Young Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey to Appear in 'X-men: Apocalypse'; Bryan Singer will Direct

Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and the gang at 20th Century Fox had a clear mission statement when it came to X-men: Days of Future Past, and that was to help us all forget how screwed up the franchise was just a few years ago. While X-men: First Class was a pretty good step towards wiping away the stain of X-men Origins: Wolverine and X-men: The Last Stand, 'DOFP' went the next step and basically retconned a lot of that stuff away, leaving the door open to some very familiar characters returning for 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, which Bryan Singer has now been confirmed to direct.

Deadline reports the news, while also adding that the storyline centered on the arrival of the all-powerful mutant En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse will also see young Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm making appearances. But as Kinberg stated in his recent Yahoo! Q&A, the film will mostly be about the 'First Class' team...

Kinberg: "The X-Men film that we're working on now as everybody knows is X-Men: Apocalypse and that really follows the stories of the let's say 'First Class' X-Men. Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, many others of that generation of X-Men. So, in future X-Men films? Perhaps, but in 'Apocalypse' it will really be the continuation of the 'past' of 'Days of Future Past.'"


So it sounds like it's possible James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Halle Berry aren't totally out of the picture if there's a modern day X-men film. X-men: Apocalypse will bring back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and much of the 'First Class' squad, while rumors persist that Channing Tatum could cameo as Remy Lebeau aka Gambit, leading to a potential solo movie.

Let the casting begin. Could I suggest Jane Levy for a young Jean Grey? X-men: Apocalypse opens May 27th 2016. 

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Bryan Singer May Bring an 'Age of Heroes' to the Big Screen

With X-men: Days of Future Past one of the top films of the year, Bryan Singer can probably do just about any project he wants right now. The next couple of years will be occupied by 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, which he is still expected to direct, but he may be adding another comic book property to his list of things to do.

A story over at The Tracking Board says Singer is developing James Hudnall's '90s comic series, Age of Heroes, through his production arm Bad Hat Harry.  The original run lasted six issues before it got the axe, and it centered on seven "misfits" in a land ruled by gods. When the gods disappear, the misfits are brought together to battle the monsters and other magical forces that have been set free. Hudnall returned to the Age of Heroes world just last year with a novel, Hell's Reward, that is intended to be the first in a series. If this does indeed happen it will be Alex Hollister writing the script.

There does seem to be some doubt whether the project will come together. Comicbook.com had a scoop from Hudnall himself who said "I can confirm everything in this report. Bryan Singer's company Bad Hat Harry is developing the Age of Heroes as a film. Age of Heroes started as a comic in the 1990s at Image and was novelized last year by me. Link to book."

But a glimpse at Hudnall's Facebook  has him admitting he was a bit overzealous in confirming anything so soon....

 "I've been asked to take down the article about the film project as it's still early in the development process and they hadn't made an official announcement, sorry. I thought they had when I saw the article."

So we'll see what happens. I remember the comic not being all that good but the novelization is something that is already on my Kindle waiting to be read.  It does fit very much in the fantasy/sci-fi mold and that's something Singer has struggled with (Jack the Giant Slayer, anyone?) outside of the X-verse.

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Bryan Singer Shows Off 'X-men: Apocalypse' Script

There's still some question whether Bryan Singer will actually direct X-men: Apocalypse, but at least to his mind he's rarin' to go. With a little less than two years until it opens Singer has teased this script page from the treatment he co-wrote, and it turns out to be from the opening scene. Although we can't see much it's clear the action is set around the Nile in Egypt and features a fight involving Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, all of whom were glimpsed at the end of X-men: Days of Future Past.

So there you go! A script page! Yeah, that's what passes for stories nowadays and I'm contributing to it, only because it's the X-men and they are awesome.  X-men: Apocalypse opens May 27th 2016.

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Bryan Singer Could Get Pulled from Directing 'X-men: Apocalypse'

When allegations of sex abuse were made against Bryan Singer recently, it came at a time when he was heavily promoting X-men: Days of Future Past. And we saw that 20th Century Fox's reaction was to pull him from the press tour for awhile, and it didn't have a negative impact on the movie's box office, or at least it doesn't seem to have had any. But with Singer already keyed in to direct X-men: Apocalypse in 2016, this may not be the last time his legal situation becomes an issue.

According to Radar Online, execs within Fox are concerned production on X-men: Apocalypse could be impacted if Singer is busy defending himself in court. And that is a very real, legitimate concern because the studio has big money to think about here, which is why the subject of moving Singer into a producer role and bringing in another director is being considered. Discussions on that topic apparently have not gone well, leading to "heated arguments and walk outs". What isn't clear is if Singer is fighting to save his job or if he's fighting over who would replace him. It would be difficult to believe Singer hasn't at least thought about this scenario and that Fox might need some type of contingency plan.

Singer's deal was made some time ago so no matter what happens he's guaranteed to make a ton of money on X-men: Apocalypse. That's probably the least of his concerns right now, though, while the studio is all about protecting their assets. The site's source notes...

"They don't really care whether he's innocent or guilty- they're only concerned with the bottom line, which is giving him another $250 to $350 million to make Apocalypse."

