Sequels The Official 'Now Who's Directing?!' Thread

[danoyse]

Well, now that Bryan Singer will not be directing X-Men: First Class, it's time to start this discussion up again: who are your choices to direct any of the upcoming X-Men films?

 

[Lighthouse]

The first person I thought of was Michael Dougherty.

He's already had experience in writing X-Men, he's friends with Singer, and he directed the very fun Trick 'R Treat. He's also doesn't seem to be doing too much right now, so I think he's a possible candidate.

 

[Deaths Head II]

Michael Dougherty is an interesting choice. He would definitely work well with Singer as producer.

I would like to see Joss Whedon direct an X-Film but I doubt it's going to happen.

 

[Rac]

I wouldn't mind Dougherty of Whedon myself.

 

[Silvermoth]

Who I want:

• J.J Abrahms
• Joss Whedon
• Gus van Sant
• Paul Haggis

Who we'll get...

• Ratner
• Uwe Boll
• A director from Twilight

 

[david icke]

Ok, I am not going to post a wishlist per se, more a wishlist of folk I think have a realistic chance of getting the gig that I would be happy with:

Joss Whedon : Yeah, I wouldn't put money on him, but that's more to do with him being 'too good to be true', rather than not having a big enough rep to be on the studio's radar.

Alex Proyas : I am not sure if he kb'd an X-Men movie before, maybe he kb'd X-Men3. But, I have also read that he almost gave up directing for good because of the way Rothman treated him over at Fox, so he might not go there.

Francis Lawrence : I liked both Constantine and I am Legend, I think he could do a great job, don't know what he is working on just now though.

 

[topdog1]

I would like to see Joss Whedon direct an X-Film but I doubt it's going to happen.

Why do you say that? He's THE perfect choice and even Fox can see that. Unless Whedon is Fox-Gun-Shy, I think he has an excellent chance.

 

[EvilClareToo]

Why do you say that? He's THE perfect choice and even Fox can see that. Unless Whedon is Fox-Gun-Shy, I think he has an excellent chance.

Depends how he feels about Fox after the cancellation of Dollhouse-he was quite bitter with Fox after they cancelled Firefly. But I would so love to see Whedon write/direct an X Men movie! Actually, a JJ Abrams/Whedon team up would be perfect! (Abrams is a fan of Whedon's work, and Abrams does action set pieces better than Whedon).

 

[TheVelvetOnion]

J.J Abrahms - is the only one who should direct it...

why do so many people like whedon? i think he is a bad director, he would be the equivalant of schulmar or whatever his name was of the batman franchise.

 

[Deaths Head II]

The fact that you compare Whedon's work to the Shumacher Batman films is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[BMM]

I don’t think Whedon will direct. Whedon, like a lot of directors, likes to be involved in the development of his projects. He’s just as much a writer as he is a director, and I don’t think he would be interested in directing Singer’s pitch as written by Moss, while confined to a universe created by Singer and further complicated by Ratner and Hood’s previous visions.

In fact, this is one of my worries for the X-Men franchise. The franchise is so far along, and has been passed around enough, that good, creative directors may begin to pass it up because they don’t want to be limited by who and what has come before, not to mention being limited by a studio who’s developed a reputation for micro-managing its talent. I know having multiple directors has worked for other franchises without limiting their ability to attract quality talent, but the X-Men franchise has never maintained the reception and subsequent attractiveness of, say, the Harry Potter franchise.

Anyway, with regards to Whedon, I especially don’t think he’ll be interested since Fox is supposedly looking to rush First Class along to meet a 2011 release date.

 

[TheVelvetOnion]

I don’t think Whedon will direct. Whedon, like a lot of directors, likes to be involved in the development of his projects. He’s just as much a writer as he is a director, and I don’t think he would be interested in directing Singer’s pitch as written by Moss, while confined to a universe created by Singer and further complicated by Ratner and Hood’s previous visions.

In fact, this is one of my worries for the X-Men franchise. The franchise is so far along, and has been passed around enough, that good, creative directors may begin to pass it up because they don’t want to be limited by who and what has come before, not to mention being limited by a studio who’s developed a reputation for micro-managing its talent. I know having multiple directors has worked for other franchises without limiting their ability to attract quality talent, but the X-Men franchise has never maintained the reception and subsequent attractiveness of, say, the Harry Potter franchise.

Anyway, with regards to Whedon, I especially don’t think he’ll be interested since Fox is supposedly looking to rush First Class along to meet a 2011 release date.

I agree this movie has been passed around way to much...

Personally i feel that this movie became uncreative when fox got too much involved with x-men 3...

Bryan Singer's - X-Men was brilliant it set the mark and had two somewhat good stories. Now you could see where Singer was going to go with the film in X3, i mean the whole phoenix story was building up magnetos war would come to a head. This is what i feel...

By time they were making x3 and found singer couldnt commit, they thought they had enough ideas and combination that they believed they could continue his work through another director. But they were wrong.

The trouble was they needed a director that could be as creative and innovated like Bryan Singer - at the time there wasnt really anyone out there that could commit. I always felt JJ Abrahams was ideal, i liked his work with Lost, i felt he could bring something to the table but JJ was at the time extremely busy with LOST and wouldnt of been able to come on board. Now some could suggest well you had Whedon a huge comic book nerd who would love to get his hands on the goods, but then so was brett ranter, only difference between the two was that Whedon had actually written for x-men where as Brett not so much...

