X-Men
First Class
Trivia:
'We're the next stage of human evolution.'
(Total Trivia Entries: 41)
X-Men First Class
is based on the characters appearing the popular
Marvel Comics and it is a prequel to the X-Men movie series. To find
out more about how the story was brought to the big screen, view the
X-Men First Class
trivia below.Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by:
Ashley Miller (screenplay)
Zack Stentz (screenplay)
Jane Goldman (screenplay)
Matthew Vaughn (screenplay)
Sheldon Turner (story)
Bryan Singer (story)
Starring:
James McAvoy - Charles Xavier
Laurence Belcher - Charles Xavier (12 yrs)
Michael Fassbender - Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
Bill Milner - Young Erik
Kevin Bacon - Sebastian Shaw
Rose Byrne - Moira MacTaggert
Jennifer Lawrence - Raven / Mystique
Beth Goddard - Mrs. Xavier
Morgan Lily - Young Raven (10 yrs)
Oliver Platt - Man In Black Suit
Álex González - Janos Quested / Riptide
Jason Flemyng - Azazel
Zoë Kravitz - Angel Salvadore
January Jones - Emma Frost
Nicholas Hoult - Hank McCoy / Beast
Caleb Landry Jones - Sean Cassidy / Banshee
Edi Gathegi - Armando Muñoz / Darwin
Corey Johnson - Chief Warden
Lucas Till - Alex Summers / Havok
Demetri Goritsas - Levene
Casting:
Michael
Fassbender has stated that director, Matthew Vaughn saw him in
an audition for one of his other movies and just thought that he would
be right for this film. It was then after reading the script and liking
it, he tried to convince the producers that he was right for the part. Fassbender has admitted that he did not know that much about the X-Men and when he read Magneto's history he said to himself that he thought the story was going to be really interesting work and he saw Erik as a Machiavellian character.
For preparation of his role, Michael Fassbender studied Sir Ian McKellen's performance as Erik Lensherr/Magneto in the previous X-Men movies to get a flavor of what Magneto was like. He also studied the comics and decided to make his own version of this character and stated; "So I did my homework and preparation and you want to respect what someone else has done, especially because the fan base really liked what Ian has done with it. But while I could have gone and studied him as a young man and brought that to the performance, I don't think Matthew is very interested in that. So I'm just going my own way and working with whatever is in the comic books and the script."
The character of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto is a Jewish Holocaust survivor. Michael Fassbender had previously played an Allied Forces soldier in Inglourious Basterds (2009). Sir Ian McKellen, who also plays the older Magneto, had earlier played a Nazi in Apt Pupil (1998), ironically going the other way from Fassbender.
James
McAvoy has admitted that he did not read comics when he was a kid, but
added that he was a fan of the cartoons from the age of 10. He
describes the older Charles Xavier as; "A monk...a selfless, ego-less
almost sexless force for the betterment of humanity and
mortality." To him the younger Xavier is a very different
person,
stating; "It's quite fun because the complete opposite of that is an
ego-fueled, sexed up self-serving dude. And not going too far with it,
but he's definitely got an ego and he's definitely got a sex drive as
well."McAvoy felt that there was a comparison between Professor X/Magneto and Martin Luther King Jr./Malcom X, stating, "A lot of the time...in the comic books, Erik comes and goes; he goes back and forward really in what he believes and how he is going to achieve it. And in this film it's sort of like meeting them at a point where they are still finding out who they are and you are still seeing some of the events that shaped them, not through their early life, but some of the key events in the sort of equal rights or civil rights struggle that helped shape them."
Both Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy appeared in Band of Brothers (2001) at the start of their careers. This movie marks their first appearance together since then.
There were only two actors considered for the role of Sebastian Shaw; Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth. Bacon was finally cast in the role as he was American and seemed more menacing looking than Firth.
Amber Heard was rumored to have been approached for the role of Raven/Mystique.
The following actors were considered for the role of Hank McCoy/Beast:
- Benjamin Walker - was initially cast but dropped out of the role to star in the Broadway musical 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'.
- Tayler Lautner - dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Nicholas Hoult prepared for his role as Hank McCoy/Beast by studying Kelsey Grammer's performance as Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and watching Grammer in early series of Frasier (1993). He also trained in athletics, boxing and weight lifting.
Before January Jones was cast for the role of Emma Frost, the following actresses were considered:
- Alice Eve - was initially cast but dropped out as a deal couldn't be reached
- Sarah Harding - was called called back three times
- Tahyna Tozzi - was considered for reprising her role as Emma Frost from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
- Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike was also considered to for the role of Moira McTaggert.
Initially Charlie Rowe was cast as the young Charles Xavier but, due to scheduling conflicts with Neverland (2011), he was replaced by Laurence Belcher.
The Man in Black, played by Oliver Platt, is a government agent and is a reference to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency that has appeared in recent Marvel films. His title is also a tribute to the Men in Black, who are connected with paranormal activity on earth, adapted as a comic by Lowell Cunningham, made into a film by Barry Sonnenfeld.
Director Matthew Vaughn, instructed the main cast to do away with copying any accents from the original X-Men movies in their performances. James McAvoy had planned to copy Patrick Stewart's voice, but Vaughn dismissed the idea. Vaughn also told Rose Byrne that Moira MacTaggart would not have her trademark Scottish accent in the film.
Apparently, Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were considered to appear in this film as the elder Professor X and Magneto, but the idea was discarded as the filmmakers wanted to start a new X-Men trilogy, without any connection to the previous movies.