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Interview: John Ottman Talks Editing and Composing for 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'

X-Men: Days of Future Past made a huge splash at the box office this past weekend (a $111 million splash, to be exact), and if the quality that was put into this film stays intact for all the future films, then there's plenty to look forward to in the X-Men universe. The film is everything you love about the X-Men movies and more. 

A film this good, however, doesn't make itself. When talking about the original X-Men films, Bryan Singer's name immediately comes up, but John Ottman should be a name you should appreciate as well. Ottman, who's worked with Singer on most all of his films, serves as the editor and composer for Days of Future Past and does a fantastic job at both this go-around. Ottman's worked on several films including X2, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns, Apt Pupil, and both Fantastic Four films, just to name a few of several. 

Ottman spoke to me about how he started working with Singer, the only director he works with as editor and composer, the hardest sequences to put together in the film, and how he manages the process of two very different jobs. 

The film and the soundtrack are out now, so be sure to check them out! You can read the entirety of my interview with Ottman below. 

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You and Bryan Singer have been friends for a long time, and he's the only director with whom you collaborate with as both film editor and composer, which is quite a feat. How did this all get started and what's your collaboration 

process like? 

If you want to go way back, it started when we met at film school, when he was a PA [personal assistant] on a little movie and I was helping out a director friend of mine on the project. I ended up coming on and recutting the film, and Bryan befriended me and we started working together. Basically, I would edit his projects that he was working on. Our first feature film, Public Access, the composer dropped out in the eleventh hour and I had been dabbling in music as a hobby. And I said, "Look, I should score this movie. I know these characters more than anybody," so I wrote the score and the score and the editing were singled out. So when we did The Usual Suspects together, I was like, "I just want to score the movie. I like scoring films," and he [Bryan Singer] was like, "no," [laughs] "you're not scoring the movie unless you're the editor." He kind of depended on me in that regard, so the blackmail continues to this day [laughs]. 

Well, that works out great since you do a great job at both. I was listening to the soundtrack and the intensity in the music parallels the movie. I especially loved "Hope (Xavier's Theme)" and thought that was particularly beautiful and moving. 

Well, thank you! That was the cornerstone for the score for me because Charles Xavier never had a theme and this movie is all about him and rekindling the hope that he's lost. The hope that his character's known for. I saw his music as really being the through-line to the movie and so that was one of the first things I ever wrote [for the film]. 

So when you sat down to start composing for this film, was there anything specific that triggered your inspiration for the music?

Nothing that I went to for inspiration really. It's surprising to some people probably, but I don't cut to music when I'm cutting the scenes internally. I wait until I have an entire editor's cut together and watch the whole film dry, then I add the temporary music, or the temp. score as they call it. Then I sort of sit there and think about what kind of score it needs and then I search for that kind of music when I'm temping it because there isn't time for me to write anything at that juncture. All I can do is find different scores that are of the ilk that I'm thinking of in my head. 

So sitting down to do both editing and composing, because they're two very different things, do you have specific mind sets when thinking about one over the other?

Survival [laughs] and the deadline on the wall. Those are very inspiring. This one was a darker score and we did want it to be a little more modern than X2 and bring it forward 12 years later filmmaking-wise. So I built in a lot more synthesizers into the orchestra for it. And it's hard to answer that because this film already has a pre-existing theme that I wrote for X2 that I resurrected, so I didn't have to think a whole lot about what the theme of the film is going to be, because I had already established it in my mind. 

I especially loved the scene with Quicksilver in the Pentagon kitchen. It was very well done. 

The idea of Quicksilver came very late in the process because it originally was a different character. So it was a tremendous hardship on the production because it wasn't planned for until we were in the middle of shooting. So we had to design that sequence and we had zero time to shoot it. The kitchen scene was the last scene that we shot before we packed up and went back to LA. 

You can't tell. The entire shot of him going around the kitchen and the camera

panning around with him is fantastic. 

A lot of that was done in post [production]. We just got a shot of him running around the kitchen quickly and then packed up and left [laughs]. 

Was that one of the harder scenes to edit? Are there any that stand out for you in particular when you think back on all the scenes you put together?

I would say that was a very difficult scene in that it's really just a guy walking down the hall with a tray and there's not a whole lot of action that's occurring. For some reason, you feel excited because of the stakes and what he's doing and he's a fun character. To keep that moving and making it feel like there was a lot more than what it was was challenging. But I would say the most difficult sequence for me was the Paris sequence. When I was getting the footage in, I was calling it the "Paris Clusterf**k" because it's this nine and a half minute sequence in Paris where all these simultaneous things are going on. So, it was a very difficult thing to keep all the parallel action constantly going and when adding the score it was the same nightmare, keeping the whole thing going and exciting. It's weird, because it's not an action sequence per se, and the way this movie is is that you're engaged because it's character driven and it's driven by incidental things that are happening to the characters, but you wouldn't call the Paris sequence an action sequence even though it feels like one because it's moving so quickly and there's so many things going on. 

That's true and you hear that in the music because it starts out slow and then gets more intense and moves faster around the two minute mark. 

Right, exactly.

Is it easier for you to compose for a film you know so intimately as an editor? Or do you feel there's more pressure?

