X-Men Storyline
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the
fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer,
the film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke
Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and
Tyler Mane. It introduces Wolverine and Rogue into the conflict between
Professor Xavier's X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto. Magneto
intends to mutate world leaders at a United Nations summit with a machine he has
built to bring about acceptance of mutantkind, but Xavier realizes this forced
mutation will only result in their deaths.
Development for X-Men began as far back as 1989 with James Cameron and Carolco
Pictures. The film rights went to 20th Century Fox in 1994. Scripts and film
treatments were commissioned from Andrew Kevin Walker, John Logan, Joss Whedon
and Michael Chabon. Singer signed to direct in 1996, with further rewrites by Ed
Solomon, Singer, Tom DeSanto, Christopher McQuarrie and David Hayter. Start
dates kept getting pushed back, while Fox decided to move X-Men's release date
from December to July 2000. Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March
3, 2000, primarily in Toronto. X-Men was released to positive reviews and was a
financial success, spawning the X-Men film series and a reemergence of superhero
films.
In 2000, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men, replacing Dougray Scott. His co-stars include Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Ian McKellen. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored.
Wolverine AKA Logan
Wolverine was tough for Jackman to portray because he had few lines, but a lot
of emotion to convey in them. To prepare, he watched Clint Eastwood in the Dirty
Harry movies and Mel Gibson in Road Warrior. "Here were guys who had relatively
little dialogue, like Wolverine had, but you knew and felt everything. I'm not
normally one to copy, but I wanted to see how these guys achieved it."[7]
Jackman was adamant about doing his own stunts for the movie. "We worked a lot
on the movement style of Wolverine, and I studied some martial arts. I watched a
lot of Mike Tyson fights, especially his early fights. There's something about
his style, the animal rage, that seemed right for Wolverine. I kept saying to
the writers, 'Don't give me long, choreographed fights for the sake of it. Don't
make the fights pretty."[7]
Jackman also had to get used to wearing Wolverine's claws. "Every day in my
living room, I'd just walk around with those claws, to get used to them. I've
got scars on one leg, punctures straight through the cheek, on my forehead. I'm
a bit clumsy. I'm lucky I didn't tell them that when I auditioned."[7]
Jackman, at 6'2½ (1.89 m),[12] stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said
in the original comic book to be 5' 3".[13] Hence, the filmmakers were
frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up
to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and his co-stars wore platform
soles. Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and
in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 300
pounds.[14] An instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised his
role in 2003's X-Men 2, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men Origins:
Wolverine, which was released May 1, 2009.