On the London leg of the X-Men: The Last Stand press tour today, the unfeasibly lovely pair that are Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry dropped a few tidbits about the chance of further instalments from our favourite X-gened mutants - notably the news that Wolverine is currently planned as a prequel.
First of all, Jackman talked about the proposed Wolverine spin-off film…
“I can tell you that David Benioff had written two drafts. He’s a fantastic writer and a huge, passionate fan. I know that fans of Wolverine or X-men will be excited about the direction it’s going. It’s a prequel, at present, but we’re not finished writing so it’s not finalised – and even if it was, I wouldn’t tell you!”
But is he up for a fourth X-film proper?
“I think that the studio always planned this to be the end. It’s definitely the biggest in every way and it feels like a fitting end to the trilogy. There may be more, but I think everyone involved…everyone came back, and none of the actors came back thinking that they were gratuitously making a buck and the studio were just trotting these things out. I feel like the script we had at the beginning of this was the best of the three, and that’s why everyone signed on. So another one wouldn’t happen unless there was a genuine feeling that we had another story to tell that was evolving the story. I think we’re all proud of what we’ve created, so if there is another one, it won’t be a cash-in or a Gloria Swanson moment of ‘I’ve got to get back in the game’.”
Halle Berry, in contrast, is all in favour of an X-Men 4. “There’s no chance of a Storm spin-off, not with me anyway! Hugh and I differ on this. I think there could be another X-Men movie. The fans want it and love it, and the series is so rich with so many stories and characters, it could go on and on almost like a Bond movie. But if not, I feel confident that Hugh’s movie will go, no matter what, and I’ll maybe get to do a fly-by!”
Hmm – combined with Patrick Stewart’s recent pro-sequel comments here, it looks like there might be life in the old mutants yet. Meanwhile, for more from the pair, and on Jackman’s hopes to make a musical Socrates biopic, check back next week.