x-men 4 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Shawn Ashmore gave an exclusive interview to ShockTillYouDrop.com, who inevitably asked him if he would ever reprise his role of Iceman in a fourth X-Men installment.

If there is to be a fourth, Ashmore hasn't heard anything about it. "Honestly, I don't know. I would love to do another film, but I think they're doing these spin-offs and origin stories, so I can't see in the near future there being an X-Men 4, but I have no idea to tell you the truth, it's really hard to say. I'm holding my breath, waiting for it to happen, but I'm not sure if it will or not."

The third installment gave him the chance to finally engage in a mutant battle, and he's dying to do more after so much build up. "I was waiting to do some of that stuff since the first movie. It was five years, six years in the making to really shoot ice and be in a battle and all that stuff."

Talk about a guy who could use a hug (or three), Joss Whedon is doing his best to glue back together his broken heart following the severe beat-down his ego has received over the course of the past year. After opting not to replace Bryan Singer as director on X-Men 3 in order to dive head first into the shallow puddle that was Wonder Woman, Whedon now finds himself no longer attached to a comic adaptation, and content with moving forward on his next project -- an original flick called Goners, which he will write and direct.

In speaking with Wizard Universe, Whedon immediately addressed those rumors that pegged him as the leading contender to helm an X-Men 4. He says, "I haven't heard the rumor, but there is no rumor that is not swirling. I don't even know, are they even going to have an X4? I had been talking with [Marvel Studios] about X3, but the dates didn't line up. So I took on Wonder Woman, and that worked out great! Oh, no wait, I remember now, not so much." He goes on to admit that he "wouldn't say never," but seems more interested in telling his own stories right now, rather than "doing someone else's thing." After reading the interview (which, might I add, is quite good), you can't help but feel for the guy; prior to his work on Wonder Woman, Whedon had also pitched his own big-screen version of Batman, only to lose out to Christopher Nolan. He notes: "I still stay up late at night thinking how cool my Batman movie could have been, and I liked Batman Begins a lot. I thought it had some awesome stuff I would never have come up with, but I still think about what I could have done. That's the problem when you throw your heart into those things; it just stays there." [Cue Lisa Loeb's Stay -- Fade Out on lone tear sliding down Whedon's cheek.]

Even though I've never found myself attracted to his Firefly/Serenity/Buffy stuff, Whedon's original voice has landed him a pretty massive fanbase. You can sense he's passionate about the stories he wants to tell, if only someone, somewhere finally gives him the opportunity. For much more from Whedon on the Wonder Woman debacle and his new flick Goners, as well his thoughts on the big-screen Marvel vs. DC battle, check out the Wizard Universe interview here.

This whole "will there be a fourth X-Men movie" is turning into a game. Someone really should collect all the quotes coming from everyone involved and stack them up against each other just to see who contradicts who. It can be like Civil War ... "whose side are you on?" A handful of prominent X-actors, including Patrick Stewart, are fully convinced another sequel will happen. Recent talk by Marvel bigwigs would seem to give weight to their argument, although nothing resembling a real plan has been discussed. A larger handful of prominent X-actors are fully convinced the series is finished, and talk from director Brett Ratner seems to give weight to the argument. And now, another mutant actor shares his thoughts on sequel possibilities.

So, Iceman, whose side are you on? Shawn Ashmore, the man who is Iceman, says "there are rumors about an X-Men 4 but as far as I've been told X3 was going to be the last big ensemble X-Men movie. I would love if they made another one, but I'm not sure that they will." He is under contract for another film, though, just in case. Ashmore also addressed the "new mutants" rumors, saying he's heard of the idea, but only from the internet. As far as he knows, nobody official or important has talked about it.

If this franchise dies down, and the Spider-Man franchise finishes up after a third film, what do you suppose is the future of Marvel movies? They are gearing up for a big Avengers flick, but can they continue to carry box office momentum until 2009 or 2010 without their big bread winners?

If you want my opinion (and trust me, I'm far from being a true comic book geek), I think Bryan Singer should seriously take the next couple years and do everything in his power to produce not only a satisfying Superman Returns sequel, but one that blows his first attempt out of the water. It certainly appears that's the direction he's heading in, and God only knows how much pressure is on this dude right now.

Singer, who is currently in Hawaii with producer Jon Peters celebrating the birthday of another fellow producer, Chris Lee, has apparently traveled to paradise for two reasons: to get loaded and begin work on the much-anticipated Superman sequel. (Okay, the first one is just speculation on my part, but you're in Hawaii celebrating someone's birthday -- what else would you do?) While there, Singer acknowledged that he had been approached to direct X-Men 4, but apparently turned down the offer because he simply does not have the energy or chutzpah to work on two gigantic blockbusters at the same time. However, he did say that he wanted to look at the Wolverine spinoff script. Hmm, since that puppy seems ready to go, could Singer potentially pump it out before Supes? Having his name attached would definitely restore faith (somewhat) in those fans afraid the flick will literally spin off into Crap Land.

So, you mega fans out there: Would you rather see Singer focus his energy on Superman and stay away from the X-Men universe for now, or take a chance on Wolverine and hope the guy doesn't keel over due to sleep deprivation?

