wry observations --

SPOILER: Click to show

At one point the screening audience started clapping for a new arrival when all we could see of him was his bare feet.

.

You'll laugh, too, if and when you finally see the movie


Jo

[jo]

Forbes's financial analysis and business insights on what happened to APOCALYPSE'S weak box office performance. He also looks into the future of the franchise --

May 29, 2016 @ 11:25 AM
Box Office: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Opens With Comparatively Meager $80M Weekend

Scott Mendelson ,
Contributor
I cover the film industry. 
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.



X-Men: Apocalypse has earned $65 million in its Fri-Sun debut, with a likely $80m holiday haul for the Memorial Day weekend opening. It is the fourth-lowest Fri-Sun haul out of nine X-Men movies. It sits behind X2 ($85m in 2003), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102m in 2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($85m in 2009), X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90m in 2006), and Deadpool ($132m in 2016). Regarding inflation, it is around where X-Men: First Class ended up ($56m back in 2006 and in 2D) and way below the “adjusted” $86m opening of the original X-Men ($54m in 2000).

At a glance, it is a sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past that is playing like a straight sequel to X-Men: First Class. X-Men: First Class was the 1960’s-set prequel that attempted to reboot/revive the franchise after the reviled X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Sans Wolverine or any of the original cast, the well-reviewed picture earned $146m in America and $353m worldwide on a $160m budget. So Fox pulled a Hail Mary two years ago, bringing back Bryan Singer and crafting a time travel story (based on a beloved comic arc) that combined the First Class cast and the stars of the first three X-Men pictures.

Ten years of inflation and a 3D bump could only get Days of Future Past within striking distance of The Last Stand’s $234m domestic cume with a $233m final gross, but the film went crazy overseas and snagged a $747m worldwide total. The “Franchise All-Stars to the Rescue” gambit worked. But now, at least in America, it’s back to business as usual for the X-Men franchise. X-Men: Apocalypse may have a heavily-promoted cameo appearance for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but it otherwise is an 80’s set X-Men adventure entirely based around the newer cast.



And in that sense, the $65 million Fri-Sun/$80m Fri-Mon debut weekend for Bryan Singer’s trilogy capper is a reminder that A) this franchise’s best days may be long behind it and B) Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and/or the original cast (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, etc.) are vital to the franchise. Or maybe the proverbial powers-that-be shouldn’t have teased a bunch of new characters (Oscar Isaac’s villain, Olivia Munn as Psylocke) and revamped fan favorites (Alexandra Shipp’s Storm, Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey) only to focus again on Magneto’s passion play.

But no matter the case, this Memorial Day opening is a lot lower than X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8 million Fri-Sun/$110.5m Fri-Mon) and X-Men: The Last Stand ($102m/$122m back in 2006 and without 3D). Regarding legs, this is a complicated situation. The film earned 12.6% of its Fri-Sun weekend on Thursday, compared to 9% for DOFP and 5.7% for The Last Stand. Regarding straight weekend multipliers, it earned 2.46x versus 2.26x for The Last Stand and 2.55x for DOFP. So it’s right in between the two extremes.


But Memorial Day openers are not terribly leggy, and X-Men films are especially not leggy. And if I’m overly harsh on a film that made $80 million in four days, it’s because the franchise was once comparatively mightier and because we’ve seen how quickly Memorial Day openers tend to fade from view.

Days of Future Past played longer than I expected, partially due to a June lacking in big geek-friendly offerings (and the fact that most audiences liked it a little more than I did). This time around we’ve got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Warcraft, and Independence Day; Resurgence. If Apocalypse plays like DOFP from here on out, it gets to $168 million domestic, which would put it sixth out of nine films not accounting for inflation. But if it plays like The Last Stand, which frankly I think it will (the film invalidates most of the big marketing selling points to focus on Magneto again), we’re looking at a domestic total of $152m.

That would make it seventh out of nine X-Men movies not accounting for inflation and just above the $146.4 million total of X-Men: First Class in 2011 and without the 3D bump). But let’s split the difference and say $160m in North America, or just above the $157m gross of the original X-Men back in 2000.

And no, you can’t blame Alice Through the Looking Glass as that one made around $35m over the Fri-Mon opening which is on par with Godzilla’s $38m Fri-Mon second weekend back in 2014. There was a time when X-Men was one of the biggest cinematic franchises around. But now, and this may be the overall lesson for the various franchises opening on top of each other over the next few months, it is merely a god among gods, just another big-budget sequel that exists as this weekend’s diversion.