In the comics Alex Summers/Havok, played by Lucas Till, was the brother of Scott Summers/Cyclops. In this movie, Alex's relationship with Scott is unknown.
The producers hired an X-Men specialist to assist the cast in understanding their roles.
Referring to Hugh Jackman's brief cameo in this movie as Logan/Wolverine, Jackman now becomes the first actor to play the same superhero comic book character in five movies.
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Screenplay & Production:
The story of the movie is based on combination of X-Men comics; Uncanny X-Men (1963) and X-Men: First Class (2006).Originally this movie was to be a prequel about Magneto and screenwriter, Sheldon Turner had written a story which focused the story on Magneto's early years as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp where he is then liberated by a squad of Allied of Forces being led by Charles Xavier. They later meet after the war and become friends and then finally rivals. However, the studio decided to change the direction of the movie to focus on the early years of the X-Men but still incorporated some of Turner's original storyline into the movie.
In
April 2006, one month before the release of X-Men: The
Last Stand (2006), Zak Penn was hired to write
and direct a
spin-off. He explained that; "The original idea was to have me do a
young X-Men spin-off, a spin-off of the young X-Men characters. But
someone came up with a pretty interesting idea, it was this guy who
worked with me named Mike Chamoy, he worked a lot with me on X3. He
came up with how to do a young X-Men movie which is not what you'd
expect." As Penn found Chamoy's idea more interesting he decided to
drop out from directing.In May 2008 An early version of the script was written by Josh Schwartz and his assignment also included the possibility of directing X-Men: First Class. But in October 2009 Fox approached Bryan Singer, director of X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003) and Schwartz's script was dropped as Singer wanted to take the story to a different direction.
The original idea was to green-light the movie depending on the success of X-Men Origins: Magneto, but Singer added elements of the Magneto spin-off merged into a new script written by Jamie Moss. In addition to Jamie Moss, Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to re-write the script.
In May 2010 Matthew Vaughn signed on as Singer's replacement to direct and with his signing Fox hired Jane Goldman for another re-write of the script. Vaughn wanted to model X-Men: First Class after Star Trek (2009) by taking the franchise in a new direction with a fresh, young cast.
Director Matthew Vaughn was originally hired to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), but he left that project citing pressure from the studio to finish the film in too short a time.
Vaughn described his thought process toward the material, as, "Unfinished business, that's what inspired me. I was totally excited about doing X3 and basically co-wrote the script with Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn. We did that in six days together, and then storyboarded the whole movie and then, like an idiot, thought that I didn't have enough time to make the film I wanted, so I had to leave. I sort of regretted that ever since, and when Fox rang me up and said, 'Do you want a chance to reboot X-Men and put your stamp all over it?' When they told me that, I thought they were joking at first, and then they told me it would happen in the '60s against the Cuban missile crisis as the backdrop, I thought, 'God, this sounds cool. Why not? Let's do it." He goes to state; "My main goal was to make as good a film that could stand on its own two feet regardless of all the other films. However, I thought anything that worked in all the other movies, and I could have some fun with nodding towards, I would. But my main rule was, you know what, were trying to reboot and start a whole new X-Men franchise and therefore, making a film work on its own two feet was far more important than trying to be referential to the prior movies. It's not like the other X-Men movies, which I think is important. I think they need to sort of take on a new...you know, what Batman Begins did for all those Batman movies? We bloody well need it. I'm not saying it's going to be as good as Batman Begins, but it's the same sort of attitude."
Although X-Men: First class is a prequel to the entire X-men movie franchise, this movie deliberately discards continuity of X2 (2002) , X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and instead focuses on establishing it's story from only the first X-Men movie directed by producer Byran Singer. Director, Matthew Vaughn has cited that this movie is both a prequel to the original films and a reboot, providing its own continuity.
Fox envisions X-Men: First Class as the first film of a new trilogy.
Matthew Vaughn cited that X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), Star Trek (2009) and the 1960s Bond films were major influences on this movie. The 1960's setting of the movie was technologically inspired by the James Bond films of that era, also adding to the international feel of the characters.
On August 31, 2010 principal photography began, which included St Aldate's street and some of the University of Oxford's buildings, lasting for two days. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Iver, and then to Georgia in October, including Jekyll Island, Thunderbolt and Savannah.
Jekyll Island was chosen over Tybee Island after a producer reviewed the locations on Google Earth and thought the water near Jekyll looked more blue. Additional location shooting took place in Russia. A section of the plot is set in the Argentine coastal city of Villa Gesell, but was filmed elsewhere.
During the Cerebro scene, one of the first mutants that can be seem in this sequence is Storm as a young girl, noticeable by her long white hair and dark skin color.
Initially the ending fight scene between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr was going to have them use their powers, but Matthew Vaughn discarded this notion reasoning that since this was an origin story about the early X-Men the fight had to be a more conventional brawl. He cited; "Fox were saying, people want to see super heroes use their powers...but not in this film. Sometimes they just want to punch each other. That, to me, is what's different."
Apparently there was to be a telepathic battle between Professor X and Emma Frost in the movie, involving an action scene that was to have been set in a dream sequence with revolving rooms. This idea was scrapped after the release of Inception (2010).
The character Sunspot was going to appear in this movie but he was drop.
The X-Men uniform worn in this movie are colored yellow and blue which is in homage to the original suits the X-Men wore in the 1963 comics.
Take a look at the cast interviews here:
Interview with director Matthew Vaughn:
Interview with Michael Fassbender:
Interview with James McAvoy:
Still want more then you can either visit the official website or buy it at Amazon
.Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/trivia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_First_Class
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