Ten years ago today: ‘X-Men’ released
“Are you kidding? Who ever heard of Hugh Jackman? He’s a 6’2 Australian, not a 5’2 Canadian! And he does musicals! How can he play Wolverine? And he’s not even going to be in the costume!”
Yeah yeah yeah. Don’t fib about it, we have archives of you saying it on rec.arts.comics.
Nevertheless, about a half hour into the film that opened ten years ago today, those words were completely forgotten and Jackman was on his way to becoming an international star. And with the comparatively low-budget of only $75 million, X-Men went on to gross nearly double that in the US alone, and spawned a franchise that would gross over a billion dollars worldwide. And suddenly, people believed Marvel characters could actually be translated into successful films… and we’ve all seen the results of that.
So here’s to the scrappy band of mutants that could. Here’s hoping that X-Men: First Class, currently scheduled for June of next year, continues the tradition.
Here’s the trailer for the original film…
I didn’t care for that movie at all, and it had nothing to do with Hugh Jackman. I just didn’t find any of the X-Men movies to be, well…good or enjoyable. The Wolverine movie, especially, was just a parade of characters with the names of familiar X-Men allies and villains with nothing to endear itself as entertainment.
I didn't care for that movie at all, and it had nothing to do with Hugh Jackman. I just didn't find any of the X-Men movies to be, well…good or enjoyable. The Wolverine movie, especially, was just a parade of characters with the names of familiar X-Men allies and villains with nothing to endear itself as entertainment.