How/Why Gavin Hood Became Director

[TNC9852002]

The first X-Men movie was developed when Bill Mechanic was head of studio. He resigned a few weeks before the movie was released and Rothman took over. Mechanic was rumoured to have fallen out with Rupert Murdoch after a number of Fox releases underperformed, particularly Fight Club.

No. Rothman gets all the blame. He gets the blame for everything.

Please delete your post.


-TNC

 

[Endeavor]

Rothman will be ok with the abuse. After all, he's got you to comfort him.. right?

 

[X-Maniac]

The script DOES include Professor Xavier.

Awesome, it could be made but I don't think it will do well at the box office. Sorry to disappoint anybody but that's my opinion.

Well, that's your view of course. But i think it could be a success with some script tweaking, McKellen's involvement as narrator/end-cameo and a good lead actor. A post-war thriller with mutants and Magneto's wonderful powers sounds good to me. You could add in other characters - though Mystique might be problematic as her non-mutated form in X3 wasn't old enough to be around back then, even though comic book Mystique was wartime spy... There's also potential for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to be added.

 

[Peter McCabe]

X-Men Origins Magneto has the potential to be a great and very dark movie.

my only concern is casting.

if the tone is kept TDK style dark, it can work very well.

 

[X-Maniac]

X-Men Origins Magneto has the potential to be a great and very dark movie.

my only concern is casting.

if the tone is kept TDK style dark, it can work very well.

Totally agree.

 

[Rac]

The first X-Men movie was developed when Bill Mechanic was head of studio. He resigned a few weeks before the movie was released and Rothman took over. Mechanic was rumoured to have fallen out with Rupert Murdoch after a number of Fox releases underperformed, particularly Fight Club.

No. Rothman gets all the blame. He gets the blame for everything.

Please delete your post.


-TNC

Though it was Rothman who changed the release date of the first X-Men from Nov/Dec 2000 to May 2000. Causing some rushing in the filming/post-production... (Some say he moved the date because he hated the idea of X-Men in the first place and wanted the movie to fail... Dunno what's the real reason. Maybe he's homophobic. After all, Fox even offered X2 to Guillermo del Toro. They wanted to get rid of Singer in the first sequel already. Maybe.)

 

[Celestial]

The reason for the date change was that their big film for that summer got delayed and they wanted to plug the gap. Why do you think Rohtman was responsible for the date change? I know he was already working for Fox but I don't know what his job title was.

A little OT, but I found an interview with Bill Mechanic from April 2001. He doesn't mention X-Men but he does talk about the challenges of being head of a studio.

 

[Rac]

The reason for the date change was that their big film for that summer got delayed and they wanted to plug the gap.

Oh, okay.

Why do you think Rohtman was responsible for the date change? I know he was already working for Fox but I don't know what his job title was.

It was in the X-Men 1.5 extras. (Though, in it Rothman tells Singer these news, we don't know did he make the decision. But anyway.)

A little OT, but I found an interview with Bill Mechanic from April 2001. He doesn't mention X-Men but he does talk about the challenges of being head of a studio.

That was quite interesting read btw.

 

[Celestial]

From SFX, Jackman:

"And we've got a different director, Gavin Hood, who's an incredible dramatic storyteller. He has such enthusiasm - loved the character, loved the fun element. Gavin's a man's man and he was a perfect fit for this."

About problems with the studio:

Hood will only say, "Out of healthy and sometimes rigorous debate, things get better."

Jackman:

"There are a lot of people involved and everybody's got opinions. It's also one of those characters where there are people involved at the studio who are massive fans and have been since they were eight, so people speak with passion and a knowledge about what should be done, which is ultimately good.
"I remember there was an argument about the colour of a pick-up truck and someone saying 'I think it's got to be this colour,' and Gavin not caring about the colour of the truck and wanting to shoot... For Gavin it didn't matter. For the other person it mattered. And then there was a bit of a fight about it.

Jackman, again:

"There is, I hear, wrongly, a belief out there that tonally the studio wanted a different movie from Gavin or from me, but that's not the truth.
...There's never going to be 100% agreement but we've always been on the same page."

