A new and lengthy feature piece in THR published today goes into the making of the first “X-Men” film just over twenty years ago, the film that helped usher in a new era of superhero films and made the career of Bryan Singer.
More specifically the piece goes into the horror stories from the set of the first and second film ranging from Singer’s behind-the-scenes behavior leading to a cast mutiny following a stunt gone wrong, to the mess over how the script for the first film came together and the drama that ensued there.
According to the report, producer Tom DeSanto called for a stunt scene on “X2” to be shut down with DeSanto fearful someone could be injured as Singer was apparently incapacitated. Singer continued shooting and moved up an action scene without a stunt coordinator present – resulting in a “botched stunt that left [Hugh] Jackman bleeding on camera”.
The next day when the studio “appeared to side with Singer” and Singer told DeSanto to return to L.A., much of the cast in full costume converged on Singer’s trailer and confronted him – threatening to quit if DeSanto left, a meeting in which the famous “you can kiss my Black ass” line from Halle Berry was apparently uttered.
Then there’s the writer’s room issues. Ed Solomon, Christopher McQuarrie and Joss Whedon were brought in to work on the script at points with all but two lines of Whedon’s work tossed. Voice actor David Hayter was brought in to secretly write new scenes for the script and ultimately there were accreditation and other issues which led to Hayter getting the sole screenplay writing credit from a story by Singer and DeSanto – even as McQuarrie and Solomon “gave up at least $1 million the first year in residuals and credit bonuses… it’s unheard of” says Hayter.
The report also sees studio execs and producers admit they allowed Singer to continue working with the franchise despite numerous incidents of bad or erratic behavior with one saying: “his behavior was poor on the movie. We accommodated him on the first movie, and therefore we can accommodate him on the second movie. And on and on. And it created a monster.”
For the full story, head on over to The Hollywood Reporter
