Very interesting interivew; it's rare that you hear such in-depth talk from producers. She seemed extremely hands-on, which works toward her benefit.

Though I must admit that the bit where she denounces piracy and cites it as a reason that the box office is down and that profits are down sort of made me feel guilty. Until I realized that most of the crap I download is just that...crap. If I actually wanna see the movie, I'll pay for it...

And Bryan Singer wrote X-Men comics? I'm not saying she's wrong, I'm genuinely curious, since for the past couple years I was out of the comics loop.

Anyhow, can't wait for X3...

UnpluggedCrazy | April 26, 20:45 CET

Singer has an upcoming run on Ultimate X-Men that has been delayed. Kirkman is currently writing the title, while, I think, Marvel waits for Singer's run, which is delayed because of Superman Returns. It's possible that he wrote another run on X-Men that I don't know of.

theyarescientists | April 26, 20:48 CET

Bryan Singer is due to, but it's been delayed. He is planning to do a 12 issue run with "X2" and "Superman Returns" scribblers Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty.

Andy Dufresne | April 26, 20:48 CET

Ahh, beat me to it theyarescientists.

Andy Dufresne | April 26, 20:49 CET

Bryan Singer,Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty are doing a couple of Superman Returns prequel comics.They are supposed to fill in the blanks between Superman II and Superman Returns.

Buffyfantic | April 26, 21:50 CET

yay for a quasi-successful first post

CaptainB | April 26, 22:14 CET

Hmm. A Joss-helmed X-movie.

That would be perfection.

Emma Frost | April 26, 22:20 CET

Joss should adapt Days Of Future Past if Lauren wants it made into a movie.

eddy | April 26, 22:30 CET

I would take anything that has the Rogue character even remotely like her namesake in the comic. And Gambit of course=)

Zip-Ity-Do-Da | April 26, 22:37 CET

That Bryan Singer-run on Ultimate X-Men has been delayed so many times now that I really wish they'd just scrap it. Vaughan had the best run on that book so far, but I kept wondering how much of his stuff was setting up Singer's run--then that was delayed again, and now we have Kirkman.

Interesting note on the 'Ultimate' continuity (it's entirely separate from the rest of the X-books, for those who don't know): Kitty Pryde is dating Spider-Man there. And that turning our *so* cool.

But, back to the movie, I'm happy Donner is talking about a possible X4-10. And confused, considering how often it's said that this was going to be the last one. But mostly happy.

Niels | April 27, 00:10 CET

I don't think there is ever a "last one" in Hollywood, Telltale, as long as the previous films kept making money, no matter how craptastic they were. Scary Movie 4, yo! ;-)

billz | April 27, 00:32 CET

Telltale...I really wish I could enjoy the Kitty/Peter love, but I got into Ultimate Spider-Man years late and read it TPB by TPB. And, unfortunately, after the release of every TPB, I could by the new issue...but then there'd be a five-issue gap.

Someone needs to end my misery and send me the five issues between next week's Vol. 16 and next month's new issue.

Pretty please?

With Summer on top?

(Woah, that sounded way more suggestive than I intended.)

UnpluggedCrazy | April 27, 01:25 CET

I realize it's technically correct, but lines like this: "Going way back, I think Marvel created really complex psychologically well drawn characters" really bug me.

Marvel created nothing. Lee and Wein and Claremont and Cockrum and Byrne and a host of other writers and artists created and developed these characters. Marvel as a corporate entity did not.

Sorry, personal pet peeve. I feel better now.

C. A. Bridges | April 27, 02:01 CET

UnpluggedCrazy: Check out the Ultimate Spider-man Annual #1. Amazing comic, which Wizard actually named one of the top 100 comics of the last 30 years. It shows the beginning of Kitty/Peter's relationship, and was my favorite comic of last year.

theyarescientists | April 27, 02:11 CET

That was a cool ish, yeah. I'm just still peeved Mark Brooks drew it. I mean, they've got Mark Bagley, the lone artist who could not only do a monthly, but who actually was doing 18 issues a year for a while, and they have to get a guy whose art I really dislike for the annual?

Chris Bridges, while I agree on acknowledgement of the creators, it's true that these characters have become so developed only *because* they've been around so long and thus been handled by many creators. If you list any, you'd really have to list them all, so I accept 'Marvel' as a collective noun emcompassing all creators in situations like these. :-)

UnpluggedCrazy: Pft. First prove that you can deliver on that. The times I've had people promise me *that*...

Niels | April 27, 03:00 CET

Personally I hope they do get to ten in the franchise. Then we'd have X-X and i'd love to see the marketing for that ;).

I also think the piracy argument is a crock. I think people don't value the movie-going experience as they once did (partly because of ignorant fellow cinema goers, partly because of poor product) and that's why revenues were down last year. Make great films and enforce some kind of discipline in screens and people will come in droves.

(worried that at a mere bajillion a month, I wasn't buying enough ongoing titles to keep the comics industry afloat single-handedly I figured i'd take a look at Ultimate Spiderman so I bought the Vol 1 hardcover and though i've not read it all yet - still making my way through Infinite Crisis - the book itself is gorgeous).

Saje | April 27, 03:25 CET

X3 isn't the last Xmen movie and wasn't even suggested as someone said. It is the last movie of this trilogy. Then they can continue on making other Xmen movies, but not in the same trilogy.

SeReNiTy_88 | April 27, 05:16 CET

Or they can do a trilogy in four, five, or more parts, like the Hitchhiker trilogy ...