 

[chaseter]

Though it was Rothman who changed the release date of the first X-Men from Nov/Dec 2000 to May 2000. Causing some rushing in the filming/post-production... (Some say he moved the date because he hated the idea of X-Men in the first place and wanted the movie to fail... Dunno what's the real reason. Maybe he's homophobic. After all, Fox even offered X2 to Guillermo del Toro. They wanted to get rid of Singer in the first sequel already. Maybe.)

Can you imagine an X-Men movie by Guillermo I just went in my pants from the fancitement.

 

[chaseter]

No. Rothman gets all the blame. He gets the blame for everything.

Please delete your post.


-TNC

Yeah the whole notion of blaming the head of the studio who approves everything and is responsible for the people under him is just ludicrous

 

[WeaponXProject]

To Celestial's Post:


If Jackman is telling the truth then the whole Rothman thing was blown out of proportion with painting the set. It was just a truck it seems.



Also from what Hood says...I have no idea how to take that.

 

[chaseter]

Is it that big of a deal though to waste time by bickering and changing the color of a truck???

 

[Rac]

I'm sure the color of some truck weren't the only debate on the set...

 

[Celestial]

I'm assuming the repainting of the truck is the story that hit the net last year about Tom Rothman having a set repainted. From the tone of Jackman's interview it sounds like there were lots of heated discussions but (as always) he's sounding positive.

I was reassured by the interview but when I try to explain why, I get the emphasis wrong. Mostly, it's because he continues to be supportive of Gavin Hood. I was a bit worried that a non-Hollywood director would get walked over by the studio (think The Invasion which had an award-winning german director but got reworked by the studio without his involvement). Having a lead actor who believes in you must help, especially when he's the core of the project and has a good relationship with the studio.

 

[Theweepeople]

The latest news on this project is bizzare. Massive reshoots are taking place in vancouver. Is there going to be time to edit these reshoots considering the film comes out in 3 and a half months?


http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39789

 

[Celestial]

Considering that X2 only finished principle shooting in December and did reshoots a few months later, I'm not concerned about the timescales. The only thing that's unusual about this production is that it hasn't been rushed. The January reshoots have been scheduled for some time. Jackman and Schreiber have both been busy promoting other films over the last few months.

Don't forget, Vancouver in January has something that New Zealand didn't have last February - snow.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

If done right I could actually see a Storm movie doing well if the villain is The Shadow King.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

No origin film or series of films about any of the X-Men will do good business without Wolverine. He is the draw for none comic fans. The fact that they made him far more appealing to the female demographic just sealed that.

 

[Endeavor]

No origin film or series of films about any of the X-Men will do good business without Wolverine. He is the draw for none comic fans. The fact that they made him far more appealing to the female demographic just sealed that.

There are plenty of characters that can draw in huge numbers. All you need is good writing and character development. Your last sentence pretty much confirms what I'm talking about. Wolverine was changed to what people assumed would make him more marketeable. The same can be done with countless other characters, with possibly even better results.

 

[WeaponXProject]

I'm assuming the repainting of the truck is the story that hit the net last year about Tom Rothman having a set repainted. From the tone of Jackman's interview it sounds like there were lots of heated discussions but (as always) he's sounding positive.

I was reassured by the interview but when I try to explain why, I get the emphasis wrong. Mostly, it's because he continues to be supportive of Gavin Hood. I was a bit worried that a non-Hollywood director would get walked over by the studio (think The Invasion which had an award-winning german director but got reworked by the studio without his involvement). Having a lead actor who believes in you must help, especially when he's the core of the project and has a good relationship with the studio.

I think Fox figured it out. (For once!)

They thought about how much money the X-Men movies have made and that if a director is making the movie based on the character that the fans came to see then it better be what they want. They realize that it is more profitable to make this characters story continue on making good money and to do so you need a good to great movie.

I think the reshoots were always planned because I remember a while back, maybe September, when they talked about scenes that Hood wanted but didn't know if they had the budget.

Look we shouldn't complain if Hood is still there directing during all of it instead of a pick of Rothman's finest.

As for Jackman, I think he will always say something nice no matter what's happening. So what Hood says is what matters to me.