Bow to the power of X-Men: It snatched a whopping $54.5 million in its opening weekend, a record for a nonsequel. With all this superhuman might, is it any wonder our puny non-mutant minds left the theater somewhat puzzled about certain points? Lacking the capacity for telepathy, EW telephoned the brains behind the blockbuster for some X-planations.
Why doesn't the telekinetic Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) have a cool nickname, like Cyclops and Wolverine?
In the comic books, Grey eventually becomes Phoenix in a
transformation not included in the film. When the series first
began in 1963, however, she was called Marvel Girl, a title that
wouldn't hold up in 2000. ''That name became dated in 1964,'' says
executive producer Tom DeSanto.
If the telepathic Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) can change
people's thoughts, why didn't he reverse the antimutant stance of
crusading Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison)?
Xavier still believes in lobbying the old-fashioned way — outside
of people's brains. ''He'd rather convince someone like Kelly he's
wrong than give in to the stereotype of the mutant and possess
him and make him vote against his own wishes,'' says Marvel Comics
editor in chief Bob Harras. ''Free will is precious to him,'' says
DeSanto, ''and he will not abuse his power.''
Even without the underground lair, that's a pretty swanky
school for mutants. Where does Xavier get all the dough?
It's ''old money,'' says Harras, cryptically. Not to mention some
shrewd investments. ''Well, he is psychic,'' laughs DeSanto. ''It's
the ultimate inside-trading tip.'' (Whatever happened to that
whole ''not abusing his power'' thing?)
Fashion-conscious geeks want to know: Why does Halle Berry sport white bangs as weather-warping Storm, when the comic
character has a longer, windswept mane?
Even DeSanto concedes that he's ''not a fan of the bangs.''
Director Bryan Singer says he experimented with duplicating the
comic 'do, but ''if you get a bigger wig flying large, what you
get is Jersey hair. Which I'm familiar with, having grown up in
Jersey.''
Given the superhero-size opening-weekend grosses, how quickly
did its creators cry sequel?
''I'll put it this way,'' says Twentieth Century Fox Film Group
president Tom Rothman. ''There was a moment [opening] weekend when
I said, 'Jeez, I guess it's a good thing that we made those
sequel deals [with the cast].''' DeSanto and Singer aren't locked
in; noting he finished the movie only two weeks before its
opening, Singer says, ''[A sequel] is not something I've
concentrated on.'' But DeSanto says he and Singer are both eager
to return and envision the franchise as a trilogy. ''It's gonna go
on as fast a track as possible,'' says DeSanto, ''but the key is to
do it right, even if it means taking extra time with it.'' A
Hollywood player taking time to cash in? What is he, a mutant?!
— Additional reporting by Jeff Jensen
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You Might Also Like
- Movie Review X-Men (Jul 14, 2000) | Owen Gleiberman
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- Movie Review X-Men (Jul 14, 2000) | Owen Gleiberman
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- Movie News The latest on ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (Jul 14, 2000) | Adam B. Vary
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