It’s still going to do okay in relation to its $178 million budget (I’ll update when overseas numbers arrive, but it already had $130m heading into the weekend), and there is no shame if it merely ends up with $165m domestic and $500m worldwide. But at some point this franchise is going to have to stop telling the same story if it wants to evolve past nostalgic fandom. The franchise has to evolve past telling stories centered around Magneto or Wolverine. Otherwise, the series that made the world safe for comic book superhero films may no longer be fit to live among its brethren.

If you like what you're reading, follow @scottmendelson on Twitter, and "like" The Ticket Booth on Facebook. Also, check out my archives for older work HERE.

Another story of Wolverine -- one last time!


Jo

[mamaleh]

That Forbes analysis said the successful X/MEN .FIRST CLASS was "sans Wolverine." Not exactly true. I'm sure others, as I did, only went to see it in a theater to see Hugh's three-word cameo. Otherwise, I'd simply have waited to rent the DVD.

Ellen

[jo]

The Forbes article is too academic

This one is more interesting!


Guess why Hugh's role in APOCALYPSE was reduced to a cameo, when it was supposed to have been more meaty and more relevant to the plot?


One word - Raven...er...Jennifer! *rolleyes*



www.cinemablend.com/new/Wolverine-Original-Role-X-Men-Apocalypse-Why-It-Changed-133987.html

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse. If you have not yet had a chance to see the film, and don’t wish for any specifics to be revealed, please click away to another one of our wonderful articles!


To date, Hugh Jackman has reprised his role as Wolverine in every single movie with the word X-Men in it, and the newly released X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t break that tradition. Instead, he is a key part of one of the movie’s biggest action sequences, seen released from the Weapon X program and killing a large number of dudes. What you probably don’t know, however, is that there were versions of the script that gave him a much larger role – however, his part was decreased in part because it stole some of the spotlight from Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg at the X-Men: Apocalypse press day in London, and it was during the interview that the filmmaker revealed the role that Wolverine almost had in the new blockbuster. Discussing Hugh Jackman’s history with the franchise and his developing part in the latest sequel, Kinberg explained,

There was always a notion that we wanted Wolverine to be in the movie. We wanted to find a way to feature him in the film, partly because Bryan [Singer] and I love Hugh [Jackman] so much. We love the character, obviously, and he’s such a huge part of the franchise. There were a lot of iterations of how Wolverine would enter and exit the movie. There was a version when he was going to come in at the midpoint of the film and be like the drill sergeant for the kids and take over as their leader. And we felt like that stepped on Jen’s role in the movie and becoming their leader.

With that idea off the table, and Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg still wanting to find some way to get Wolverine into the action, they continued to think about ways to get him into X-Men: Apocalypse’s script. Eventually they figured it out:

As we were, again, conceptually brainstorming the script, we knew that the kids were going to be abducted, or that a lot of our main characters were going to be abducted and taken somewhere. So we thought it would be interesting to take them to Alkali Lake, and that they would naturally, potentially… that the Weapon X program would be there, and maybe that was a place to find Wolverine.

As for how Wolverine himself ended up in the Weapon X program following the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, you can actually get the full story on that RIGHT HERE.

Would you have liked to see Wolverine take a larger role in X-Men: Apocalypse, or were you satisfied with the amount of screentime he was given? Hit the comments below with your thoughts!

Wolverine/Logan, in the original trilogy, did assume the role of teacher ( remember the Danger Room opening scenes in XMen :The Last Stand) and unwitting mutant leader ( who had to be persuaded by Storm to lead the XMen in battle!

He also related well to the youngsters when he led them out of the endangered school when Stryker's men was in full attack ( XMen2) and his relationship with three of them ( Rogue, Iceman, Pyro) was that of mentor ( aka Art Professor ). I think those scenes were part of what made XMEN2 outstanding particularly to the fans!



Why that regard for him in the chronicles of XMEN movies had to change was initially baffling.


Raven or Mystique in human form had no business being the leader of the good guys...unless they really wanted to evolve her role from villain-y (Rebecca Romijn) to heroine-like (Lawrence) for what they thought would be acceptable to the box office.

