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{{short description|2006 film by Brett Ratner}} | |||
{{Infobox Film | |||
{{Good article}} | |||
| name = X-Men: The Last Stand | |||
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}} | |||
| image = X3 poster version3.jpg | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} | |||
| director = ] | |||
{{Infobox film | |||
| writer = ]<br>] | |||
| image = X-Men The Last Stand theatrical poster.jpg | |||
| starring = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>] | |||
| alt = On top of a silver "X" lies a fist with three metal claws coming from the wrists (resembling the Roman numeral "III"), with the film's subtitle, "THE LAST STAND" on top of the claws, while the billing block remains at the bottom of the poster. | |||
| producer = Lauren Schuler-Donner<br>] | |||
| caption = Theatrical release poster | |||
| distributor = ] | |||
| |
| director = ] | ||
| writer = {{Plainlist| | |||
| runtime = 104 min | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
| cinematography =] | |||
}} | |||
| editing = ]<br>]<br>] | |||
| based_on = {{Based on|'']''|]|]}} | |||
| language = English | |||
| producer = {{Plainlist| | |||
| preceded_by = '']'' <br> '']'' | |||
* ] | |||
| followed_by = '']'' <br> '']'' | |||
* ] | |||
| imdb_id = 0376994 | |||
* ] | |||
| budget = $210 Million (per boxofficemojo.com) | |||
}} | |||
| rating = PG-13 | |||
| starring = {{Plainlist|<!--DO NOT CHANGE THIS CAST, THIS IS ACCORDING TO THE CREDIT BLOCK ON THE POSTER.--> | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
}} | |||
| cinematography = ] | |||
| editing = {{Plainlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
}} | |||
| music = ] | |||
| production_companies = {{Plainlist| | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ]<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8b1eb7f4 |publisher=] |access-date=May 10, 2014 |location=London |title=''X-Men The Last Stand'' (2006) |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310130934/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8b1eb7f4 |url-status=dead}} For full data, click "Show more" link.</ref> | |||
}} | |||
| distributor = 20th Century Fox | |||
| released = {{Film date|2006|05|24|]|2006|05|26|United States}} | |||
| runtime = 104 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 103:53--><ref>{{cite web |url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/x-men-last-stand-film |title=''X-Men – The Last Stand'' (12A) |publisher=] |date=May 11, 2006 |access-date=May 2, 2016 |archive-date=October 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018220301/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/x-men-last-stand-film |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| country = {{Plainlist| | |||
* United States<ref name="BFI" /><ref name="AFI">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64119-X-MEN-THELASTSTAND|title=''X-Men: The Last Stand''|publisher=]|access-date=January 8, 2017|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204074309/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64119-X-MEN-THELASTSTAND|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* United Kingdom<ref name="BFI" /><ref name="AFI"/><!-- See guidelines for "Country" at http://en.wikipedia.org/Template:Infobox_film --> | |||
}} | |||
| language = English | |||
| budget = $210{{nbsp}}million<ref name="marks" /><ref name="mojo" /> | |||
| gross = $460.4{{nbsp}}million<ref name="mojo">{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x3.htm |title=''X-Men: The Last Stand'' (2006) |website=] |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210162926/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x3.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''''X-Men: The Last Stand'''''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/291112/X-Men-The-Last-Stand/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214183615/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/291112/X-Men-The-Last-Stand/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 14, 2015 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) |access-date=April 9, 2014 |last=Dargis |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=] |date=2015 |first=Manohla}}</ref> (also marketed as '''''X3: The Last Stand''''', or '''''X-Men 3''''') is a 2006 ] based on the '']'' comic books published by ].<ref>{{cite web |title=X-men The Last Stand |url=https://directories.wga.org/project/920122/x-men-the-last-stand/ |website=] |access-date=17 July 2022 |date=25 January 2006 |archive-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430081210/https://directories.wga.org/project/920122/x-men-the-last-stand/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the sequel to '']'' (2003), as well as the third installment (and the final film of the original ''X-Men'' trilogy) in the ]. It was directed by ] and features an ] including ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. Written by ] and ], the film is loosely based on two ''X-Men'' comic book story arcs, "]" and "]", with a plot that revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among ] and humans, and on the resurrection of ] who unleashes a ]. | |||