I always say it's a wash. I know the film more intimately than any composer will know a film and I know the problems it has because I'm a filmmaker, but the time I have to write the score is so little compared to what a composer would have if he walked into a film. So, it sort of evens out for me. There was never a time where I could say, "So long movie, I'm going to go write the score now." I'm just constantly dealing with a million frayed ends, whether it's ADR or visual effects issues, or recutting for test screenings, and the countless barrage of things that I have to managerially contend with while writing the score. So, I'm never able to shut the door and go into a room to compose, it's really difficult. And it's something I worry about from day one when I arrive at where ever we're shooting, even though writing the score is months and months away, I'm petrified about how I'm going to edit the film and write the score at the same time. It's something that keeps me up at night until it's finally written, so there's a massive amount of release for me when I woke into the scoring session, because the creative aspect is behind me. 

You combined themes from past 'X-Men' movies. I heard the 'X2' theme and Magneto's theme in there at some point. Was that something you had in mind to do from the get-go?

Yeah. I'm surprised you recognized Magneto's theme in there. But I touched on Magneto's theme very briefly in X2, but he never had a full fledged moment thematically in the first movie and so I took that and built upon it in X2. There's also a tiny little nod to [William] Stryker, who had a theme in X2, so that was fun to bring back. It's not so inlaid in there because this film doesn't have as many of the old characters, but it's much more simpler in terms of themes than in X2, where there's far more themes for characters. This movie is more of Charles Xavier, Raven, and Magneto. Those are the three prominent themes, in addition to some of the old themes. 

Do you have any future projects in the works right now? Either editing or composing? 

Hell no! [laughs] I think I'm one of the only people filled with dread when their agent calls [laughs]. I'm going to take a break, yeah. This was on the heels of Jack the Giant Slayer, so it was three years of unrelenting pressure, so it's really surreal right now for me. I'm kind of lost right now [laughs]. It's like walking out of prison and not knowing what to do. 

Is there a moment when you sat back to watch the finished film and thought, "I can't believe I did all that and that it's over?" 

Yeah. You do watch it and think that. Or when I write a score for one of these films, it's done so quickly and under such duress that when it's all done and I listen to it, it's like, "how did all this get written?" [laughs]

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Explaining the Villain At the End of 'X-men: Days of Future Past'

Maybe it was the X-men t-shirts and the bag with a bunch of Marvel superheroes on it, but both times I've gone to see X-men: Days of Future Past people have felt I was the guy to pitch a bunch of questions to. And I'm cool with that because comics, in particular X-men comics, are kinda my thing. And sure enough the majority of questions had to do with the film's post-credit sequence which I will get into after this bit of spoiler space...

Okay, so at the end of X-men: Days of Future Past we are taken to a scene in ancient Egypt where a throng of people are chanting "En Sabah Nur!!" to a robed man atop a sand dune using his mutant power to build the Pyramids. The camera rotates around to show his face, revealing he's a teenager with blue lips and greyish skin. This is the immortal Apocalypse, a character born some 5000 years ago in Akkaba, and generally regarded as the first mutant. That distinction went to others for awhile (including Namor) but it has stuck with Apocalypse.

Because of how he was raised, Apocalypse subscribes to the Darwinist theory "survival of the fittest", and has spent his many thousands of years testing himself and others. Due to the involvement of the villain Rama-Tut and acquired Alien technology, Apocalypse has grown in strength and ability over time. He has the power to alter reality and matter, making him capable of literally anything. To maintain his power, he goes into hibernation for lengthy periods of time, leaving his followers in the Clan Akkaba and his personal envoy Ozymandias to handle matters.

That's all well and good, but how is he associated with the X-men? His first appearance comes in the pages of X-factor where he faced the original team of Cyclops, a newly reborn Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel. Apocalypse's motives were modest, initially, but then we see that his past, present, and future are uniquely tied to the Summers (Cyclops) bloodline. Apocalypse infected Cyclops' son, Nathan, forcing the child to be sent off into the future when he could be cured. When Nathan returns as the grown-up and militaristic Cable, it's his arrival that awakens Apocalypse once again.  Apocalypse becomes obsessed not only with the Summers clan, but with the survival of all mutantkind, in a way making him not too far removed from Magneto ideologically. His aspirations are far greater and self-serving, however.

Apocalypse is the centerpiece of one of the most critical X-men storylines, the Age of Apocalypse. In a story that is very similar to X-men: Days of Future Past, Charles Xavier's son goes back in time to kill Magneto but only succeeds in murdering his own father. With Xavier dead, a new timeline is created in which Apocalypse rules with an iron fist, humans are marginalized or killed outright, and a new team of X-men must be formed to stop him. There have been suggestions that Bryan Singer plans to incorporate elements of this into 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, but all he's seen fit to reveal is a desire to explore the idea of "ancient mutants", which obviously includes Apocalypse.

But what may be the best indicator of what's in store for the film may have to do with the mutants Apocalypse surrounds himself with. He's usually accompanied by his lieutenants the Four Horsemen, named after the Biblical plagues War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death. At first these Horsemen were non-descript mutants given a significant power boost, but lately Apocalypse has been going after more prominent figures. He transformed Angel into the psychotic metal-winged Archangel. Other X-men who have served as Horsemen include Wolverine, Sunfire, and Gambit, and for a spell even the Hulk was counted amongst their number. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg suggested Apocalypse will be trying much the same thing again...

