Bryan Singer Directing X-Men: Days of Future Past - Part 2

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is Here

[NanaT]

Originally Posted by The Guard

I mean, I don't even see why it's a concern.

-Hugh Jackman, which is self explanatory
-Jennifer Lawrence is self explanatory
-Michael Fassbender
-Ian McKellan, who is quite well known, and in the midst of another huge franchise with THE HOBBIT.
-Patrick Stewart, who is even more exposed than he was prior to X-MEN.
-James McAvoy is nothing to sneeze at
-James Marsden is far more recognizeable now
-Halle Berry is still a big name, if not as popular as she once was
-Nicholas Hoult is on his way to stardom, depending on how JACK THE GIANT SLAYER and WARM BODIES do.
-Anna Paquin's gotten more popular as well.

The lineup for this film is amazing. It has more stars than Avengers did. And the good think is that all of them are getting a lot of attention recently for their work. Even Halle Berry is making headlines for her career instead of her personal life. Things are looking good, and I'd imagine that by 2014 all these stars would be a lot bigger.

[Parker Wayne]

I'd agree with all of them except for Berry. She's not that big a name anymore for a movie.

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by Parker Wayne

I'd agree with all of them except for Berry. She's not that big a name anymore for a movie.

Question is, will that stop her from acting like a diva?

[Angamb]

what do you understand for being a "big name"?

to me it means being known worldwide.

And in Halle Berrys case, everyone knows who she is. Many know she appeared on the X-films, on a James Bond movie, on Catwoman (whatever the quality is), has an Oscar for Monster Ball, many ladies have watched some of her comedies...

Her name appearing again on an x-men movie wont be looked as a unknown, dont you think? lol

She IS a big name. Wheter her boyfriend is a model, a french actor, both have fight or not. She is an actress, and a really well known one.

So what's the real point?

[NanaT]

I think that The Guard is right in including Halle Berry. She is still a name actress. Meaning she is still recognised as an actress and known for her work on movies. Much more recognisable than almost every other female actress in the X-Men movies, with the exception of Jennifer Lawrence. (gotta love that gal, she really is getting bigger and bigger, though she is not yet a name actress, she needs to do a few more films before she becomes recognisable to the general audience who don't watch the Hunger games.)

Like I said before she is making headlines for her new film. And the buzz seems to be building.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Parker Wayne

I'd agree with all of them except for Berry. She's not that big a name anymore for a movie.

But she is still known. She's always been a turnoff for me personally, but people do know her, and although she might not be a massive draw, when people are looking at who they know in the cast, her name there adds to the overall picture.

In retrospect, Jennifer Lawrence doesn't seem all that much like Mystique. If she had somehow been Kitty Pryde instead in FC, she could've now been the star of DOFP and it would've aligned with the original comic version. I think her overall personality and even look seems more suited to Kitty's.

Eg:



Oh well.

[JP]

Originally Posted by Parker Wayne

I'd agree with all of them except for Berry. She's not that big a name anymore for a movie.

But the way Hollywood works, yes she may not have much starpower anymore, but she's still is still a household name and she'd be playing a character that she is most identified with. That's big enough.

I didnt name James meaning he is a secondary actor. He is a good actor, with recognition on the industry

but I think Fassbender is a 'hotter' name right now, mainly thanks to all the polemic of Shame more the great critics to his performance, and his latest roles both as Magneto and on Prometheus.

we all know that his performance as Magneto was the standout to many fans and non fans, so thats why I added his name.

If there is an order of popularity right now with the FC actors, it would be this:

Jennifer Lawrence (clearly)
Michael Fassbender
James McAvoy

there's nothing wrong with this. The original trilogy had many great actors, but Hugh ended being more popular than the rest, so it is how it is. Some actors get more popular than other, this is how the industry works. That doesnt mean one actor is better than the other of course.

Exactly. No one is discrediting James. But facts are facts. Fassbender was the "breakout star" of First Class. Though since then, Lawrence has completely eclipsed him in terms of name recognition and star power.

[Electrix]

Not sure why people are comparing how popular the cast are. People don't see movies for actors anymore, unless it's some character driven Oscar fare. Audiences only throw big money at concepts, VFX and explosions. If Days of Future Past has those people will come regardless of whether Jennifer Lawrence or Michael Fassbender are in it or not.