'''''X-Men: The Last Stand''''' is the third ] adaptation of ]' ] ] ]s. It was directed by ], with a script by the team of ] &<!--ampersand per WGA credits--> ]. The previous two movies were '']'' (2000) and '']'' (2003). The film was released on ], ] in the ] and ], and was released one or two days earlier in approximately 22 other countries. | |||
], who had directed the two previous films, '']'' and ''X2'', decided to leave the sequel to work on '']'' (2006). ''X2'' composer and editor ] and ''X2'' writers ] and ] also left to work on ''Superman Returns'', as did ], who had very limited screen time in ''The Last Stand'' before his character was killed off due to his departure from the film. Singer had not even defined the storyline for a third film. ], who co-wrote the script (though was uncredited) and was initially hired as the new director, left due to personal and professional issues, and was replaced with Ratner. Filming took place from August 2005 to January 2006 with a budget of $210{{nbsp}}million, and was consequently the ] at the time of its release. It had extensive visual effects created by 11 different companies. | |||
Despite average reviews from film critics <ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_3_the_last_stand/</ref>, ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' scored an opening-day gross of $45.5 million domestically <ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=open&p=.htm</ref>, the second-highest opening day in film history after '']'' ($50 million). ''X3'' is ranked fourth among film debuts by generating an estimated $120.1 million domestically on its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend. The Web site The Numbers notes that the film's weekend gross "equals the record for the fewest number of days taken to earn $100 million, joining four other movies that achieved the feat in three days." <ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/index.php</ref>. | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' premiered in the Out of Competition section at the ],<ref>{{cite web |title=2006 Official Selection - Out of Competition |url=https://m.festival-cannes.com/en/74-editions/retrospective/2006/selection/out-of-competition |website=] |access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> and was released theatrically in the United States on May 26 by ]. It grossed approximately $459{{nbsp}}million worldwide, becoming the ]; it was at the time the highest-grossing film in the series and after 2018 stood as the fourth-highest-grossing film of the franchise. It received mixed reviews from critics and was deemed inferior to its predecessors. | |||
'']'' said the film is "a wham-bam ] noticeably lacking in the pop gravitas, moody atmospherics and emotional weight that made the first two Marvel comicbook adaptations so rousingly successful". '']'' stated, "Though the picture is not without its wow-inducing, ]-driven moments, that potent X-factor is considerably diminished in Singer's absence". . Rich Cline of the British movie e-zine ''Shadows on the Wall'' said, "At least Ratner knows how to handle both action and drama on screen, even if subtlety and substance fall by the wayside". . Critic ] of ''Film Journal International'' said, "A risk-taking script with genuine consequences elevates this ... above the lackluster direction of Brett Ratner, whose competent mechanics move the story efficiently but with very little soul" . | |||
A standalone sequel, '']'', was released in 2013; it was followed by '']'' a year later in 2014, which ]ned the events of ''The Last Stand''. Jackman and Stanford reprised their roles as ] and ], respectively, in the 2024 film '']''. | |||
==Plot summary== | |||
{{spoiler}} | |||
Twenty years before the "present" (the setting implies the 1980s), ] and ], two mutant-rights activists, encounter an extremely powerful ] pre-teen: ]. At the behest of her parents, the two men bring her into their care to teach her how to control her powers. | |||
==Plot== | |||
Ten years later, another young mutant—] attempts to cut off his wings with a ]. When his father stumbles in on him, the older man vows to find a cure for his son's "illness." | |||
