Avi Arad and Bryan Singer on November 11, 2003
This weekend, producer Lauren Shuler Donner began talking about X-Men 3. Stories came out in websites such as Scifi.com and Superhero Hype. I ran into producer Avi Arad and director Bryan Singer at the premiere of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and they seemed surprised to hear such talk had begun. Arad said, ?Well, if she told you we are prepping, we must be prepping.? A flabbergasted Singer said, ?Uh, great! Awesome. I don't think I can talk about it, but I?d like to [make X3] very much, so we?ll see if we can work it out.?
Stories reported that not only is Shuler-Donner planning X3, but a separate Wolverine film. Singer?s response to that was, ?I don't know. I think an X-men film is simultaneously a Wolverine film, so in my opinion that?s something that might happen afterwards, but ultimately I can?t even talk about it.? Arad added, ?I think that both concepts are valid and both will be made.?
Singer couldn?t say anymore, but Arad stuck around to update us on all his upcoming projects.
Where will a Wolverine story go? Look in the books and you will see where it?s going.
Is there a specific series it could be based on? The series that is famous is dealing with his past, with the woman he loved and what happened in Japan, which will be quite interesting.
How did Punisher turn out? We wrapped 10 days ago. It?s looking great. It?s really looking great. The trailer played very well. We just got the weekend results and it is fantastic.
Is Punisher a smaller movie for you? I?m not sure. Budgetarily, yes, it is smaller. And it needs to be smaller. There are no special effects, it?s not about the superhero. It?s just another hero. It didn?t need to be an expensive movie.
How is Blade 3 going? Blade 3 is going well. David [Goyer] is doing a great job. The dailies are looking magnificent. It?s nice to see David directing the script.
Talk about bringing Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds into it. That was a brilliant move. I think you have two very hot actor and an actress in this movie. I think we are going to see a lot of these two.
What does it mean for Blade to have these characters come in? I think that unlike the first two movies, we are going to deal more with relationships.
Is there potential for a spinoff from those characters? There are opportunities in there as you look at the characters. Real opportunities to start the next series of The Tomb of Dracula.
Now Spider-Man 2. Usually superhero sequels just have more villains. The Batmans kept adding villains. But Spidey 2 is just Doc Oc. Why? I don't think they do need more villains. I think that one interesting villain is more than enough for two hours. Our kind of villains, as you know, they?re not villains. They?re not born a villain. It?s the backstory, it?s the reason, it?s an emotional journey. I think it?s quite enough to handle an interesting opportunity like the Freddy Molina/Dr. Oc. You want the concept of the movie around him.
What?s up with Fantastic Four? Soon.
Are you looking for a new director? Everything will come out soon. We are looking at new directors.
~ Fred Topel
