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Source: http://www.xmenfilms.net/xnews/12.html(01.13.05) MAGNETO Spin-Off To Be An X-MEN Prequel
Sheldon Turner is currently working on bringing the mutant known as Magneto to the big screen in his spin-off film tentatively titled: MAGNETO! The screenwriter previously talked to the folks over at Entertainment Weekly Magazine last month about the premise of the new film in development:
Turner's intent for the film is to examine Magneto's "psychological roots". The plot will also deal with the character's friendship turned sour with Charles Xavier. The man who went on to form the team known as the X-Men.
"It's going to take place from 1939 Auschwitz up to 1955 or so," says Turner. With that in mind, that would make the film, MAGNETO a 'period prequel' to the X-MEN movies.
Since a major bulk (if not all) of the film will take place during this period, it is doubtful that actor Sir Ian McKellen will return for the film, though there are still possible ways of having the actor in portions of the film. The film will chronicle the character's early life, and what turned him against humans.
No tentative date has been given for the project in development. X-MEN 3 is still currently set for a 2006 release, and WOLVERINE is set for a tentative 2007 release, according to executive producer/ producer, Avi Arad.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, Carlos W.
Source: http://www.wga.org/subpage.aspx?id=563May 20
How did you manage not to be pigeonholed, to go from The Longest Yard to Leatherface to an X-Men prequel?
I think writers pigeonhole themselves, in a way. There's a comfort level and that's what I want to avoid. It's the old axiom of "if it's comfortable, don't do it." There are genres I'm definitely more comfortable in than others. Thrillers, action, those are more of my comfort zone.
The comedies are the harder thing to write. They're so much about pacing and other things. That's why I want to force myself to do those things. I think your skills start to erode when you work in that comfort zone. There are some writers out there, you read their stuff and it's always the same tone and they're good at it, but I think that would be the most boring thing in the world after a while.
What's your philosophy in writing remakes?
I think the reason some of these remakes work, like The Longest Yard (hopefully), is because they're simple stories. You have to be beholden and reverent to that, yet at some level, you have to toss it out. We knew there was a huge cult following for The Longest Yard. You have to be reverent of that but at the same time you can't be constricted by it.
For The Longest Yard, it was one of the easiest updates imaginable. Adam [Sandler] loved the original, so we wanted it to stay very true to it, but there are also organic things that had to be updated. The nature of prison has changed so much that we had to acknowledge that, otherwise we would have gotten killed. It's tricky because there are those lines of dialogue that are so engrained in the 1974 original that we had to acknowledge them, but we really tried to put a fresh spin on it. That was the trick.
It's not dissimilar in adapting books. I always joke that the best books to adapt are the [unread] ones. The last thing I'd want to do is adapt a book like The Horse Whisperer, where everybody knows the beats and is waiting for them. There's a certain freedom in adapting a flawed book in that you know people aren't going to be looking for those things so you can take the core premise and be creative with it.
And how does making a prequel compare to an adaptation?
With a prequel, there's certainly more freedom. There's more license that comes with it. And it's more fun to work with the elements that people know, be it Leatherface or Magneto, and finding the beats in there. It's a tricky nuance in realizing what's been said, for instance, in the last two X-Men movies that you have to acknowledge because there are those hardcore fans that are going to call you on it if you don't.
You're sort of writing gospel. These are huge cult hits and you're coming up with their bibles.
It's interesting. With Magneto, the first thing I did was go back and read every comic book with a reference to him in it. What you find is that there's some really smart stuff there. There's some stuff you can take and some things that you respectfully reject because you have to ask: Is it going to play cinematically? It's a negotiation of sorts because you don't want to get all the X-Men fans abuzz about how you didn't pay respect to the core origin, but you also have to make it accessible to those who don't know who Magneto is. Even if you haven't seen an X-Men movie, good drama is good drama.
Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=9971June 10, 2005
Turner is currently working on more scripts for future releases. He's staying pretty busy these days.
"Right now I'm writing 'Magneto', which is an off shoot of the X-Men franchise for Fox. Which is sort of following the path of a villain, the character played by Ian McKellen when he was a young man. It's a prequel of sorts. I'm finishing that up.
"I'm also adapting a book for Warner Bros. for Jennifer Anniston and Meryl Streep who star in 'Wanted'. It's sort of a modern 'Thelma and Louise'. I'm just looking for the next thing--the next inspiration.
"These are both original. 'Magneto' is something that I pitched to the studio that they responded to. And then 'Wanted' is a book that my agents identified and brought to me and then I got Jennifer Anniston and Meryl Streep attached and went to the studio and set it up. So they are both originals. On occasion I will do a polish on a screenplay that's not my own, but for the most part, I'll usually set up things that are mine and have a certain sense of propriety to it."
Source: http://www.bullz-eye.com/mguide/interviews/2005/sheldon_turner.htmBE: Okay, so back to that Untitled Texas Chainsaw Massacre Prequel. A prequel, huh?
ST: (laughs) A prequel, yeah. I came about it because I had just done the rewrite on Amityville Horror, and got friendly enough with (Amityville producer Michael) Bay and those guys where they had mentioned that they had been trying to find a way to do a Chainsaw Massacre sequel. And I said, You cant really do the sequel, but I think you can do the prequel. And I think a lot of that is driven by how were all sort of amateur psychologists nowadays. Everybody has that sense of, how did this person become that person? Its a big part of the Star Wars franchise now. Its the knowing wink-wink of, this is Leatherface as I know him, this is Anakin Skywalker as I know him, and this is how he became that thing. Im also writing Magneto for Fox, based on one of the X-Men characters.
BE: Is that right?
ST: Yeah, its a young Magneto. It opens up with a 14-year-old Magneto being abducted and put into Auschwitz.
BE: This is live action?
ST: Yep. Yeah, its made for a 28-, 29-year-old actor. And then it tracks on how he seeks vengeance on the Nazis who killed his parents in the camps. And in the same way -- ala Anakin Skywalker, Leatherface, any of these iconic characters -- what was interesting for me and what will be interesting for the audience is, All right, now I understand why he did that thing. Does it make me love him more? Maybe not, but-
BE: But you understand it.
ST: Yeah, it definitely makes me understand it more. People are fascinated by the origins of any human being. Its a way to indulge their pseudo-psychological interests, and have fun at the same time.
BE: The origin of evil in particular.
ST: Absolutely, you essentially see how Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface) became this thing, through his family, and it definitely makes him more apathetic, but also hes still the very face of evil.
