Production X-Men: The Last Stand

1 production

1.1 development
1.2 writing
1.3 filming
1.4 visual effects
1.5 music

production








development

bryan singer, director of first 2 x-men films, left project in july 2004 in favor of developing superman returns. singer stated didn t have x-men 3 in mind in contrast formed idea superman film , interest in joining franchise. time of departure, singer had produced partial story treatment x2 screenwriters dan harris , michael dougherty, accompanied him superman returns. treatment focused on jean grey s resurrection, introduce villainness emma frost, role intended sigourney weaver. frost empath manipulating jean s emotions in treatment and, finished film, magneto desires control her. overwhelmed powers, jean kills herself, jean s spirit survives , becomes god-like creature, dougherty compared star child in space odyssey.

new contracts returning cast members made, actors , actresses had signed 2 films. hugh jackman s contract included approval of director, offering position darren aronofsky, whom had finished filming on fountain. joss whedon, comic book gifted integrated script s plot, turned down offer because working on wonder woman film. rob bowman , alex proyas rumored consideration, though proyas turned down, citing feuds 20th century fox president thomas rothman while producing i, robot. zack snyder approached, committed 300. peter berg considered direct film turned down job. in february 2005, still no director hired, fox announced may 5, 2006, release date, filming start in july 2005 in vancouver. 1 month later, studio signed matthew vaughn direct, , pushed release date 3 weeks may 26, memorial day weekend. vaughn cast kelsey grammer beast, dania ramirez callisto, , vinnie jones juggernaut, family issues led him withdraw before filming began. vaughn cautious of tight deadlines imposed fox, stating didn t have time make movie wanted make . john moore considered direct film @ 1 point.

brett ratner, considered direct x-men in 1996, replaced vaughn during pre-production. ratner said surprised invitation, thought have no chance comic-book film after cancelled superman: flyby warner bros. limited knowledge of x-men mythos, ratner trusted writers on doing faithful comics, having script drawing of scenes original marvel publications.

writing

simon kinberg, had worked in other 2 marvel adaptations fox, fantastic 4 , elektra, hired writer x-men 3 in august 2004. x2 co-writer zak penn separately working on own draft, , 2 joined forces combined screenplay in january 2005. kinberg wanted dark phoenix saga emotional plot of film, while gifted serve political focus. duo had 7 months complete last stand s script, , during first week of work completed first eighty pages, consisting of first two-thirds of plot. incomplete draft leaked ain t cool news, proceeded write negative review.

the writers had fight fox s executives retain phoenix plot, studio wanted cure story provided reason magneto s conflict x-men. still disputes made them not add jean grey in of film s second half, executives considered tone of phoenix story dark mainstream summer movie, , appeal limited hardcore fans rather general audience. penn defended divergences original dark phoenix stories, stating phoenix not firebird-shaped cosmic force because doesn t fit world, , cyclops did not have screentime wolverine because latter more popular , cyclops, can t see eyes. s harder character relate audience. killing cyclops fox s decision, based on availability of actor james marsden, cast in singer s superman returns. studio considered killing him off-screen dialogue reference, kinberg , penn insisted jean kill him, emphasizing relationship. xavier s death intended match impact of spock s demise in star trek ii: wrath of khan, fox felt script called dramatic turning point. kinberg , penn cautious, grew idea of killing off xavier. decided write post-credits scene suggesting character s return sequel.

as studio simultaneously developing x-men origins: wolverine, limitations set on mutants used cameo appearances in x-men 3 in attempt avoid risking character development wolverine. gambit considered both convoy scene being freed magneto , battle of alcatraz along x-men, writers did not want introduce fan favorite character , not able him justice. kinberg reasoned, there wasn t enough space , , considered gambit work screentime beast. alan cumming had been uncomfortable long hours had take prosthetic makeup nightcrawler in x2, still planned return sequel. part of nightcrawler minimal, however, studio felt not worthwhile go through long , costly makeup process, , character cut. kinberg felt there wasn t left character. felt might tread little bit on terrain of beast, in terms of similarities in characters , political standpoints in terms of dealing mutancy. nightcrawler s absence later explained in tie-in video game. introdutory scenes tried emulate auschwitz opener first film, going different scenes resonated later in plot instead of action scene in blockbusters. afterwards came scene in danger room, considered previous x-men films never included budget , writing concerns. writers tried make simulation not feel extraneous showcasing of character conflicts , abilities in days of future past -inspired battle sentinel. repurposed scene magneto attacking convoy free mystique, madrox , juggernaut, penn had envisioned x2.