Kinberg: "The thing that we've spent the most time talking about is not just the visual execution of the character, which is its own challenge. [But] creating a character that's the most powerful I think of any mutant villain that we've seen in the 'X-Men' movies so far. More powerful than Magneto...But we've also been talking about how to give him a real emotional and philosophical underpinning. So he's not just somebody who's out there destroying the world because he can. What he's doing is – in his mind – justified and validated by a real compelling, coherent philosophy. He tries to convert people – maybe some of our most familiar characters – to come to his cause."

So does this mean we'll see a return of Ben Foster as Angel? And what about Gambit, who will presumably be played by Channing Tatum? Gambit is a maybe, but X-men: Apocalypse is set in the 1980s and so it would require a younger actor than Foster to play Angel. It's worth noting that in the 'Days of Future Past' virals it's revealed Angel was killed in anti-Trask protests in 2011. He could still return thanks to the new timeline the films have established. Chances are Singer and Kinberg will be making significant changes to Apocalypse's history for the film, but as we saw in the post-credits sequence his origin will remain largely intact. This is just a small glimpse into who Apocalypse is (he even fought a young Dracula back in the day!) and the incalculable threat he poses to the X-men, and I'm very curious to see how he's depicted on screen. I'm also hoping Singer has room to include Apocalypse's other henchmen, the Dark Riders, who were my favorite heel team for awhile.

X-men: Apocalypse opens May 27th 2016 and will be shot back-to-back with the third Wolverine film.

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'X-men: Apocalypse' to Include Some of the Original Cast

Any concerns 20th Century Fox may have had about moving forward on X-men: Apocalypse have been wiped away by X-men: Days of Future Past's huge opening weekend. What we've heard previously is that it will be a direct sequel and will focus on the younger characters, but that may not be entirely the case and we may again see time travel factoring into the story.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, screenwriter Simon Kinberg revealed that the older cast will factor into the story as well...

Kinberg: "It will focus primarily on the 'First Class' cast, but it will certainly have some of the original cast involved, too."

Patrick Stewart hinted some time ago that there were plans for Charles Xavier post 'Days of Future Past', and this may be what he's talking about. Apocalypse is an immortal mutant who has lived for thousands of years, and continues to be a thorn in the X-men's side far into the future, so it wouldn't be surprising if he's menacing both teams. It seems a little bit early for Bryan Singer, who Kinberg says is still expected to direct, to try and adapt the classic Age of Apocalypse storyline. The groundwork for something of that scope could be set in this next film, though.

X-men: Apocalypse is due to open on May 27th 2016.

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Review: 'X-men: Days of Future Past' Starring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Fassbender

Fourteen years have gone by since Bryan Singer brought Marvel's most socially aware comic, X-men, to the big screen. In that time the franchise has had its meteoric ups, such as the brilliant X2: X-men United, and disastrous lows when Singer handed the reins over to Brett Ratner for X-men: The Last Stand. A terrible Wolverine solo film followed, but basically the X-men weren't reborn until X-men: First Class injected a little bit of Cold War-era espionage into what was a remarkable prequel. The genius of that film was how different it was from the comic book norm, in terms of style and scope, and the challenge of Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past is maintaining that while makings things even bigger.

Well, it's actually one of many challenges Singer faced. Chris Claremont's seminal comics story serves as the basis for the film which combines the super-sized casts of 'First Class' and the original trilogy. Normally a roster that size would get jumbled and unwieldy but Singer, along with screenwriter Simon Kinberg, deftly split the narrative between time periods. In the not-so far flung future, Xavier (a returning Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) are fighting a losing battle in a war against the robotic Sentinels, mutant hunters who have wiped out practically all life on Earth. Fans will geek at the presence of popular X-men like Blink (Fan Bingbing), Bishop (Omar Sy) and Warpath (Boo Boo Stewart), along with a couple of other familiar faces like Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore). The impressive opening battle, anchored by Blink's brilliantly executed teleportation powers, takes a dire turn for the X-men and they are forced to make a bold decision.

"So many battles waged over the years, and yet none of them like this, are we destined to destroy each other, or can we change who we are, and unite, is the future truly set?"

Xavier's question is at the heart of everything this film sets out to be. Can Xavier and his mutant colleagues change the course of history and save the world from this terrible fate? Their plan may seem convoluted on the surface, but Kinberg explains it with simplistic ease. Hugh Jackman, looking more ripped than ever, returns as the loner X-man, Wolverine. The ideological war between Xavier and Magneto may give the film its brains, but Wolverine is the heart and soul. He's chosen to send his consciousness back in time to the 1973, when he'll find the younger Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) at odds after the events of the last movie. Only the two of them can stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from committing an act of violence that will trigger the dystopian future, but of course it proves to be easier than done.

The Charles Xavier Wolverine knows in the future is a far cry from the man he was before; a broken down shell addicted to a drug perfected by his lone remaining friend, Hank "Beast" McCoy (Nicholas Hoult). The drug lets Charles walk again, but it also has sapped away his telepathic powers. Those abilities are what gave Charles his ability to understand others, to feel their pain and use it as motivation, and without them he is lost. On the other end of the spectrum is Magneto, locked away in a specially-made cell cleverly tucked inside the Pentagon. After some fisticuffs, a little soul searching, and Wolverine's friendly urging "You and I are going to be great friends someday", Charles and Hank are convinced to join in on a prison break.