Ariane | April 27, 12:58 CET

Joss should stick with the comic book. Not that I dont think a Joss X-men movie would totally rock. I just think he should keep Fox at arms length. They've just treated him so shabbily in the past. I heard somewhere that they did approach Him for one of the X-men movies but they were more interested in meeting a summer date than quality. If they do more X-men, and want Joss to do it, Fox, Arad, and Shuller-Donner should just let him be so he can deliver the X-men he loves (fans expect).

Shahua | April 27, 20:19 CET

Aren't they already using a lot of his run on Astonishing as a basis for the X3 movie (cure, Dr. Rao)? With 40 years of X-men material to use for a storyline, they pick a story used within the last five years?

theyarescientists | April 27, 20:46 CET

As a (practically) life-long X-Geek, I would LOVE to see a film adaptation of the Days of Future Past story. However, even though that particular X-Men storyline came out a couple of years before the first Terminator film... an X-Men:DoFP film would seem a blatant rip-off of Terminator.

The X-Men films do not have to be so heavy all of the time... why not let Arcade capture Hugh, Halle and the gang in a feature film? Joss could have a blast directing that. Seeing the Hellfire club in a film would be cool too.

Hjermsted | April 27, 20:50 CET

Shahua: You're confusing Fox television with Fox studios. I believe Joss' relationship with Fox studios is fine (they, afterall, have produced every show he has been in charge of). It's Fox TV network types that screwed Joss (and us!) out of more Firefly.

Hjermsted | April 27, 21:01 CET

I'm not shure he has that a good relation with the studio either Hjermsted.

A while back there was a Joss interview in the Belgium magazine 'Humo' were things sounded pretty wrong.

The piece was very unreliable. I only read the english translation of the dutch translation of the english original here at http://whedonesque.com/comments/9271, and Joss himself called it back and said it wasn't right, so I won't vouch for anything there beeing true, but there seemed to be some truth in some of the stuff.

Quote:
You've never hidden your criticism of Fox; why are you still under contract with them?

Joss Whedon: : Because they don't have any principles. Money is the only thing driving them. I'm in the same situation as Matt Groening (creator of the Simpsons, red): we make too much money for Fox, they can't fire us. Shit, we feel like two Jedi-knights who got a job on the fucking Death Star! No man, to be honest I'm a little bit done with TV.

the Groosalugg | April 27, 22:10 CET

We also have to remember how much the Fox movie studio fucked him over with Speed and Alien: Resurrection.

UnpluggedCrazy | April 27, 22:22 CET

Also, wasn't it the first X-Men where Joss was asked to a read through or similar only to find the script they were reading through wasn't his since it had been rewritten without his knowledge ? That could put a crimp in any working relationship.

Saje | April 27, 22:27 CET

I will have to say I think this quote needs to be doubted very strongly, for a few reasons, Groosalugg:
(a) You said yourself that Joss distanced himself from this quote.
(b) It ends with "done with TV." First of all, that is clearly stating Fox TV, as in network, not production company. Second of all, Joss has specifically stated, here and elsewhere, he is not at all "done with TV," so this quote can't to be taken too seriously (as I said in "a").
(c) As has been pointed out to me by several posters in the past, and I see their point, the nature of film and television is that there are only so many buyers (suppliers of money) for the many sellers (producers, writers, actors, directors, etc.). You can't afford to say, "I'm not going to work there any more."
(d) Besides that, the executives move around from studio to studio, so today's "Fox" is not the same as yesterday's. For example, when I read an article about J.J. Abrams writing-directing-producing the next Star Trek movie, it said the head of Paramount films is Gail Berman -- who was head of Fox TV when Firefly was on the air! So, is it Fox TV that Joss is supposed to avoid, or Paramount films? Neither, if he is wise and wants to get his TV & movies out to the public. At the moment, he happens to be working on Wonder Woman and Goners; I know WW is supposed to be for Joel Silver and (I think) Warner Bros., and I think Goners might be for Warners, too, but I could be wrong about that. This time, they were the buyers.

But the quote does sound like something Joss would say, even if I think that it is, as you yourself say, "pretty wrong." ;-)

billz | April 27, 22:33 CET

You're completly right ofcource billz, this comment should be doubted very much.

But I think this (ridiculous) comment has to be about the studio, because that's with whom Joss still had a contract, he didn't had a contract with Fox Tv I believe. (I'am not very sure though.)

the Groosalugg | April 27, 23:31 CET

This would be a great thread for Joss himself to contribute to (but no pressure).

Joss... who DO you hate? And who ARE you done with?

Hjermsted | April 28, 01:59 CET

Goners is being made by Universal Pictures, they who funded our BDM.

eddy | April 28, 02:29 CET

Ah, thanks, eddy! That makes sense. :-)

billz | April 28, 03:41 CET

According to the interview I read, I took from it that Joss was dissappointed with most if not all of Fox. They took a great Aliens script Joss wrote and whittled it down to the steamer that was released. They werent helpful when credits were being arbitrated for Speed. They pretty much hired him and then gave him the brush off on X-men (which is clearly a favorite for him). When X-3 came about they wanted him to meet a schedule instead of listening to what he had planned for the franchise. I still cant forgive Fox FOR WHAT THEY DID TO FIREFLY. I have no real proof,but surmise that the reason we havent seen more Buffy/Angel projects (beyond print)is because of FOX.

I hope Joss sticks with Universal. Mary Parent seems to be very interested building a relationship and giving Joss room to create more incredible stuff. I'm very interested in what Goners is going to be.

Shahua | April 28, 20:58 CET