#4 X-MEN ORIGINS: MAGNETO
In 2004, screenwriter Sheldon Turner was hired by 20th Century Fox to pen the spin-off film. He initially described the movie as “The Pianist meets X-Men.” Ian McKellen was on board and is quoted as saying they would use computer effects to make him appear younger (like what was done in X-Men: The Last Stand). Three years later, David Goyer would be hired to write and direct the film. The plot blurb he gave for the film was a little more detailed:
“The storyline will heavily involve Professor X, the wheelchair-using X-Men leader. That character was a soldier in the allied force that liberated the concentration camps. The professor meets Magneto after the war and while they bond over the realization that they are alike in their special powers, their differences soon turn them into enemies.”
With Goyer on board, the film decided to recast the roles of Magneto and Charles Xavier. Filming was initially delayed for the picture based on the 2007-08 Writer’s Guild of America strike and was set to begin production in Australia should X-Men Origins: Wolverine prove to be successful. That didn’t happen, but the material that would have made up the movie was absorbed into the 2011 film X-Men: First Class, which explains why Sheldon Turner was given a “story by” credit on the film.
Before he was on The CW he was headed to the big screen. Relive the failed Green Arrow movie on page 5!