Singer, whose last two movies were the wretched Jack the Giant Slayerand mediocre Superman Returns, is clearly rejuvenated by his return to the X-men. And so we see him glorifying in the visual effects more than he ever has before. The best example comes with the introduction of Evan Peters as Quicksilver, the speedster mutant who will also be seen in Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. What was once perceived as a throwaway character written in as a slight to Whedon's use of him turns out to be the film's great showstopper, zipping past bullets with ease while everybody around him is perceived as standing still. It's as good a use of the character as one could have hoped for and puts a real burden on Whedon to find a way to top it. Frankly, I'm not so sure he can.

What's most impressive is how Singer keeps things personal while relishing in the spectacle. The love triangle between the angry Magneto, confused Mystique, and wounded Charles is very much in place and moves forward without a hitch. The plight of mutants has always been an allegory for minority rights and that has been taken even more to the forefront with these last two movies, along with a nifty anti-war statement thrown in for good measure. The X-men have some of the best villains in comics and Peter Dinklage is phenomenal as the Mengele-esque Bolivar Trask, the creator of the dangerous Sentinel program. While he doesn't say much, his impassive nature shows just how cruel he truly is as he sets out on a course of mutant capture and experimentation. Other important characters are introduced, written off, and teased in ways that deepen the franchise's past and future. Trust me in that you'll want to walk into it as cold as possible, but by the time the credits roll you'll be dying to see what comes next and to relive what came before.

With an eye towards revising the past, the '70s elements are wildly unpredictable yet authentic where it counts. The period aesthetic is perhaps even more refined than before, necessary as the time period becomes such an integral facet of the story. Everything from the Vietnam War to the JFK assassination are given a revisionist slant, with the only thing sticking out like a sore thumb is Singer's version of Richard Nixon who looks oddly like New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. Coincidence? Probably not. In that spirit of revision, X-men: Days of Future Past plays fast and loose with the franchise's continuity in a brilliant deck-clearing move that will have fans howling with joy.  Between this and 'First Class', 20th Century Fox are providing the most thoughtful and exciting comic book movies we've seen since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. X-men: Days of Future Past deserves to be mentioned as one of the best superhero movies films ever made, and if you're a fan of Marvel's merry mutants, it may just be THE best.

Trav's Tip: Stay after the credits for a glimpse into what's in store for 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, which Singer will return to direct. 

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'West of Memphis' Director Reaches Out to Bryan Singer's Sexual Abuse Accuser for Documentary

Well, things haven't gotten worse for Bryan Singer over the last few days, but they have hardly gotten better. A few days ago, 31-year-old Michael Egan filed a federal lawsuit against the X-men: Days of Future Past director, saying he was drugged and raped on numerous occasions back in 1999. All of this occurred while Egan was a teenager, attending various Hollywood parties that Singer also allegedly attended. Singer has denied the charges and revealed his alibi, saying he was filming X-men at the time, but now another situation has cropped up that will require his attention.

Daily Mail reports that Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (West of Memphis, Deliver Us from Evil) has reached out to Egan over a documentary she's working on that will reveal the sexual abuse running rampant throughout Hollywood, and the allegations against Singer, which have been whispered about long before now, will be a part of it. Here's what a source close to Egan had to say....

"Just this week, I got a message from Disarming Films, a documentary film company working out of Los Angeles. They said they are making a documentary about a bunch of children molested by somebody in the film industry. I never contacted them back. They wanted videos and pictures of Michael and a few others he knew. The film company said they were working on numerous children, now adults, now coming forward about this."

Berg's Oscar-nominated doc Deliver Us from Evil dealt with the Roman Catholic Church's cover-up of sexual abuse charges, so this is ground she's tread before. She's currently at Tribeca for the premiere of her narrative feature, Every Secret Thing, starring Diane Lane, Dakota Fanning, and Elizabeth Banks.

Meanwhile, Singer has removed himself from all promotion for next month's X-men: Days of Future Past, including his scheduled appearance at this weekend's WonderCon. 

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"Final" Trailer for 'X-men: Days of Future Past'

Give 20th Century Fox credit; unlike their competition at Sony who have given away their Spider-Man sequel for free, they kept a good portion of X-men: Days of Future Past locked away. That was until about a week ago with tons of posters, clips, the entire opening battle, and one campy burger commercial featuring Evan Peters' Quicksilver. So with weeks to go until the film opens in theaters, the third and final trailer is here, but that doesn't mean we won't get more promos down the line.

Bryan Singer returns to the fold, and along with him come practically every actor who was part of the original trilogy. They'll combine with the X-men: First Class crew for a time-hopping story that has Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) going back to the 1970s to prevent a terrible future when mutants are hunted and killed by giant robot Sentinels. The seeds planted here will bear fruit in 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, an upcoming sequel to The Wolverine, and a potential X-force film. So basically, Fox has a lot riding on the film's success. So if you really want to see Channing Tatum as Gambit, this is the movie to pay for now.

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd.