[Duran Man]

Originally Posted by Electrix

Not sure why people are comparing how popular the cast are. People don't see movies for actors anymore, unless it's some character driven Oscar fare. Audiences only throw money big at concepts, VFX and explosions. If Days of Future Past has that people will come regardless. Having the casts united would be an added bonus.

I've always thought that. All this hubbub over star power won't matter to people who just want to see a good action/sci-fi film. It's certainly true in my case.

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

I think the two actors from the cast who can draw people to the theater in a tangible way are Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence. They have actual starpower.

The overall cast is fantastic. McAvoy has always been a favorite of mine.

[Angamb]

Transformers franchise is the perfect example.

The whole audience didnt go to the theatre because of the lead actors, lol

Either Avatar.

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

Yeah, it doesn't make too much of a difference financially with these types of films, but from a quality standpoint and in terms of credibility, it definitely adds some weight. Every detail matters if you want to make something great.

[psylockolussus]

To me, its not the *star power* that matters the most. The thing thats gonna attract the casual audience the most is the fact the present X-Men (the original trilogy) and cast of X-Men: First Class are going to star in 1 movie. The popularity/star power of Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender is just a plus.

I don't think The Avengers got more than 1billion dollars just because of the star-power of Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson and Jeremy Renner. The movie got so much money because of the character roster and it was a cross-over movie.

[Parker Wayne]

Fair enough on Berry. She isn't a big name anymore, but I do agree that her in her most famous role is something that can and will attract people.

[blueserenity]

I never said McAvoy has NO star power. He does. But JL and MF have more. That's just the facts. And I say this as someone whose very very short list of favorite actors includes McAvoy. He's brilliant. But he's not getting half as much media attention as JL and MF. Which, I reiterate, is his personal choice.

People raise a good point about stars not necessarily being the main draw, especially for blockbuster movies. I agree to an extent. A cast full of entire unknowns is not going to do as well as one with big names, because we associate a certain amount of "quality" when we see names we recognize. And I'm sure a lot of people who couldn't care less about lotr turned up for the hobbit because of Martin Freeman. But I think DOFP will need one thing to bring people in: the promise of the FC characters returning. And hat I think, outweighs the desire to see the old cast. I've made my own opinion on the return of the old class clear, but I am far from alone. My coworkers, friends, and clients are much more excited about the MF/JM/JL reunion than the old trilogy folk making appearances. The x trilogy had a great run, but general audiences have very short memories.

As for Berry, not sure people are clamoring form her return... it may be her most recognizable role on paper but her performance was pretty bland and inconsistent...

[marvelrobbins]

Your deluding yourself If you think First Class Is more popular than Trilogy.The fact
X-Men origins:Wolverine outgrossed It tells you Hugh Jackman and other vets remain popular.The wolverine Is almost certin to outgross First Class.

The hobbit was sucess largely because It Is lord of the rings prequel.

[GuestStar2004]

Michael Fassbender as magneto was the break out star of First class, in the same way hugh jackman become the break out star of the original trilogy

so because certain actors are well known names now doesn't mean some will want to see the film just for the actors but perhaps more the characters and performances

[Wolvieboy17]

Yes, but the lower commercial performance of First Class was mostly likely BECAUSE of Wolverine, which did a lot of damage to the franchise, which is clearly why Fox stalled afterwards and have felt the NEED to do their semi reboot with First Class.

I mean, as I've said before, Thor and Captain America didn't do as well as Iron Man because they were obviously lacking the star power of RDJ, but did that negatively affect the Avengers?

Once people accept and adjust to a character and their world, they are on board.

And I wish you people would stop disparaging First Class. Who CARES that it didn't do as well as whatever X-Movie before, after the debacle and Wolverine and the state of the franchise, the fact that First Class even made money AND was a critical success, is a huge victory for Fox.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by Electrix

Not sure why people are comparing how popular the cast are. People don't see movies for actors anymore, unless it's some character driven Oscar fare.

Totally agree with that. What mostly sells a big event movie these days is the movie itself, the brand name and maybe the specific characters, rather than who is in it. Not to say that recognisable faces don't contribute to the success, but it's far from the biggest factor.

When people talk about "star power" these days, to me it seems more about how an actor is perceived by the industry itself, rather than their actual ability to draw the audiences. And yeah it can be a very transient, fickle thing which depends a lot on the hype and doing the right movies at the right time. Look at Ryan Gosling - he's been around for a few years not but it's only recently that he's become this big thing. With James McAvoy, I don't think he's done a role or a movie that would "make" him yet in the same way.

