"That was not the way it was written": X3 writer on the movie

[Kevin Roegele]

Zak Penn speaks briefly in the new issue of Total Film.

"The studio didn't want to do Pheonix, period. And I'm talking five months before filming began, they were like, "No, no, no, we're not going to do Pheonix, we're doing Magneto versus the X-Men." We felt confident we would win the fight. We lost, to be quite frank. If you see the first half of the movie, we won every fight, and if you see the second half, we did not win every fight.....that was not our choice and that was not the way it was written."

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Bull****.

They wrote the script the way it was. They just didn't know how to mold two plots into one coherently.

 

[The Ones]

Oh is that there excuse? Silly me i was under the impression it was because it was a "Hugh and Halle" movie

 

[PeRfEcT_StOrM]

haha please...that was total BS

 

[Bastila]

Actually thats true, I was reading it in last months total film, fox didn't want Phoenix.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I still believe this film should have focused purely on the Mutant War, with Jean finally rising up from her watery grave in the 3rd act's closing scenes. Then the Phoenix saga could be fully explored in X4.

It's no longer "What were they thinking?" No, now it's down to "WHY weren't they thinking".

 

[Bastila]

Do you notice after the battle how the cure is forgot? Its like what cure?

 

[javon]

Oh my. Mabe they should just shut up and let the DVD come out. It's obvious everything they say is a lie...Ratner saying their was no deleted scenes and now this?

 

[lordofthenerds]

^Exactly. The "Biggest X-Men fans ever" constantly lie and contradict themselves...I'm not believing another word of their BS.

 

[kooguy911]

well whatever. It is what it is. I just hope they learn from their mistakes and Wolverine isnt a mess like this.

 

[Retroman]

If you need to be battling to get Phoenix and Cyclops (who Fox also didn't want) in an X-Men movie you know something is seriously wrong.

 

[Halcohol]

If you need to be battling to get Phoenix and Cyclops (who Fox also didn't want) in an X-Men movie you know something is seriously wrong.

Hear hear. Blame Fox. Hell, blame yes-man Ratner. Blame whoever you want. At the end of the day we're still stuck with a movie that didn't live up to its potential... ON PURPOSE.

 

[_BB_]

well whatever. It is what it is. I just hope they learn from their mistakes and Wolverine isnt a mess like this.

If that happens im going on a killing spree

They should have left phoenix out of this movie altogether anyway, the film did her nor scott and the prof who are the main players in the phoenix arc any justice whatsoever. X3 should have just been about a mutant cure with jean rising at the end of the movie to set up for a Singer directed X4

 

[thewhitequeen]

Do you notice after the battle how the cure is forgot? Its like what cure?

Yeah that always pissed me off. How Rogue took it and then everyone lost interest in the whole issue. That kind of happened in Astonishing though too.

 

[Halcohol]

^Welcome to the Hype, whitequeen!

 

[thewhitequeen]

^Welcome to the Hype, whitequeen!

Heh heh, yeah I'm a total newb here. I don't even know how I stumbled across it, but it's sweet.

 

[Holy spirit]

Too many lose ends in the X-3 too short too, the actors complain about not enough dialogue or interaction and this movie had more talking points than the other two put together and no one spoke about the major effects of the events at least no enough.

Gene grey should have risen from the grave and maybe with molecular control of her vast powers bring back Cyclopse and PX like some type of ressurection at the end, that would have shown the vast power she has over everything and yet be good and confused by her power that can turn evil too.

Would have been more fullfiling if the film the filled the gaps, it was good but was too short too because it left a lot of could have beens out.

Lets hope Spiderman 3 is not under 2 hours it needs some major links to bring it together and maybe add screen time for the actors that they all crave for.

 

[Retroman]

Hear hear. Blame Fox. Hell, blame yes-man Ratner. Blame whoever you want. At the end of the day we're still stuck with a movie that didn't live up to its potential... ON PURPOSE.

I'm just crossing my fingers Fox don't screw up 'Fantastic Four Rise of The Silver Surfer' by making all sort of nonsensical demands to the screenwriters.

 

[javon]

^yEAH ME TOO. tHE FIRST ONE SUCKED, NO OFFENSE.

Gene grey

ROFLMFAO!

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

GAAAAAAAAAAH -rips off his glasses and shoots red beams here and there- ... -calms down- okay ...

so...what's going to happen now? Is it the writer's fault for not listening to Fox? Cause hell, I'd rather have the Phoenix story be told properly in an X4 but f***, its too late for that cause niether she and scott will come back for another. Its over!! OVER! SO...who's really to blame???

oh crud...I wish Singer would do it...do it do it do it...

 

[_BB_]

I'm just crossing my fingers Fox don't screw up 'Fantastic Four Rise of The Silver Surfer' by making all sort of nonsensical demands to the screenwriters.

How F4 even warranted a sequel I'll never know, the film was garbage, Daredevil Directors Cut deserves another film before F4 ever does.

 

[javon]

GAAAAAAAAAAH -rips off his glasses and shoots red beams here and there- ... -calms down- okay ...

so...what's going to happen now? Is it the writer's fault for not listening to Fox? Cause hell, I'd rather have the Phoenix story be told properly in an X4 but f***, its too late for that cause niether she and scott will come back for another. Its over!! OVER! SO...who's really to blame???

oh crud...I wish Singer would do it...do it do it do it...

LMFAO! You know they gon' be ruinin it....ruining it. Anyway, times like this you can only imagine why the movie was the way it is.

 

[Goddessreicho]

Nah, Singer would have srewed it up just as much. The first two movies had no character interaction, personality, or essemble attitude. There wasn't any devolpment for single members of the X-men either.

The personality less cardboard walkarounds weren't very impressive to many fans.

Singer would have written out Storm any way, and contiued down the line of telling a character and personality less story. That would have been boring for a fantasy-sci fi crowd. The pretensious wanna-be artsy fartsy style didn't mix well with people who saw through the rapid fanboy worship. I for one refuse to put up with another Singer trying to be sensitive and realalistic. Last time I checked realastic people who are angry at the world generally have a reason to be that way, or a fairly intresting story to tell, especially when they wield an butt load of power. *coughSTORMcough* If he couldn't handle certain castmembers, then as an exprienced man in charge, it was his job to put it behind him and make sure he got the job down. As a director its his job to get the best proformance possible. That didn't happen.

I would much rather see a director who has the ability to combine realism, with dialoge, character interaction and devolpment, and action. Something that neither director did, or has ever really done in any of thier movies.

I don't ever want to see Singer touch anything from Marvel. He needs to learn who to tell an essemble story before he pens another X-men story. There should be no such things as glorified cameos *coughCYCLOPSnSTORM*. The series should have never left out detailed orgin stories about the orginial movie-verse X-men.

The Wolverine Show really crapped on the concept of the basic concept of the X-Team. That was the problem with the first movie. The writting staff should have been stopped by Fox when the intial idea came about to tell the story through Wolverine.

Every since then the quality of the story was doomed.

 

[Retroman]

How F4 even warranted a sequel I'll never know, the film was garbage, Daredevil Directors Cut deserves another film before F4 ever does.

Strange how things work out. Daredevil actually made a lot of money a the BO and on DVD for Fox and yet the sequel is still not happening and doesn't look like it will(anytime soon). I guess Bennifer and Elektra killed the franchise before it even really got started.

 

[Retroman]

Nah, Singer would have srewed it up just as much. The first two movies had no character interaction, personality, or essemble attitude. There wasn't any devolpment for single members of the X-men either.

You mist be kidding.