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'Transcendence' Writer Comes Aboard Revived 'Battlestar Galactica' Film

Around the time the rebooted Battlestar Galactica TV series was ending its run on SyFy Channel, Bryan Singer came aboard to helm a big screen version of the original series. But he had actually been working on something even before that, so this seemed like the perfect chance for him to put some of those ideas to work. Nothing has been heard about it in three years, but now Variety reports Universal is moving forward on the Battlestar Galactica film, only Singer may not be involved.

Transcendence and Prometheus 2 scribe Jack Paglen has been hired to write the screenplay for Battlestar Galactica, which also has the involvement of series creator and producer Glen Larson. Paglen takes over from John Orloff (A Mighty Heart), who was intending to merge all of the Battlestar Galactica continuities somehow. Universal wants a "complete reimagining", something more streamlined for audiences unfamiliar with the property, so it makes sense to bring someone new in.

As for Singer, Variety's piece only refers to his past involvement with the project, implying that he's moved. With him spearheading the renewed X-men franchise it's doubtful he would have had time for it, anyway.

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Six 'X-men: Days of Future Past' Videos Offer New Footage

There's likely to be more mutant placement than product placement in Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past, but that won't stop the occasional product tie-in. Six behind-the-scenes featurettes have debuted over at the Pringles website, each with some new footage of what looks like one heck of a fun film to shoot. Hopefully this doesn't mean Wolverine will pop open a can of Pringles with his claws every five minutes.

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, and many more, X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd.

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*UPDATE* Mutants Make a Last Stand in New 'X-men: Days of Future Past' Trailer

 *Updated with an awesome new poster!*

Before Bryan Singer and 20th Century Fox can dive fully into The Wolverine 2, X-men: Apocalypse, X-force, and the further adventures of Marvel's merry mutants, they first have to get through this summer's X-men: Days of Future Past.  The time travel film, based on the classic X-men storyline, combines the X-men: First Class squad and the original team from Singer's earlier trilogy, combining forces to prevent a future when mutants are hunted down and slaughtered by robotic Sentinels.

A new trailer has been released and this is the bleakest one yet, showing what looks to be the last stand for many of the most popular X-men. Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine, and as usual he is the centerpiece of the story with the feral mutant sent back in time to the 1970s to confront younger versions of Charles Xavier and Magneto.

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Omar Sy, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Halle Berry, Daniel Cudmore, Peter Dinklage, Boo Boo Stewart, Evan Peters, and Lucas Till, X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd.


X-Men: Days of Future Past - Official Trailer / Bande-Annonce #2 [VO|HD] by Team Lyricis

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Bryan Singer Teases Gambit and Nightcrawler for 'X-men: Apocalypse'

Two of the most popular X-men may be returning to the silver screen if Bryan Singer has his way. X-men: Days of Future Past arrives this summer, but we already know X-men: Apocalypse is next in 2016. At this early stage we don't know which of the many mutants Singer plans to focus on, however in a conversation with Cine Premiere he indicated Gambit and Nightcrawler could be coming back. Here are his words, translated from Spanish...

"I'm considering Gambit and potentially a young Nightcrawler for 'Apocalypse. I was going to have Nightcrawler [in 'Days of Future Past'] and even wrote a scene, but I felt that we were forcing too many mutants into the story."

Remy Lebeau, aka Gambit, was last played by Taylor Kitsch in the forgettable X-men Origins: Wolverine, and he did a decent enough job as the "ragin' Cajun" despite the awful script. Alan Cumming portrayed Nightcrawler in X-2 and did not return for X-men: The Last Stand.

Singer recently spoke about introducing younger versions of familiar characters, and this may have been what he was referring to. X-men: Apocalypse is set to open May 27th 2016.

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Bryan Singer Talks 'X-men: Apocalypse'; James Mangold Updates on 'The Wolverine 2'

In just a few short months Bryan Singer will give us X-men: Days of Future Past, a film which will be key to the rebirth of the X-men franchise. We know Singer is already looking ahead to 2016 and X-men: Apocalypse, which we still no precious little about other than the titular villain. At the same time, James Mangold is prepping a sequel to The Wolverine and that figures into the mix somewhere. With press beginning on X-men: Days of Future Past, Singer has revealed a few small details about 'Apocalypse', while Mangold has cleared up when his sequel will start rolling.

In an interview with Total Film, Singer says screenwriters Michael Dougherty, Simon Kinberg, and Dan Harris are "breaking the story" now, which will be set in a different time period than X-men: First Class and 'Future Past'....

Singer: “We’re going to deal with the notion of ancient mutants – the fact they were born and existed thousands of years ago. But it’ll be a contemporary movie – well, it’ll take place in the ’80s… The ’80s is a period now – it’s hard for me to believe that!”

He also says the film will be much bigger in scope and the level of super-powered destruction....

Singer:  “Apocalypse will have more of the mass destruction that X-Men films, to date, have not relied upon. There’s definitely now a character and a story that allow room for that kind of spectacle… I don’t want to get too specific, but we’ll introduce familiar characters in a younger time. That’ll be fun to show the audience. I call these movies in-between-quels. It’s a mind-fuck sometimes in terms of where things fall in the timeline!” 

"Younger characters in a younger time"? Could he be talking about reintroducing younger versions of Cyclops and Jean Grey? Sounds like he's setting up for exactly that....