The thing is, ive always felt that a comic book movie could either be a direct translation because the source material is solid, or you need to retranslate the stories into a new film ultimate universe retelling.

By the point of x3, Bryan singer had already lad the ground work and opted for going into the new film ultimate universe retelling... I believe that if Whedon Or Brett had gotten there hands on the movie franchise from x-men 1 we would of had an x-men story that was almost a direct translation from the source material... i.e basically x-men 1 would of probably been something like the second genises where the original x-men are supposidly died and the wolverine and storm are brought in... blah blah blah.

Now the problem with X3 was that we already had the film ultimate universe that was lade down by bryan singer... Fox new the direction they wanted it to go. But Brett stuck closer to the comics... ultimately if i were to quote the ghostbusters "crossing the streams, you shouldnt cross the streams" so essentially you had x2 ending on a new film ulternate reality retelling of x-men to x3 being a direct translation from the comics... and that is why it didnt work.

The best option Fox should of took was to delay making X3 and wait for Bryan Singer.

Now its future is on the line because both Ratner and Hood, borrowed too much from comics and the stories are no longer original...

If First Class is to work, do not use the source material be original, & GET JJ ABRAHAM! because he knows story structure and how to be original... there is alot of original ideas used within lost.

 

[BMM]

My concern isn’t limited to First Class. It’s a concern I have for all future X-Men movies that continue within the thus far established universe. Also, the problem with The Last Stand isn’t that it sticks closer to the source material, because it doesn’t. It doesn’t stick to anything; that’s its problem. As for J.J. Abrams, it isn’t going to happen. Directing First Class would be a demotion. Plus, he’s busy producing Mission Impossible IV and possibly directing a Star Trek sequel, not to mention Paramount extended its first-look deal with Abrams and his production company into 2013. I don’t think working for Fox is in his immediate future.

 

[TheVelvetOnion]

Oh i know we wont get abrams but that was just whishful thinking...

and i didnt mean they stick to the comic books, what i ment was, x1 and 2 were original stories, characters were just borrowed from the comics but nothing came from the comics...

Where as x3, used themes like the cure which was a whedon story - and tried to use that to make the story seem more real. there were other things.

 

[Deaths Head II]

What are you talking about? X3 is based on "The Cure" just as much as X2 is based on "God Loves, Man Kills." And how is using "The Cure" an attempt to make the story more "real?" Have you even read the story? It has freaking aliens as the creators of the Cure that created the Cure because their civilization had a prophecy that an X-Man was going to destroy their planet.

 

[neemer5]

Whedon knows and loves X-Men. He also did an amazing job with Serenity, and pays mad respect to female heroines. Dr. Horrible was amazing, and his screenwriting is pretty very consistent. I think he's a little less teen oriented than Abrams, and it seems that First Class is aiming for the Twilight demographic.

Abrams definitely knows how to attract the young adult/yuppie crowd, which seems like a bad thing at first. But he also knows how to tread that demographic with the cult-followers demographic. It's a good combination to attract intelligent twenty-somethings in masses, without alienating the core. It worked for Star Trek, and I think the formula could be applied for First Class, though I secretly want him to be attached to the X4+ series instead.

I'm also hoping a proven director with enough clout so as not to be a complete puppet of Fox would rescue the franchise. With that said, I'd love to see mega directors like Guillermo Del Toro, David Fincher, Danny Boyle, Peter Jackson, Robert Rodriguez, Alfonso Cuaron, or David O Russell.

 

[topdog1]

What are you talking about? X3 is based on "The Cure" just as much as X2 is based on "God Loves, Man Kills." And how is using "The Cure" an attempt to make the story more "real?" Have you even read the story? It has freaking aliens as the creators of the Cure that created the Cure because their civilization had a prophecy that an X-Man was going to destroy their planet.

Jamming too many elements from different eras is just as wrong as ignoring the books in my opinion. It's always a tough line. An example is Daredevil. While I enjoy the director's cut, introducing Elektra and rushing to "kill" her panel for panel from the books may have pushed it too far. Stories need to flow naturally, regardless of the books.

 

[Deaths Head II]

Jamming too many elements from different eras is just as wrong as ignoring the books in my opinion. It's always a tough line. An example is Daredevil. While I enjoy the director's cut, introducing Elektra and rushing to "kill" her panel for panel from the books may have pushed it too far. Stories need to flow naturally, regardless of the books.

I agree. I don't think that's what VelvetOnion is arguing though. I have no idea what he's arguing. X3 is based on the books just as much as X1 and X2 (especially X2) are.

 

[Rac]

Alex Proyas : I am not sure if he kb'd an X-Men movie before, maybe he kb'd X-Men3. But, I have also read that he almost gave up directing for good because of the way Rothman treated him over at Fox, so he might not go there.

He has vowed never to work with Fox again.

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/08/28/why-wont-alex-proyas-direct-silver-surfer/

 

[Doctor Jones]

Danny Boyle anyone?

 

[Sawyer]

Danny Boyle anyone?

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Also, since one of the producers claims that they want to get a "Harry Potter feel" (or something to that effect) from First Class, what about Cauron or Finch?

 

[Deaths Head II]

The Harry Potter feel was mentioned with the old script that was thrown out. Though I would like to have Cuaron direct a super hero film. Any super hero film.

 

[Sawyer]

Seeing him do an X-Men film would be very interesting.