Also, there was nothing denoting a sense of humor in the characterization of Raven and her mentoring the young mutants...But I could recall how Logan's humor, because of his gruff persona, would come out of the blue ( the incident with the cat...the Art Professor comment, etc). And who could forget that most famous of all cameos in First Class? Sometimes I think it is because Logan is a man of contradictions and people relate to him as the first anti-hero ( "the best that I do is not very nice!")



Look at what happened at how the movie was received at the box office and by critics *rolleyes*


In a sense, maybe Hugh did escape the putdowns that have now been unleashed on XMEN:APOCALYPSE ( Rotten Tomatoes rating settling at 48%).


Some people wonder why Hugh had not been actively putting out support-tweets for the movie. Hmmm...



Jo

[jo]

Re the above article from Cinemablend -- here are the comments so far:

Huge movie fan • an hour ago

"And we felt like that stepped on Jen’s role in the movie and becoming their leader."

And that's...........bad?
I actually liked Jen as Mystique in First Class, before they decided to capitalize on her fan base and make her the lead of the story. Now these are actually getting annoying and while i was never a Hunger Games fan, my disdain for JLaw comes from Xmen, because their putting her as the leader is destroying the franchise.



Snake2410 • 4 hours ago

I would have liked to see him come back into it at the climax somehow and even though I like how Apocalypse was defeated I would have liked to see Wolverine have some roll in that. Plus they could have added a humorous line by Magneto about his claws being metal. Still loved what they did with Logan though.



Slim934 • 4 hours ago
I'm more annoyed that they did NOTHING with the ending of Days of Futures Past.

Does no one else remember that Days of Futures Past ended with William Stryker hauling Wolverine off, but it turns out that was actually Mystique? Remember, when his eyes did the Mystique eye flicker thing?

Well what the freaking hell happened there Singer? That was a pretty frickin important plot point. Did you just toss that at the end of Days because you thought it was neat and had no other story point for it?



Eric Eisenberg Mod > Slim934 • 4 hours ago

As mentioned in the article, it's all explained here! (though it's not much of an explanation...

www.cinemablend.com/new...



Talos • 4 hours ago

"Jen's role" it shouldn't of been Jen's role, she didn't even need to be in it




ddd • 5 hours ago 
The ending with wolverine made no sense... at the very least, when scott said they had help from a guy named logan with claws on his hands, mystique and beast would have recognized their friend and gone after him. He _had_ just been violated and stripped of his humanity after all.



E C F'N W • 5 hours ago

As much as I loved the movie and Jackman's cameo as Wolverine... I would have liked to see him brought in and be some sort of leader to the kids. It would have made more sense considering that MYSTIQUE IS A VILLAIN. However I was fine with what they did with Jen.

Now that I think about it though I imagine it as the kids questioning how they will save the professor and then maybe Beast says "I think I have an answer for that." Cue a bar setting where Wolverine is sitting and Beast walks in and before Logan can say "go fck yourself," he turns around and see's Beast. Beast just looks at him and says "we need your help... the professor needs your help." You can still have Mystique there... just as more of an outsider coming to aid an old friend and then leaving afterwords.



zqlxozbm • 5 hours ago

JLaw's star power just doesn't save the movie. Singer/Kinberg are clueless.



Jaquis • 6 hours ago 

Jen was the leader???!?!? 



Jaquis > Jaquis • 6 hours ago 

She was not very strong as a leading character 



FriendlySunShine • 6 hours ago 

"And we felt like that stepped on Jen’s role in the movie and becoming their leader."

OH NO. What a shame that would have been

[jo]

SPOILER ALERT*********SPOILER ALERT**********SPOILER ALERT**********SPOILER ALERT




Sequential screen caps of the cameo --

SPOILER: Click to show

[jo]

That poignant moment --

[jo]

Without fail, the reactions to the reduced role of Hugh as Wolverine so it would not take away the spotlight from J. Lawrence continue to question the wisdom of such a creative ( or is it political?) decision.


Check out the FEEBDACK SECTIONS these articles --


www.latino-review.com/news/wolverines-original-role-in-x-men-apocalypse

www.darkhorizons.com/news/43290/original-wolverine-plans-for-apocalypse

[jo]

Estimated box office results for the 4-day Memorial Weekend from BOX OFFICE MOJO --

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x-men2016.htm

Total Lifetime Grosses


Domestic: $80,000,000 30.1%
Foreign: $185,831,017 69.9%


Worldwide: $265,831,017

The DOMESTIC box office receipts are considered disappointing when compared to box office performance of other XMEN movies in the past --

www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?id=vs-xmen.htm


www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=xmen2014.htm


www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=deadpool2016.htm


It was below the $ 109 million 4-day Memorial Weekend opening for DAYS OF FUTURE PAST



www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=x-men2016.htm

The 4-day Apocalypse figures were below the 3-day Opening weekends for LAST STAND ( $ 103 million) and XMEN 2 ( at $ 86 million)..