<!--note: Please do not add more detail. This is supposed to be a plot summary, not a play-by-play. The removal of certain characters or scenes is necessary to keep this section brief and done only when those elements are not essential to the plot. This section has a tendency to expand greatly, becoming overly detailed and full of unnecessarily specific details, but the removal of these details has been asked for and commended on the talk page. As well, note that per ], this section is between 400 and 700 words ONLY--> | |||
In 1986, ] and ] meet young ] at her parents' house to invite her to join their school, the ]. Ten years later in 1996, industrialist ] discovers ] is a ], as the latter tries to cut off his wings. | |||
In the present, Worthington Labs announces an inoculation, to suppress the X-gene that gives ] their abilities and offers the "cure" to any mutant who wants it. The cure interests some mutants such as ], who cannot touch anyone without harming them, while others are wary of it. Magneto re-establishes his ] with those who oppose the cure, warning it will be weaponized to exterminate the mutant race. With help from ], ], and several other mutants, Magneto attacks a mobile prison and frees ], ], and ]. Mystique shields Magneto from a cure dart and loses her mutant abilities, so he abandons her. | |||
Moving to "the not-too-distant future," ] and ] train with some students in the ]. Meanwhile, a heartbroken ] is haunted by memories of his deceased fiancée (at one point telling Logan that "not everyone heals as fast as you do"). Scott is not alone in his turmoil, though—Professor Xavier also senses her presence. Cyclops decides to return to Alkali Lake, where ] apparently sacrificed herself to rescue her fellow ]. There, tormented by the sounds of Jean calling his name, he screams and fires an optic blast at the lake. Enveloped by light, Scott is shocked to see Jean Grey standing before him, alive and well. She tells Scott she wants to see his eyes, explaining she is more powerful than before and can prevent his optic blasts from hurting her. Scott reluctantly removes his glasses and opens his eyes. The two lovers then share a passionate kiss. And then something goes terribly wrong. | |||
], still distraught over the loss of Grey, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Grey suddenly appears to Cyclops, but kills him as they kiss. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends ] and ] to investigate. When they arrive, they find only ] floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Grey. | |||
Shortly thereafter, Xavier is teaching an ethics class at the mansion, using either video or a live feed of his colleague Dr. ], when he is interrupted by a telepathic disturbance. This scene is key later in the film, after the credits. Moments later, shocking news comes over the television: Warren Worthington II, head of the Worthington Pharmaceutical Company, has announced that scientist ] has developed an antigen that suppresses mutation. Suddenly, the X-Men face the philosophical dilemma of whether or not their mutant powers are gifts or hindrances. Especially affected is young ], who cannot touch another person without draining his or her energy. ], a former student of Xavier and current U.S. ] of Mutant Affairs, returns to the mansion to offer his counsel. | |||
At the X-Mansion, Xavier explains that when Grey sacrificed herself to save them, she also freed the "]", a dark ] with godlike destructive potential which Xavier had telepathically repressed. Logan is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Grey's mind but, once she awakens, he discovers that she killed Cyclops and is not the woman he once knew. The Phoenix emerges, knocks out Logan, and escapes to her childhood home. Learning of Grey's return, Magneto and the Brotherhood arrive at the house at the same time as the X-Men, with Magneto and Xavier both vying for Grey's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and disintegrates Xavier, then leaves with Magneto. | |||
In a ] office building, resisting his father's wishes to cure his mutation, Warren Worthington III (Angel in the comics, though that name is unused in the film), escapes from a high-rise office building using his now full-grown wings. | |||
A depowered Mystique gives up Magneto's base in the woods to the ] who raid it. However, the detected human heat signatures in the camp are Multiple Man and his copies. Magneto and the Brotherhood attack ] with the intention to kill a young mutant named ], whose ] is used to create the cure. They overwhelm the military troops until the remaining X-Men arrive to confront them. During the fight, ] saves Jimmy from Juggernaut, ] subdues Pyro, and Logan distracts Magneto for ] to inject him with the cure, nullifying his powers. The Phoenix awakens and begins destroying anyone within range of her powers. Logan realizes that only he can stop the Phoenix due to his healing factor and ] skeleton. When Logan approaches her, Grey momentarily gains control and begs him to kill her. Logan is forced to fatally stab Grey, killing her. | |||
