Xmen Origins : Wolverine

[Rappy Veteran]

Young Cyclops Cast!

Scooper 'Retroman' posted on the Superhero Hype! message boards a discovery that an agency has Australian actor Tim Pocock listed as playing Scott Summers (Cyclops) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

'A1ant' then followed-up with the agency who confirmed the casting. "Yes, that information is correct. He was cast as the younger Scott Summers," they said.

Directed by Gavin Hood, the May 1, 2009 Fox release stars Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney and Lynn Collins.

[goji]

What the hell is with all these characters? Are they pulling a 3 hour LOTResque stunt on us?

[Rappy Veteran]

What the hell is with all these characters? Are they pulling a 3 hour LOTResque stunt on us?

Yeah its basically gonna become a universe for Marvel.

[Lqv2015]

Not good trying to squeeze every Marvel character in. Didn't they learn from X3?

[goji]

Unless its 3 hours long and the story covers three films.....

[Jamushroom Veteran]

@Lqv2015: Why is it not good? It's a story about Wolverine's past and all those characters are part of it. They can't rewrite Wolverine's past just because people think that there are too many characters in the movie. IMO it's awesome that they're choosing these characters. Deadpool is a nice character and so is Gambit. So I can't wait how they're going to put him on the big screen.

[draklin]

Not good trying to squeeze every Marvel character in. Didn't they learn from X3?

It all depends on how they do it. If they attempt to make them all part of the movie and try to touch their stories or background, then yeah it will suck ass because they will do too much and not cover anyone enough. However, and this is what i hope they do, if they just have these other mutants in the movie as just other background characters then it will be ok. Like what they did with Colossus in the X-Men movies. He was there, he helped out, but he wasn't part of the story really.

[Rappy Veteran]

@Lqv2015: Why is it not good? It's a story about Wolverine's past and all those characters are part of it. They can't rewrite Wolverine's past just because people think that there are too many characters in the movie. IMO it's awesome that they're choosing these characters. Deadpool is a nice character and so is Gambit. So I can't wait how they're going to put him on the big screen.

It's been a long time coming Gambit should of been with the X-Men movies or at least the last one.

[Zab]

Can't wait!

[Jamushroom Veteran]

It's been a long time coming Gambit should of been with the X-Men movies or at least the last one.

Last one for sure. Not in the other 2 since Gambit wasn't there from the beginning. Though it's another story in the Marvel Universe and nothing like the original story but he isn't there from the beginning in any story.

As for Wolverine, Sabertooth and William Stryker will both have big part I guess. They both have a lot to do with Wolverine's past. Sabertooth has faught Wolverine when they both where young and he wanted revenge ever since. Stryker was the person who was in charge of Wolverine while he was at Weapon X.

[SuperJediMedia]

Does anyone have an image of Silver Fox (Lynn Collins) yet?

[Rappy Veteran]

Does anyone have an image of Silver Fox (Lynn Collins) yet?

There hasn't been any images yet from the movie released but it has to be soon.

[SuperJediMedia]

There hasn't been any images yet from the movie released but it has to be soon.

She is Super cute!

[Rappy Veteran]

Wraps Filming

It's a wrap for Wolvies' principal photography that has currently been shooting in Australia and earlier in New Zealand.

Marvel's Kevin Feige told IESB that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has just wrapped principal photography in Australia and that there are only a couple of weeks left for some pick up shots second unit will be taking care of.

Several sources close to the production have described X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a gritty 70's type of action film.

Leading up to the events of "X-Men," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.

[Rappy Veteran]

[source]

[matthewmarley]

Hopefully we will get a trailer soon.

[Rappy Veteran]

Hopefully we will get a trailer soon.

We should get a teaser soon.

[Rappy Veteran]

Spoiler Tag just incase

An anonymous source dropped off this big X-Men Origins: Wolverine set report at Superhero Hype! headquarters late Thursday:

I was recently on the set of "Wolverine." I was nobody special, just an extra. But the experience was an incredible amount of fun and I wanted to pass some of that on. I'm not a part of the cast other than the small role I played as an extra.

First of all, the preliminaries!

I can't tell you much about the specifics of plot, etc. This is because as a nameless extra, I do not know much, and because what little I know is covered under an Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, what I can say I will, and what I can speculate I will.

Now on with our story!

I was a part of the WWII, Omaha Beach scenes (photos of this have hit the net, so no spoilers there). From what I can gather, Logan (aka Wolverine) is pretty much the Eternal Soldier archetype. By this I mean he is by nature a warrior and is drawn to wars and conflict. The D-Day landings at Omaha Beach are iconic in American military history. It makes perfect sense from the character story to have this landing as a setting for some of his history.

About 70 extras were hired on for the shooting of the beach landing scenes (plus stunt guys plus stars). These extras were a mix of normal extras and trained army personnel. I fall into the latter category being a member of the Australian Army Reserve. The casting directors wanted to leaven the bread of actors with some real-life soldiers in order to give the scenes a little bit of added realism. I think it worked well.

