Nothing scares me more than having someone on board for a comic film with no experience (take a look at what happened to Catwoman for heavens sake). Counting Down is now reporting that the hand of Simon Kinberg is going to pen X3. YAAAYY!
The deal puts Kinberg back in business with the studio and Marvel. He penned two projects for Fox and Fox partner Regency Enterprises: the actioner “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and a rewrite of the Jennifer Garner starrer “Elektra,” also a Marvel property. He also turned in a rewrite on another big-budget Fox/Marvel project, “Fantastic Four,” which is in production under the direction of Tim Story. Kinberg said the story line for “X3” is still being hammered out. “I’m a religious reader of the (‘X-Men’) comics, and I loved the first two movies,” Kinberg said. “I had a great experience with Fox and Marvel on the other projects, and when they came to me and asked me if I had any interest in ‘X3,’ I was ecstatic.
. Good to see. Obviously they must have liked what they sow from his work on Fantastic Four enough to bring him over on this project too. Now, don’t get too excited just yet. I know many people like to say that a movie is sure to work if you get a real fan of the subject material involved to write or direct it. But that just isn’t so. Look at what happened to Dungeons & Dragons. Ouch… my stomach still hurts from that one.
All I’ve gotta say is: Whoever helms X3 had better know what their doing, and have the abilities to fill Bryan Singers’ shoes. I’ve seen too many series go sour because the franchise changes hands (ahem…Batman!). If I were Fox, I’d have Singer personally select a writer/director for the project. It’s the only way to be sure.
I mean, look what happened when Chris Columbus personally selcted Alfonso Cuar√≥n for Prisoner of Azkaban, we ended up with arguably the best Harry Potter yet. Even if you’re one of the sickeningly die hard fans who had a beef with Cuar√≥n altering the flow of the book, you can’t deny that as a film P.o.Z. was superior movie making, and besides, it’s not like he changed the basic story. (If you want an example of a bad book-to-film translation, read Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf.)
But I digress. I loved X-Men and X2, and I’m looking forward to Superman Lives. I just hope Fox doesn’t ruin what could be one of the best superhero film franchises ever.