Across the country, mutants rally to discuss the ramifications of the "cure". At a mutant gathering in a crumbling church (called a theater in the credits), ] survivor ], who attends with ], warns the crowd that the cure will be used to eradicate mutant powers<!--not "exterminate mutants a genocidal level" -- no one in the film talks about widespread killing of mutants, just of eradicating their powers-->. Recruiting ], ], ] and ] (whose powers appear to be those of ] in the comics; see "Cast Notes" below), Magneto attempts to locate ], who had been captured trying to steal information about the "cure". The group ambushes a prison convoy, freeing her along with the ] and the ] <!--note: In Alcatraz scene, haracter specifically says, "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch", using the indefinite article "the". Also, Madrox is specifically called "the Multiple Man" not "Multiple Man"-->, and prepare to assemble an army to ambush the medical facility holding the source of the antigen—a pre-teen mutant named Jimmy, codenamed ] in his government file—whose own power is to totally remove (not decrease, as Kitty Pryde is completely unable to get any part of herself at all through the wall while holding Jimmy, and the Juggernaut loses his momentum and runs into a wall) the mutant abilities of others while in their proximity, and whose blood is the ultimate source of the "cure". In their escape from the convoy, however, a guard attempts to shoot Magneto with a "cure" gun, but Mystique blocks the shot, having her powers removed. Magento realizes that Mystique saved his powers and mentions this to her before abandoning her. He then sees the gun as proof of his beliefs regarding forced treatment, and abandons the now fully human Mystique as a casualty of war. | |||
Sometime later, mutant rights are finally obtained and Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress. The President of the United States appoints McCoy as ambassador to the ]. Rogue, having taken the cure, rekindles her relationship with Iceman. Meanwhile, Magneto sits at a chessboard in ], seemingly human and weak, and as he gestures toward a metal chess piece, it wobbles slightly.<!-- add any interpretation in a footnote with a source --> | |||
Sensing trouble at Alkali Lake, Professor X sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, they encounter an unconscious Jean, floating rocks evidencing some severe telekinetic disturbance, and no trace of Scott except for his discarded glasses. When they return to the mansion, a grave Professor X explains that when Jean survived the dam collapse depicted in '']'', she unleashed a powerful split-personality which she called "Phoenix", previously kept in check by his telepathic blocks. A disgusted Wolverine finds the Professor's manipulation of Jean's mind — which Xavier rationalizes as "the lesser of two evils" — contrary to the Professor own teachings. | |||
Elsewhere, ], while checking on a comatose patient,{{efn|In the DVD commentary, it is revealed that the patient was "P. Xavier", Charles Xavier's brain-dead twin brother, whose character was written for the scene. Earlier in the film, MacTaggert spoke in a video about the ways of using mutant powers, such as transferring the mind of a dying man into the body of a patient with no higher brain function, giving an explanation for his resurrection.}} is startled when he greets her with Xavier's voice. | |||
Across the country, Callisto senses that Jean is now a "Class 5" mutant, and more powerful than Magneto himself. When Jean wakes up from her sleep, she sees Logan and after the two engage in a brief moment of passion, Logan realizes that she is not the Jean he knew, and asks what had happened to Scott. Jean momentarily regains her senses and pleads with Logan to kill her before she loses control of the Phoenix again. When Logan refuses, the Phoenix rises; telekinetically slamming Wolverine against a wall and smashing through a thick vault door, she escapes to the the Grey family home. | |||
==Cast== | |||