ratner collaborated penn , kinberg in rearranging plot structure of film. originally, golden gate bridge sequence in middle of film, moved bridge used magneto free mutants being held prisoners on alcatraz, , climax set in washington, d.c.. ratner felt many recent action films, such planet of apes , x2 itself, had ending in washington, , golden gate sequence biggest sequence in entire career , , suggested instead put worthington laboratory in alcatraz, along creating face cure , became character of jimmy/leech. kinberg agreed, argued penn blowing many things in movie .

filming

x-men: last stand began shooting in august 2005 , wrapped in january 2006. of film shot @ vancouver film studios, same location of x2. locations included hatley park national historic site , royal roads university, doubled x-mansion. old lumber mill next fraser river doubled alcatraz island. tight schedule made ratner begin post-production day started shooting, sending scenes had filmed editors. editing team led mark helfrich, had edited of ratner s films, assisted mark goldblatt in action scenes , julia wong effects-heavy footage.

according associate producer dave gordon, biggest production ever filmed in canada. used x2, s x3. $210 million budget made last stand expensive film made @ time. film s record first broken pirates of caribbean: dead man s chest s $225 million budget. original cinematographer philippe rousselot, opted depart production. dante spinotti, frequent collaborator of ratner, replaced him, assistance of j. michael muro. fox filmed entertainment co-chairmen thomas rothman , jim gianopulos debated whether rogue should give iceman passionate kiss @ film s end or hold hand. 2 executives screened last stand daughters, studio s female marketing executives, , hand holding prevailed. gianopulos stated kissing sex, , didn t want that. strong campaign of secrecy script enforced ratner , writers. actors had problems getting full screenplays, call sheets did not reveal characters, , many scenes shot in varied ways. both of ending scenes not included on shooting script, ratner taking small crew during 1 day s lunch time film post-credits scene xavier, , later going london film magneto in park.

in 2014, kinberg said of wobbling chess piece @ end of film, there scene before credits magneto s playing chess, , see can make chess piece move, there s hint s starting regain powers. leap there cure last stand didn t work way thought would, , leaped forward many years, , s got powers back.

visual effects

to make sure visual effects made in 1 year , without exceeding budget, special effects supervisor john bruno shipped 900 effects shots eleven companies in 4 countries – united states, new zealand, united kingdom , canada – , did extensive previsualization. work begun in april 2005, before director brett ratner had been announced, , bruno made sure emphasize practical effects, shoot many practical elements possible, , use cg when had to. instance, complex wirework rigs employed enabled actors stunts without resorting digital doubles, including computer controlled flying rig cirque du soleil angel s flight, , 1 halle berry s flying spins.

bruno estimates one-sixth of effects budget spent on golden gate bridge scene, employed both miniature of bridge , computer graphics. effects team had work without reference footage due city of san francisco vetting filming in actual bridge, including aerial shooting area has restrictions on flying helicopters. framestore had further challenges in matching varied weather conditions across film s plates. compositing supervisor matt twyford detailed, elements consisted of cold, rainy night live-action footage vancouver, sunny day miniature elements, traditional misty day background plates of san francisco, , of course cg bridge , fx elements. miniature grey home, had destructable equivalent matched canadian location , had digital equivalent. notable effect digital skin-grafting , rejuvenated faces of senior actors patrick stewart , ian mckellen, made brothers strause s lola visual effects. bruno made sure ask atomization made phoenix not vivid , gruesome, instead resembling oatmeal.

music

ratner, fan of john powell s work in bourne identity, invited powell write music last stand. powell unsure if bourne work kind of score fit film , fox got reluctant on composer s availability given scoring ice age: meltdown @ time of ratner s contact. powell finished ice age score accept x-men job if meant tighter schedule. powell included references score previous 2 films had in same family, , same language . phoenix theme used lyrics benjamin britten s requiem mass choir parts. soundtrack album released on may 23, 2006.