[via Coming Soon]

So tell me, movie-going public, are you aching for more of Marvel's biggest titles, or starting to tire of all the spandex and special effects? As yet, Marvel's main lines show no signs of slowing, as X-Men 3 did very well and Spider-Man 3 expects to fare even better. For those of us who have spent our entire lives reading comic books, this has been a truly enjoyable time -- and it seems as if the rest of you have been quite happy with it all as well. However, with the completion of X-Men: The Last Stand, we've been told the franchise is a wrap, and rumors have been suggesting the end of Spider-Man after part three since well before part two even hit theaters.

So what is the truth of the matter, then? Unsurprisingly, nobody really knows yet. However, one of the foremost sources of knowledge on the subject would likely be David Maisel, vice-president of Marvel Entertainment. On the subject, Maisel said: "obviously those films have done tremendously well and made significant amounts of profits for our partners, Sony and Fox, so I would be under the assumption that they would very much want to continue those properties in an aggressive manner." Given what's been said of various actors' contracts and desires to move on with their careers, it is distinctly possible this could mean the ever-dangerous recasting. Could Marvel films survive the replacement of key actors?

Okay, so even though X-Men: The Last Stand was supposed to mark the end of a trilogy, that doesn't mean there can't be an X-Men 4. Face it, these films are raking in a ton of money -- it would simply be a box office crime is there weren't anymore sequels. We need them. We want them. X-Men forever!

After a clip at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand left the door wide open for another installment, rumors ran wild as to when we would see a sequel and who would be in it. Well, producer Lauren Schuler Donner chimed in on the topic and, from the looks of it, they're moving ahead as planned ... sort of. Says Donner, "The newer cast members are signed, and the older cast members are not." Ah, so now the question becomes: Will they sign? If not, will they still go ahead with a fourth film or focus solely on spin-off flicks?

Donner did note that the Wolverine spin-off movie would come before any X-Men sequel, with filming to begin right after Hugh Jackman wraps his role in the next Baz Luhrmann film. Currently, the script is done and work on the film has begun. Hmm, I wonder: Do you think an X-Men 4 could be successful minus its biggest stars?

[via IGN]

Wow, the news just doesn't stop pouring in when it comes to the X-Men film franchise. Maybe that whole big national blockbuster thing they've got going on right now is behind it, eh? Anyway, it seems like we'll never put the rumors of a fourth X-Men film to rest -- or at least not anytime soon. It was beginning to look like everyone who had an official say was declaring the rumors to be absolutely, unequivocally false, but now the one man at the top of it all has thrown everything into doubt yet again. Avi Arad has been the man when it comes to Marvel on film, and although he just stepped down to start his own production company, he is still heavily involved with everything Marvel. If nothing else, his company figures to handle most of the upcoming Marvel flicks, and he's personally arranged all of the deals happening currently.

When asked about a sequel possibility Arad said the following:  "There's always a chance of an X-Men sequel. It's more of an issue of what is the next X-Men story, and when to do it ... there are so many more characters that we didn't deal with yet. I would not preclude anything."* If that's not blunt and to the point I don't know what is. Arad has basically admitted up-front the possibility for further X-Men movies is indeed wide open. I, for one, am happy to hear this said, although I don't know if I actually expect further X-Men titles; the whole spin-off thing seems far more likely. These guys really ought to get together on their stories, though ... the conflicting statements are really starting to make them all look a bit silly.

*Special Bonus Note: This seems to run directly contrary to what Arad said mere days ago. Read about it here.

Patrick Stewart has been vocally leading the way for a fourth X-Men film, loudly and repeatedly voicing his disbelief in the studio's insistence that this is indeed the final film. His fellow actors have chimed in on both sides ... but the studio remains strong in their denial. In a recent interview, Stewart admitted both that he had no actual knowledge of a sequel, and that the film people keep telling him there will be no more -- but he still doesn't seem to quite buy it. In the meantime, he said he has no plans other than his twelve month contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stewart again said the work he has done on the X-films was fantastically fun and he'd love to do it again: "I read piles of comic books. It was the most fun research that I've ever done. I always do a lot of research for roles and all I did was read. The studio just sent over a huge pile of comic books and my son said, 'And they're paying you?'"

So do you think the studio actually finished with X-Men, or do you, like Stewart, believe it's just a clever ploy to milk as much cash as they can from part three? Or perhaps it is somewhere in between. Might the studio be waiting to see the final box office numbers before making an official decision on a return? And don't you wish someone would pay you to read piles of comic books?

I'm not sure I fully understand exactly what this all means, but I'm going to share it with you anyway, and maybe you can help me figure it out. Ian McKellen recently appeared on Jonathan Ross' TV show, and they (naturally) got to discussing the whole X-Men thing. The interesting bit is this Ross fellow has seen the completed movie already, and McKellen hasn't yet, so McKellen ended up asking Ross questions about the film -- something of a role reversal for the talk show host/movie star set-up. McKellen quickly keyed on a scene with Magneto playing chess, and quizzed Ross as to whether or not the scene had remained in the flick. Ross indicated it had, and this greatly pleased McKellen, who for some reason equates this scene with the possibility of another sequel. McKellen is, as we all know, anxious to play Magneto for as long as the powers that be will let him; I, for one, am willing to watch him.