There, Magneto and Professor X vie for her loyalty. As Wolverine and Storm engage in battle with the Juggernaut and others Magneto had brought with him, the enraged and resentful Jean destroys her family's house, disintegrates Professor X (though not before he tells her to "not let it control her"), and escapes with Magneto. Devastated by their loss, the remaining X-Men hold a funeral for their beloved teacher, erecting a large tombstone in the garden behind the mansion; elsewhere, even Magneto says sadly, "My single greatest regret is that Charles had to die in order for our dream to live on". The senior X-Men consider closing the school, until Warren Worthington arrives, asking if the school is really a sanctuary for mutants. Realizing they must continue Xavier's dream, the X-Men unite under Storm's leadership. Students ], ], and (]) unite with Storm, Wolverine, and McCoy (who resurrects his old X-Men codename: Beast). Notably absent is Rogue, who has snuck off to seek the "cure". | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A Canadian mutant born with hyper-acute, animal-like senses, claws on his hands, and an accelerated healing factor that made it possible to implant a coating of the indestructible metal alloy ] on his skeleton. Jackman was pleased to see that the script allowed Wolverine to expand his character choices, as instead of questioning whether he would remain a loner or join the X-Men, Logan now is asked if he will play a leadership role in the X-Men.<ref name="notes" /> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A mutant, who is one of Xavier's earlier students and the leader of the X-Men in Cyclops' absence. Storm is a woman with the ability to manipulate the weather. Berry had stated during interviews for ''X2'' that she would not return unless the character had a significant presence comparable to the comic book version, leading to a larger role in ''The Last Stand''{{'}}s script.<ref name="UGO 2">{{cite web |title=Halle Berry of X-Men: The Last Stand |work=] |url=http://www.ugo.com/summermovies/Content/ProductViewer.aspx?BlogsPageNumber=3&ProductID=172 |access-date=July 18, 2006 |date=May 24, 2006 |first=Daniel Robert |last=Epstein |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718103731/http://www.ugo.com/summermovies/Content/ProductViewer.aspx?BlogsPageNumber=3&ProductID=172 |archive-date=July 18, 2006}}</ref> Berry declared that her ethnicity made the actress identify with the cure plot: "When I was a child, I felt that if only I could change myself, my life would be better. As I've gotten older, I've come to terms with what utter nonsense that is."<ref name="notes" /> The character was given a more modern haircut, and costume designer ] opted to give Storm more black clothes, a color she only wore in the leather costume for previous films, to make her "tougher and sexier".<ref name="costume">"Clothing vs. Costume". ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' DVD, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment</ref> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />Leader and founder of the Brotherhood, Magneto is a mutant ] survivor who wages war against humanity in the name of mutant superiority. He has the ability to control and manipulate metal, making him one of the most powerful mutants. Well known for his ], McKellen found a parallel of the cure with many prejudices: "It's abhorrent to me, as it would be if a person said I need curing of my sexuality, or if someone said that black people could take a pill that would 'cure' them of being black."<ref name="notes" /> McKellen's shooting schedule had to accommodate his work in both '']'' (2006) and the London theatre, going as far as filming the actor in England to later superimpose into the Vancouver plates.<ref name="producer commentary" /> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A mutant with uncharted telepathic powers, and founder of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants. Xavier is an authority on genetic mutation and an advocate of peaceful relations between human and mutant kind. Stewart signed to the film without knowing Xavier would die, and not meeting original director Matthew Vaughn – both would meet in ], where Stewart was filming '']'' (2006), but eventually Brett Ratner called to introduce himself as the new director.<ref name="mania">{{cite web |url=http://www.mania.com/x3-patrick-stewart-tells-all_article_90147.html |title=X3: Patrick Stewart Tells All |first=Chris |last=Brown |publisher=Mania.com |date=May 17, 2006 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126061911/http://www.mania.com/x3-patrick-stewart-tells-all_article_90147.html |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ] as ]:<ref>{{cite web |date=January 21, 2016 |first=JOSHUA |last=YEHL |website=IGN News |title=X-MEN'S DARK PHOENIX SAGA COULD GET A REDO IN THE MOVIES |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2016/01/21/x-mens-dark-phoenix-saga-could-get-a-redo-in-the-movies |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-date=October 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002051819/https://www.ign.com/articles/2016/01/21/x-mens-dark-phoenix-saga-could-get-a-redo-in-the-movies |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.craveonline.com/art/678155-wondercon-2014-simon-kinberg-on-x-men-fantastic-four|title=Mandatory | Laugh. Learn. Do Some Good|access-date=February 11, 2016|archive-date=November 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105063333/http://www.craveonline.com/art/678155-wondercon-2014-simon-kinberg-on-x-men-fantastic-four|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://movieweb.com/the-phoenix-rises-as-famke-janssen-and-james-marsden-talk-x-men-the-last-stand/|title = The Phoenix Rises as Famke Janssen and James Marsden Talk 'X-Men: The Last Stand'|date = May 23, 2006|access-date = February 11, 2016|archive-date = May 30, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160530140034/http://movieweb.com/the-phoenix-rises-as-famke-janssen-and-james-marsden-talk-x-men-the-last-stand/|url-status = live}}</ref><br />A mutant former member of the X-Men, a ] who possesses potentially limitless telepathic and ]. The X-Men learn that she has survived the flooding dam from the previous film, but when the rest of the team finds her, Grey has given in completely to her aggressive alternate personality of her powers, the Phoenix. Her mutant powers rival those of Xavier. The writers described the multiple personalities as "an ] drama played out", where the Phoenix was "someone embodying Greek goddess", while Jean Grey kept the character as "a human, grounded in ]ian terms, a victim, a ].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/movies/21moer.html?_r=0 |title=Phoenix's Unresolved Daddy Thing, and Other X-Men Issues |first=Christian |last=Moerk |date=May 21, 2006 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 9, 2014 |archive-date=November 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119054854/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/movies/21moer.html?_r=0 |url-status=live}}</ref> To mark the change of Jean Grey into Phoenix, her wardrobe focused on red colors, and everyday fabric in contrast to the leather costumes of the X-Men.<ref name="costume" /> Digital make-up also made Jean's face darker with her skin showing some veins and her eyes turning black, signifying the Phoenix personality of her powers.<ref name="awn" /> ] plays a young Jean Grey. | |||
* ] as ]:<!--D'Ancanto was never mentioned in the film--><br />A young mutant woman whose power causes her to temporarily take on the powers of anyone she touches, leaving her victims (mutant or human) unconscious; Rogue's lack of control over her power causes a great deal of strain on her relationship with Iceman. Paquin declared that while Rogue did not have "a large physical component in this movie", the "adult decisions" the character was forced to make allowed for more intensity on the emotional side.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/interviews/anna-paquin-interview-for-x-men-3-the-last-stand/ |publisher=The Cinema Source |date=January 28, 2008 |title=Aaron Stanford Interview |first=Aysha |last=Hussain |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-date=May 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526171706/http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/interviews/anna-paquin-interview-for-x-men-3-the-last-stand/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ] as ]: <!--NAME AS PER OFFICIAL CAST END CREDITS LIST--><br />A mutant former student of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants who is now a member of the ] as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Beast is a brilliant scientist and statesman. He is covered in blue fur and has heightened strength, reflexes and agility, as well as pointed fangs and a lion-like roar. Grammer's make-up took three hours to apply, it involved applying latex prosthetics before painting his eye area and lips blue, applying various hair pieces and wigs, and a muscle suit covered with a hand-punched fur suit.<ref name="cinefex" /> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A mutant, who is X-Men's field leader, Cyclops emits powerful energy blasts from his eyes, and must wear specially made glasses to prevent the destruction of anything he looks at. Although he is in a committed relationship with Jean Grey, her Phoenix persona kills him early in the film. the decision to kill the character off early, was due to a scheduling conflict that Marsden had with ''Superman Returns''. Marsden saw no problem in having a smaller role, as the films opted to feature Wolverine as the standpoint character, and feeling that "it's difficult when you have however many new characters that you're trying to introduce to an audience in 90 to 120 minutes, to give everyone their due."