Singer:  “Yeah, there actually are [more stories I want to tell]. It all stems back to when I did [the first] X-Men. You always want to know where a character’s going to go, what their future’s going be like. You can always sequelise. But on that film I also had actors asking ‘Who am I? Where did my character come from?’ So as a director you always need a backstory to give your actors. It may not be the right backstory, but it’s one you can give the actor to help them understand their character. These prequels are really exciting for me because they give me a chance to explore ideas I came up with more than a decade ago.” 

The central figure in 'Future Past', and nearly all of the X-men movies, is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. We know that Mangold is coming back to write and direct Logan's next adventure, although Jackman has been wobbly about returning. He's always non-committal until a script is done. Anyway, a Twitter user asked Mangold when The Wolverine sequel would begin filming, and the director responded with...

@R__E__D_R__U__M @20centuryfox @ShuDonner We are figuring it all out. At the moment, I'm shooting The next #Wolverine after #XmenApocalypse.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 15, 2014

That means we won't see The Wolverine 2 until 2017 at the earliest, and by then Jackman will be 48 years old. He's still quite the physical speciman and could probably play Logan until he's 60, it's just a matter of desire.....and how much money 20th Century Fox offers.

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Amanda Seyfried Joins 'Flying Horse'; Nicolas Cage in Talks for 'Men with No Fear'

Gary Oldman has been having some difficulty mounting his first directorial effort since 1997's Nil By Mouth, the Eadweard Muybridge biopic Flying Horse. Last year it seemed like he was moving in the right direction with Benedict Cumberbatch and Ralph Fiennes coming aboard, but even with those stars, and the newly-added Amanda Seyfried, Oldman reveals to Absolutely Magazine that the lack of funding may prevent the film from happening....

Oldman: The script doesn’t fit their model. It’s called Flying Horse and it’s a real story. I have Ralph Fiennes in at the moment, Amanda Seyfried, Benedict Cumberbatch, and me. And it’s not enough because they have to make their movie for $15 million and they have got to have their model. You need someone who will actually be a risk taker. It’s set in San Francisco but you could save yourself $100k if you do three weeks in Romania and then you get a tax subsidy if you do a week in Ireland. It’s fucking eye-crossing!

Fiennes was set to play Muybridge, a pioneering photographer instrumental to the development of motion pictures, and presumably Seyfried would have been his young wife who had an affair with and had a child by Major Harry Larkyns (Cumberbatch). The discovery of the affair led Muybridge to murder Larkyns, causing quite the scandal and something of a circus trial.  Filming was set to begin later this year but it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon. [BleedingCool]

Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in Men with No Fear, which would reunite him with his Tokarev director, Paco Cabezas. Produced by Bryan Singer and set to be sold at the European Film Market, the film "centers on Marty ‘The Mule,’ newly released from prison after being set up by his former boss Frank, a smalltime neighborhood crook. While Mule was locked up, Frank went big time and became a ruthless drug kingpin. But Frank also took Mule’s most precious item — his son, raising him like his own. But now Mule is back on the streets and ready for revenge." [Deadline]

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Bryan Singer Says 'X-men: Apocalypse' will Explore Origins of Mutantkind

X-men: Days of Future Past doesn't hit theaters until May, but already the foundation is being laid for the sequel, X-men: Apocalypse. Bryan Singer made the big announcement just last month, and while we've already heard some rumors on how the two films will tie together, we don't know anything concrete. Entertainment Weekly caught up with Singer and while he doesn't reveal much, he does spill a few small details.

First off, Singer apparently isn't signed to direct just yet, although he clearly has designs on being behind the camera....

"I’m negotiating to direct. We’re in the process. We’re trying to figure it out, schedules. My desire would be to direct it."

Singer is still working out the story alongside Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, and one thing that hasn't been decided yet is if an 'Apocalypse' teaser will occur during 'Future Past'. One thing that is for sure is that something in the upcoming film will launch whatever happens in 'Apocalypse'...

"Something that happens in this movie causes what’s going to happen in that movie."

Whereas X-men: First Class took us back to the origins of the X-men and Charles Xavier's dream of peaceful coexistence, 'Apocalypse' will go much further back and explore the beginnings of the mutant species....

“It will also address historical mutant-cy, meaning the deep past, mutant origins and things like that. It’s something that’s always intrigued me when we think about our Gods and our history and miracles and powers.”

Apocalypse is generally recognized as the first mutant, born in Egypt thousands of years ago under the name En Saba Nur. The most interesting thing is going to be how the shape-shifting villain will be brought to the screen, and who they'll get to portray him.

X-men: Apocalypse opens May 27th 2016.

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Anna Paquin's Rogue Cut from 'X-men: Days of Future Past'

There are a couple dozen mutants running around Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past; mutants from the future, mutants from the present, retro mutants. There are so many that losing one shouldn't be a big deal, but when it's a fan favorite like Rogue that does sting a little.

EW reports that Anna Paquin's one scene as Rogue has been dropped from the film, with Bryan Singer saying it was just a part of the editing process....

Singer: "Through the editing process, the sequence became extraneous. It's a really good sequence and it will probably end up on the DVD so people can see it. But like many things in the editing process, it was an embarrassment of riches and it was just one of the things that had to go. Unfortunately, it was the one and only sequence Anna Paquin was in, the Rogue character was in. Even though she's in the materials and part of the process of making the film, she won't appear in it."