The 4-day Apocalypse figures were even below the 3-day Opening weekend of $ 85 million for the much-maligned ORIGINS:Wolverine.




Will it be able to do much better in overseas markets ( which opened ahead of the USA market)?

Will there be legs for the USA market?


We'll see!



Jo

[njr]

May 29, 2016 19:07:18 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

That Forbes analysis said the successful X/MEN .FIRST CLASS was "sans Wolverine." Not exactly true. I'm sure others, as I did, only went to see it in a theater to see Hugh's three-word cameo. Otherwise, I'd simply have waited to rent the DVD.

Ellen

LOL! I never saw it in the theater, but I did buy the DVD!
Just had to look this up:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ZjNVnOQxQ



Nancy
P.S. I think I will have to avoid this thread because of the spoilers. I don't plan to go see the movie, just buy the DVD when it comes out. Thanks everyone for saying *SPOILERS* so I know to not look.

[jo]

EMPIRE.com plays a podcast with Bryan Singer et al.

www.comicbookmovie.com/x-men/x-men_apocalypse/hugh-jackman-killed-bryan-singer-in-x-men-apocalypse-a142201

Check it out at a little after the 24 minute mark.


SPOILER ALERT********************SPOILER ALERT*********************SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT********************SPOILER ALERT*********************SPOILER ALERT




Most of the gist is here, but if you listen a little further, there's a little bit more --

"I have a little cameo, I'm the guy with the machine gun..screaming. When I look at it, I couldn't recognize myself so I knew no one else could. But it was cool to get killed by Wolverine. It's now one of the many things I can put on my resume. When went back later to film the Wolverine segment because Hugh was training for the next Wolverine sequel and we wanted him in a certain kind of shape. At first, Hugh was reticent to do it, but once I explained it to him, what the scene is and why it's there, he agreed to do it over the phone, which is unusual. Usually there's a bit of negotiation involved, but he said 'You can call my Agent, but I'm in, I love it.'"

He probably talked to Hugh much later than the ComicCon encounter.

[jo]

SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT




The cameo scene ( missing the first few suspenseful seconds) --








The last screaming guard was presumably Bryan Singer in a cameo within a cameo!


Jo

[JH4HJ]

20th Century Fox Apologises For X-Men: Apocalypse Billboards

The images, which had been featured on massive billboard ads for the movie in New York and Los Angeles, had attracted vocal criticism online for their portrayal of violence against women.

These billboard ads have since been taken down.

An official statement from the studio reads, “In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse, we didn’t immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form.

“Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials.

“We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women.”

[Aren't the women in these movies pretty capable of defending themselves?]

Full article

[njr]

Jun 6, 2016 22:52:44 GMT -5 JH4HJ said:

20th Century Fox Apologises For X-Men: Apocalypse Billboards

The images, which had been featured on massive billboard ads for the movie in New York and Los Angeles, had attracted vocal criticism online for their portrayal of violence against women.

These billboard ads have since been taken down.

An official statement from the studio reads, “In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse, we didn’t immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form.

“Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials.

“We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women.”

[Aren't the women in these movies pretty capable of defending themselves?]

Full article

I know, right? How ridiculous! Can you say "Unnecessary PC?"

Nancy

[jo]

With the stuntman for XMEN:APOCALYPSE --

http://instagram.com/p/BGWzD0Lph-E

[jo]

This one is makeup-free ( including the red-whatever)==

www.facebook.com/gregg.schneider?fref=nf

Gregg Schneider

5 hrs · Montreal, QC, Canada ·

..

Me and this cool dude. Taken at the end of February 2016 on set in Montreal when Mr. Jackman filmed his epic cameo for Xmen Apocalypse as Wolverine/Weapon X. Anyone who has not seen it yet better go this weekend or soon smile emoticon:)
Hugh is a truly awesome guy and incredibly genuine. A gentle giant who is gracious and funny and thankful for his unbelievably successful career to Bryan, the man who helped give it to him. He is very accessible and though I did not chat that much with him as I do not like to get in the star's faces, he is so engaging and natural.