On day one of the shoot the army blokes were given command of small units of the WWII soldiers. They were given ranks - corporals, sergeants and one officer. Their role in the landings was to lead their troops up the beach. As every Australian soldier is trained in this sort of small-team leadership, this proved to be no problem. All of us were thrilled at having been given rank for the shoot.

Morale was high on the set. Every single extra was there for the love and fun of it. Sure, I doubt people would have done it for free, but no-one was there just because of the money. The chance to play soldiers alongside one of the coolest comic-book characters ever created? Every single one of us out there was willing to give it 100%. And we did.

The week before we'd all been gathered and trained in the weapons & assault techniques of the time - those of us who had trained in modern techniques had to forget what we knew and start again. The weapons we were using were the real deal WWII issue weapons and so safety was a priority. We had to learn how to fire and handle these weapons just like the real soldiers. After our training, we all had bruises and bumps, but we felt good about knowing what we had to do.

The filming was done up near Newcastle to the north of Sydney, Australia. We filmed from sunrise to sunset. The days were long and cold. Such is life. All of us extras kept in our mind the guys who wore these uniforms some 60 years ago in Normandy - if they could do it, so would we. None of us wanted to disgrace the uniforms we wore.

We wore the uniforms of the 29th Infantry Division. The 29th landed at Omaha and fought their way across Europe to push back the Nazi war machine. They were heroes. Which part of the 29th were we? Well we landed at Omaha under heavy fire, so that makes us the 116th regiment, I would have thought. We weren't the first off the boat, but we were still in the first wave. If you're a history nut, some of the details might be a little sketchy, but these things happen in the movies. A good estimate, if you really want to know, is that we were C Company of the 116th regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. We charged off the boats, quite a few of us fell under the guns and the bombs, and the rest of us - led by Logan and a few others - fought their way up to the cliffs and the German bunkers. Back in 1944 that's pretty much how it happened, so that's good enough for me.

The beach scenes were a lot of fun to do. We all got covered in sand, soaked through from the surf, choked on smoke and were buffeted and deafened from explosions. We charged up that beach so many times we all sweated half our body-weight. But every time we lined up to go again, we gritted down and gave it our best. It was fun. And we wanted to do as good a job as we could.

Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber, it must be said, seem like really great blokes. I know everyone says that about the stars, but it is true about these guys. When the set was being dressed with all the explosives, Hugh went and signed autographs and spoke to the crowd that had waited so patiently to see him. When he could, Hugh swung by and gave a few words of encouragement to the 70-odd extras. Liev, obviously not as big a star in Australia as Hugh but still a name-to-conjure-with, had something of a sly smirk on his face most of the time and seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself on the set. Liev & Hugh ate alongside the rest of us and both of the guys got wet and covered in sand & explosive debris just like the rest of us. (Every time an explosion went off near them the sand would stick to the make-up on their face! I recall coming out of one take and with another extra and the four of us - Hugh, Liev, the other extra and myself - were all looking at each other and grinning as we spat sand out of our mouths and blinked it out of our eyes.)

It's an odd thing about Australians as a people. We're generally not seen as respectful polite folk. We're loud and brash and arrogantly friendly. Yet no-one from us plebians amongst the crew bothered the stars. We all figured, "well, I guess they're busy so we'll just leave them to it." Sure, we all know they're normal blokes and when the opportunity arose - lunch queues, costuming, and other casual encounters - we all spoke and joked with each the stars just as they did with each other. But for the majority of the time, no-one bothered these guys and left them to get on with their job. This attitude could be seen with the crowd on the beach too. They waited patiently. They didn't yell or cheer or carry on. When asked not to take photos with long range cameras, they agreed. (Well most did, Australians have never been too good at obeying regulations!) When asked to move out of shot, they did so without protest. A couple of school groups came down to watch and got impromptu lessons from their teachers about movie-making and the Normandy landings. (We extras were thrilled at one point to see a group a children imitating our charges up the beach!) In short, it was all very civilized and pleasant.

For the final scene of the shoot the special effect guys went all out - and didn't tell us what they were doing. We figured it was just another charge up the beach. We had picked our spots to dive, take cover and die according to the lie of the land. On the call of "action" we set off and the world went to hell! The effects guys had basically rigged the entire beach to simulate mortar explosions and machine-gun fire - and to a much greater degree than ever before. Sand and smoke and noise obscured everyone's view. No-one could see and hear a thing. People dropped and took cover, on instinct as much as on training. Time slowed. (Everyone said this afterwards - when the explosions went off, everything moved into slow-motion. Not that it mattered. People were still confused and disorientated, and no-one could see or hear a thing beyond a few feet.) I recalled the words of one of the lieutenants from the Omaha Beach landings: "there are two types of people staying on this beach - dead guys and guys who are going to die." I couldn't see a damned thing - I had sand in my eyes and my ears were ringing - but I was supposed to be leading. I had a job to do. I charged forward anyway, hoping I wouldn't run head-first into one of the barricade that were scattered across the beach. As I went forward I found blokes on their guts, taking cover from the explosions. I grabbed them and screamed at them to get moving up the beach. I even kicked a few. I took what shots I could with my M1 rifle, but mainly I just kept moving and pushing the blokes along up the beach and away from the killing zone. When they moved they just did as they had trained to do - took a few steps, took cover, fired if they could and them moved again. When the director yelled CUT we all just kind of stumbled around and tried to blink the sand and smoke from our eyes.