Paquin was only on set for a week shooting the scene, said to be a rescue sequence involving her, Iceman, Magneto, and Charles Xavier. Maybe this will spur Singer on to make her a part of X-men: Apocalypse? He does keep open the possibility of working with her again in the future...


Singer:"She was awesome in the sequence. She’s a brilliant actress. I would work with her in a heartbeat…She completely understood. It’s very disappointing, but she’s very professional and she knows that stuff happens, particularly with material you shoot early on in production. Films evolve."

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd 2014.

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Bryan Singer Reunites with 'X2' Writers for 'X-men: Apocalypse'; New 'Days of Future Past' Images

Here's what we definitely, absolutely know about X-men: Apocalypse; it comes out May 27th 2016. Practically everything else is unconfirmed rumor, although it's expected to be a straight sequel to X-men: Days of Future Past and have Bryan Singer returning to direct. He's the guy who announced it in the first place, right? Now we can at least count on one more thing to be true, and it's that Singer has brought on X2: X-men United writers Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris to help out. Here's the image he tweeted...

Late night #XMen #Apocalypse story session. #SimonKinberg @DanimalHarris @Mike_Dougherty It's snowing in Egypt! pic.twitter.com/GtJs3VgZ3M
— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) December 19, 2013

Yeah, that whole snowing in Egypt thing is kind of a big deal with some reports saying it hasn't seen the white stuff in a century. But it also may be a clue, and confirmation of a sort, that the villain Apocalypse is indeed involved as Egypt is his birthplace in the comics.

But before we get there, Days of Future Past comes first, which unites the casts franchise Singer is familiar with, plus the X-men: First Class team for a massive time travel epic. One of those who will be returning is the red hot Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and a new preview image shows her kicking ass in a military compound. That's also where we saw Lucas Till, back as Havok, in an earlier photo. One of the brand new additions is Omar Sy as the time-lost X-man, Bishop, and a new shot gives us a better look at him as well.

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd 2014. [Les Toiles Heroiques]

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Bryan Singer Will Direct 'X-men: Apocalypse'; Major Spoilers On Its Ties to 'Days of Future Past'

After revealing the explosive news of X-men: Apocalypse arriving in 2016, Bryan Singer pulled a gangsta mic drop and hasn't been heard from since. Not that he's needed to say anything since the title of the film tells us just enough to speculate endlessly without knowing anything concrete. Obviously, the suggestion is that the X-men villain Apocalypse will be involved, and with it does seem as if it will have a direct link to next year's X-men: Days of Future Past. Well now we have a better idea just how "direct" those links will be.

While it's been somewhat assumed since he broke the news, Vulture reports that Bryan Singer will direct X-men: Apocalypse. Singer directed the first two X-men movies, including X-2, which many believe to be the franchise's high point creatively. Singer will wrap up 'Days of Future Past' before jumping into 'Apocalypse', but there's some conflicting info on who might be joining him. Vulture insists the film will follow only the younger crew established in X-men: First Class, while recent reports have claimed both casts will continue to play a part.

However, a story over at FirstShowing drops some major league 'Days of Future Past' info that suggests the 'First Class' era will be the focus. If you don't want to have large chunks of Days of Future Past spoiled, like how Apocalypse fits into it, then best to turn back now....

The villain Apocalypse, also known as the immortal En Sabah Nur, won't be showing up to take on the X-men in his usual form. Instead, he'll be projecting his evil consciousness into the body of a particular X-man. Here's what they say....

 "the credits bumper jumps back to the past with a young Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) in a ramshackle house in the desert eating dinner, clearly on the run from all the authorities who want to bring him down. While using a well outside to get some water, the young Magneto sees something fall from the night sky and crash to Earth nearby. Upon inspecting the impact zone, he encounters what is described as an "alien form" who is "towering, terrifying, with a twisted metal face and dark pits for eyes." It's Apocalypse and he says, "I have crossed rivers of time to find you." Magneto asks, "Who are you?"

The alien responds, "I am your future." Suddenly Apocalypse merges with Magneto, who screams and blasts an insane amount of energy and shockwaves around him. This energy explosion levels everything around him, with a blast radius that goes for miles. As Magneto looks at what he's done, he has a realization of the power he now holds and a villainous grin begins to form before the film cuts to black."

Bear in mind that none of this is confirmed but if it holds up, chances are fans are going to be disappointed by this development. Magneto and Apocalypse are two extremely powerful villains with very specific ideologies that run counter to the dream of Professor Charles Xavier. Merging them dilutes this in a fairly significant way, for the sake of presenting a bad guy that is simply more physically powerful. Chances are Magneto would eventually split from Apocalypse and either go off on his own or join the X-men's fight against him, so perhaps we'll get to see them separately too. It should be worth noting that in the classic X-men storyline Age of Apocalypse, it was Magneto who led the heroes in the fight against Apocalypse.

All in all this is a pretty big deal 20th Century Fox is putting together, which is why they hired Simon Kinberg to help build a cohesive cinematic universe. What do you think? Do you approve of these plans for Apocalypse and Magneto? Do you like Bryan Singer directing or would you prefer some new blood?  X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd 2014; X-men: Apocalypse on May 27th 2016. 

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