X-Men Sparks a Film Frenzy

While Marvel try to tempt the original X-Men movie director, Bryan Singer, back in an attempt to helm the sequel, a burst of activity has emerged from Hollywood as almost everyone under the sun go scrambling for a decent comic franchise to turn into a blockbuster movie.

Blade 2, the vampire-slaying sequel to the Wesley film is in pre-production, getting its special effects tweaked.

Beware though, rumours have it that this movie was done on something of a budget, and we don't remember the first one being too fat in the SFX department either, so lord knows what this movie is going to turn out like?

TV shows for Thor and Mutant X strips are also in development (Thor with Artisan Entertainment, MX with Tribune Entertainment), while the pec'd-up Dolph Lundgren is said to be in the running for the part of the Mighty son of Valhalla.

We remember fondly the last TV outing for Thor - a TV movie with The Incredible Hulk, where Thor came across Bruce Banner who was happily in disguise and working on a cure.

Said 1990s pairing generated more cheese than the counter at Piers' House of Fromage, Thor being played as a thick Viking surf dude whose general understanding of the 20^th century verged on clobbering time for everyone he met.

Sony, meanwhile, is advancing with care with their Spider Man movie (having recently put production back two months to buy them extra pre-production time). Sam Raimi, Director of all those crass Zombie movies, is in the helm for Peter Parker's first big cinematic outing.

Originally Doctor Octopus was due to play the part of the main evil super villain in the Spidey film, but he was ruled out on SFX grounds in favour of the cheaper to shoot Green Goblin.

John Malkovich is up for the part of the Green Goblin in the movie, which should be a laugh. This character was always a tragic one, with the Goblin's alter ego, Norman Osborne, being compared to the pre-accident Joker in the Batman strip. Tobey Maguire has already accepted the part of web slinger Peter Parker.

Not to be left out of the Marvel 'toon scrum, Miramax are looking to do a $80 million production of the Ghost Rider movie. Nicholas 'wildman' Cage is the main name looking to play the part of Johnny Blaze, a biker who returns from hell as a magic skull-bike riding demon.

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X-Men Sparks a Film Frenzy

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Donald Pfeiffer. 01/10/2000
Spiderman will make a way better movie than Ghost Rider. Rider was a crap movie. If they want to make it into a good film, they'll have to ignore everything that happened in the comic strip.

The Yard Man. 01/10/2000
Sam Raimi is a brilliant Director. I hope they let him do his thing, Marvel have a great track record for ruining their films. X-Men was almost the first decent film they made, ever! They should learn from DC, when it comes to making movies.

T Campbell. 02/10/00
I don't think the "cheaper to shoot" business is quite accurate. An earlier draft of the script featured both Dr. Octopus and the Green Goblin, but they've decided to make it a one-villain movie. Good move: movies with more than one colorful villain are unfocused at best (BATMAN RETURNS) and disasters at worst (BATMAN AND ROBIN). Yes, X-MEN had a lot of villains, but Magneto was always the focal bad guy. Goblin and Octopus are both too egotistical to fall in line behind anyone.

Malcolm Xerxes. 02/10/2000
I feel a strong sense of vindication: when I saw "MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE", I proclaimed that DOLPH LUNDGREN WAS/IS THE MIGHTY THOR! When he was cast as THE PUNISHER, I was utterly convinced (on 5th viewing) that he had been underestimated by me and everyone else as an actor. While I don't agree with things he has said in interviews about an athletic physique being an obstruction to good acting - the more so since I purchased his "MAXIMUM POTENTIAL" exercise video - I do think that with the exception of the lamentable "BLACKJACK", he has been at worst consistent in his work. His performance in "MEN OF WAR" was superlative, and would not have gone amiss in the role of COLOSSUS...in the sequel, perhaps?

Twinkler. 02/10/200
Excuse me, but, that's a joke, there was a Cartoon hero warning a long time ago, more than that, Iremember reading on Sci-Fi Weekly a few months ago that a List of movies (such as Daredevil) are waiting to get a verdict on the X-Men before the production begins.