Fox To Hit Reset On X-Men Franchise?

It looks like Fox has hit one too many bumps in their X-Men road, and is looking to remedy the situation.

With X-Men: Apocalypse failing to surpass or equal the worldwide box office success of the previous installment Days of Future Past, Hugh Jackman stepping down from playing Wolverine after Logan, the Deadpool sequel losing its director and composer over creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds, and Gambit looking for a new director and starting date, Fox has more than a few reasons to be slightly worried about the future of the X franchise.

Now, according to THR, Fox is getting ready to hit the reboot button with writer and producer Simon Kinberg allegedly working on a new script that will reconfigure the main franchise perhaps even resetting it once again if Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy don't sign new deals. As for Bryan Singer, the director of four X-Men movies, he will likely remain attached to the franchise as a producer not as a director.

Back in August, due to script delays, director Doug Liman jumped from Fox's X-Men spinoff Gambit starring Channing Tatum, to WB's Justice League Dark, a project initially being developed by Guillermo del Toro, which focuses on some of DC's more supernatural heroes such as John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, and Etrigan the Demon. Although the project will be part of Warner's DC Extended Universe, the film will inhabit something called the Dark Universe as a way to avoid confusing the audience with the regular Justice League featuring heroes such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

As for the yet untitled Deadpool sequel, director Tim Miller exited the project back in October, reportedly over differences with Reynolds, who after the box office success of the first film received from Fox casting approval and "other creative controls." Apparently, the two fought over tone and who should be cast as Cable. Fox is now in negotiations with John Wick co-director David Leitch, and is already planning Deadpool 3, which sources say will involve the X-Force.

For now, Fox's only "clean" new potential franchise set in the same world (but not shackled to) of the X-Men is The New Mutants, a spinoff about superpowered teenagers, which insiders say director Josh Boone ("The Fault in Our Stars") could start filming as early as next spring.

Source - THR

Share on Google Plus