[NanaT]

Originally Posted by blueserenity

People raise a good point about stars not necessarily being the main draw, especially for blockbuster movies. I agree to an extent. A cast full of entire unknowns is not going to do as well as one with big names, because we associate a certain amount of "quality" when we see names we recognize. And I'm sure a lot of people who couldn't care less about lotr turned up for the hobbit because of Martin Freeman.

Yep you're right these movies don't entirley rely on starpower but I also agree with you when you say that no stars in as movie does affect how well it performs.

Originally Posted by blueserenity

But I think DOFP will need one thing to bring people in: the promise of the FC characters returning. And hat I think, outweighs the desire to see the old cast. I've made my own opinion on the return of the old class clear, but I am far from alone. My coworkers, friends, and clients are much more excited about the MF/JM/JL reunion than the old trilogy folk making appearances. The x trilogy had a great run, but general audiences have very short memories.

Not too sure I agree with you there. I think that people are more excited with the original cast returning than the first class cast. The original cast, most of them, haven't appeared in an X-Men film since 2006, plus they portray the major players of the X-Men, not the relative unknown character (e.g. riptide, darwin, angel,) or b grade characters (Banshee, Havok.) I think people have been waiting for an X4 since X3. I remember in 2010 most people did not want an X-Men first class movie (especially when they found out that it didn't contain the original first class) and were practically begging for an X4 with the original cast. Even with first class out it has done little to change that much people's minds. Some people think first class should be a standalone movie and that they should continue the series with the original cast.

So I think a lot of people really want to see the original cast come back. I mean look at how the internet reacted to the news that patrick and Ian were back, that Hugh was back. I mean look at how people reacted to the rumours that Halle Berry and James Marsden were in talks to come back. It took forever to quell that rumour, why? because noone wanted to face the possibility that pat, ian and hugh were the only ones coming back. They were happy to fool themselves into believing those rumours. that in itself is telling.

As for Berry, not sure people are clamoring form her return... it may be her most recognizable role on paper but her performance was pretty bland and inconsistent...

I'm not surprised she played a bland and inconsistent character that was always a background player, never front and center, even in TLS when she has the most screentime.

[psylockolussus]

Originally Posted by marvelrobbins

Your deluding yourself If you think First Class Is more popular than Trilogy.The fact
X-Men origins:Wolverine outgrossed It tells you Hugh Jackman and other vets remain popular.The wolverine Is almost certin to outgross First Class.

The hobbit was sucess largely because It Is lord of the rings prequel.

I know right! That was the first time I heard of that and I was like what .

And The Hobbit attracted audience simply because of the Lord of the Rings movies not because of Martin Freeman. I don't even know who's that actor is.

Originally Posted by Wolvieboy17

Yes, but the lower commercial performance of First Class was mostly likely BECAUSE of Wolverine, which did a lot of damage to the franchise, which is clearly why Fox stalled afterwards and have felt the NEED to do their semi reboot with First Class.

Or maybe because Wolverine/Hugh Jackman wasn't one of the leading characters of that movie. X3 didn't turn up so good but it didn't hurt the opening weekend of Origins: Wolverine and that movie was even leaked 1 month before its opening weekend.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by marvelrobbins

Your deluding yourself If you think First Class Is more popular than Trilogy.The fact
X-Men origins:Wolverine outgrossed It tells you Hugh Jackman and other vets remain popular.The wolverine Is almost certin to outgross First Class.

Wolverine, maybe, but "other vets"? As far as I can remember Wolverine didn't have any of them other than a very brief Patrick Stewart cameo. I can't see how that movie can be a proof of their popularity.

I find weird the argument that the popularity of Wolverine somehow automatically extends onto the rest of the original cast.

Originally Posted by psylockolussus

Or maybe because Wolverine/Hugh Jackman wasn't one of the leading characters of that movie. X3 didn't turn up so good but it didn't hurt the opening weekend of Origins: Wolverine and that movie was even leaked 1 month before its opening weekend.

So if Wolverine is the crucial difference, does it even matter then if the rest of the old cast are in the movie or not? I mean from the point of view of the general public, not the fans on the message boards.

[Angamb]

a possible scenario of Wolverine as the only returning actor wouldnt have the same appeal than to have Wolverine, Storm, Rogue and Iceman, for example. None cant deny that

so yeah, lets not act like if Hugh was the savior of the franchise, because he really isnt.