We were told later that the look of confusion and disorientation in soldiers who, while shot all to hell, ADVANCED ANYWAY was just what the director wanted. We did the best we could and I cannot help but be in awe of those blokes who fought under conditions much worse back on Omaha Beach, June 6th, 1944.

Let me say one last thing about the production. The production itself was incredibly well and professionally done. Everyone had their jobs and everyone did them. The actors & extras were extremely well taken care of by the production crew. We were well fed and accommodated in nice hotels. We were well trained and drilled by some excellent military advisors - guys who knew their history and their weapons. As a result of all of this, morale was very high. No-one had a problem with going the extra mile - wading through chest high surf or diving around the beach as explosions went off around us. All of that was fine because we were well looked after. It was a valuable lesson of leadership that can apply to the film-making, corporate and military worlds equally.

So what happens on D-Day in the "Wolverine" film? Well think about it! Logan regenerates. Most soldiers don't. Logan is also "a bit tasty in a fight." So are there any prizes for guessing which cigar-chomping hero ends up charging up the beach and taking out some Germans? No, Logan wasn't the only one to get all the way up the beach. Yes, Logan is one tough cookie, but the rest of the soldiers there weren't just waiting around for regenerating mutants to save the day. Three platoons land with Logan & Creed. 1st platoon, which includes the heroes, gets pretty badly chopped up. 2nd platoon get's hurt bad, but gets up the beach and fights alongside our heroes as they advance with the remnants of 1st platoon. 3rd platoon get hurt bad as well, but they're a little off to the side. I was one of the soldiers who made it up the beach. I did fire-and-movement up the beach and moved my troops along with me. I even got to fire off a few shots alongside "the man" himself. Maybe you'll see me in the film, but I doubt it. I was just a nameless Technician from the 29th Infantry Division - just so much set dressing. Sure, I did a few cool things - I got to step in, take command of a platoon and lead them up the beach; I got to blaze away at Nazi side-by-side with Logan and Creed; I got to run around and play soldier with a great bunch of blokes - but at the end of the day, I was just a part of a larger team that made, what we all hope, was a great scene you will enjoy when you come to watch the film.

From what I hear the release date is mid way through 2009. I'll see it first chance I get and for damned sure I'll be staying to watch the credit, yelling like a cowboy when I see the names of all the guys & girls I worked with for two glorious days in June 2008.

A great report, thanks! To be exact, X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1, 2009

[Rappy Veteran]

Kevin Durand (ABC's "Lost") briefly talked to Thunder Bay's Source about playing Frederick J. Dukes/The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

He spent time in the land down under working on the next installment of the X-Men movies: Wolverine, where he plays alongside Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as the villainous mutant The Blob also known as Frederick J. Dukes, a perennial X-Men character. The film is set for theatrical release in spring 2009.

"I wasn't a comic book kid because I was busy playing hockey here in Thunder Bay. That's all I wanted to do and all I dreamed of really. But when I saw the first (X-Men film), I was just in awe and the second one (X2:X-Men United) just blew me away," he said.

When he heard the news a new installment was in the works, he was hoping the producers would consider him for a part and luckily for Durand, they already knew his name and called for him to take a look at the part.

And to get the larger than life Blob ready for the cameras, it took six months of costume and special effects preparation.

"I have a feeling people are going to like him," Durand said.

Opening May 1, 2009, the Gavin Hood-directed film stars Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney and Lynn Collins. "Wolverine" tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program.

[Jamushroom Veteran]

Awesome! :D I can't wait to see a teaser. Can't believe there's no info yet about X-Men Origins: Magneto.

[Rappy Veteran]

Awesome! :D I can't wait to see a teaser. Can't believe there's no info yet about X-Men Origins: Magneto.

I know! I heard tho that was set to be made after Wolverine so maybe they will start to cast next year, I still harbour hope of another x-men but from the students POV this time so like Shadowcat,jubilee etc.

[ViperAFK]

Am I the only one who thinks that this guy sucks as Wolverine?

yeah

[betasp]

Just like in the other X-men movies, I am hoping most of the characters are passing and they are not trying any sort of development. The focus needs to be on Wolverine. Trying to develop too many characters will kill the story, and viewers will see through the obvious spin-off setups.

[Jamushroom Veteran]

^I'm sure that the focus will be on Wolverine and that the other characters are passing by. Since it's about his history, I think that those characters will only be shown when the story takes you to a different time from his past.

@Rappy: Then they should make a movie from New X-Men: Academy. It has awesome characters with cool mutant powers. Also, a X-Men Origins movie about Colossus would be awesome as well.

@ichi: You indeed are the only one :p I couldn't think of anyone else who looks that much like the Wolverine from the comics.

[Rappy Veteran]