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movieline.com/2011/03/31/hops-james-marsden-on-x-men-sequels-three-stooges-and-hollywood-typecasting/ |title=Hop's James Marsden on X-Men Sequels, Three Stooges, Nailed and Typecasting |last=Yamato |first=Jen |work=Movieline |date=2011-03-31 |access-date=2014-10-03 |archive-date=July 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707173022/http://movieline.com/2011/03/31/hops-james-marsden-on-x-men-sequels-three-stooges-and-hollywood-typecasting/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2021/05/x-men-the-last-stand-at-15-where-the-x-franchise-first-went-wrong/ | title=X-Men: The Last Stand Turns 15 - Where the X-Franchise First Went Wrong | date=May 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.popmatters.com/x-men-last-stand-destroyed | title=How 'X-Men: The Last Stand' Nearly Destroyed the Comic Book Film Franchise, PopMatters | date=April 16, 2018 | access-date=February 6, 2024 | archive-date=February 6, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206130736/https://www.popmatters.com/x-men-last-stand-destroyed | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<!-- first X-Men film where she is credited as simply "Romijn" --> as ]:<br />A blue-skinned mutant who possesses the ability to ] to mimic anyone's appearance, as well as fight with incredible agility, reflexes and strength. She is also a woman of few words. She jumps in front of cure darts intended for Magneto and, after she loses her mutant abilities as a result, Magneto abandons her. Romijn described this story as "a traumatic experience" for Mystique, given that the previous movies implied that she and Magneto had "a deep-seated bond", and becoming "a frail mortal would be her worst nightmare".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/x-men-the-last-stand-rebecca-romijn-interview |title=X-Men: The Last Stand – Rebecca Romijn interview |publisher=Indie London |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223200051/http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/x-men-the-last-stand-rebecca-romijn-interview |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A young mutant, Iceman can create constructs of ice or blasts of cold. Ashmore's commitments to ''X-Men'' made him decline Bryan Singer's invitation to play ] in ''Superman Returns''. The actor was content with his bigger role after Bobby joined the X-Men main team in ''X2'', as during the previous production he wondered "When do I get to freeze something or get into a fight?"<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The National Post |title=The Iceman Returneth |date=May 20, 2006 |first=Bob |last=Thompson}}</ref> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A mutant who was a student of Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants with a grudge against his former friend Bobby Drake, Pyro has the ability to manipulate fire, generated through wrist-mounted lighters. Stanford stated that with the Brotherhood, Pyro "is allowed to fully explore his power" for lacking moral restraints. The actor was comfortable with returning to the role, particularly for following '']'' (2006), which had an exhausting shoot in the ] desert, while Pyro was nowhere near as physically demanding – "My character's pretty much stand-and-deliver, stand there and throw fire at people. There's no acrobatics."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/zap-aaronstanfordxmenpreview-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107022840/http://www.latimes.com/zap-aaronstanfordxmenpreview-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |title=X-Man Pyro's Fired Up for 'Last Stand' |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Daniel |last=Fienberg |date=March 10, 2006 |access-date=March 25, 2014}}</ref> | |||
* ] as ]:<br />A mutant criminal recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Juggernaut is incredibly strong, fast and, once he gains momentum, he is nearly unstoppable. The film's version of Juggernaut is depicted as a mutant and his relation to Charles Xavier was never mentioned. Matthew Vaughn cast Jones, who he met producing the ] gangster movies where Jones began his acting career.<ref name="producer commentary" /> The actor had to go through a four-hour make-up process to portray Juggernaut, which included a muscle suit and a prosthetic chin.<ref name="conf">"Make-Up Chair Confessions". ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' DVD, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment</ref> The costume tried to retain the bullet-shaped helmet of the comics without going excessively over the top.<ref name="costume" /> | |||
Additionally, ]{{efn|Credited as Ellen Page; the film was released before Page came out as ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shoard |first=Catherine |date=December 1, 2020 |title=Elliot Page: star of ''Juno'' and ''X-Men'' announces he is transgender |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/01/elliot-page-star-of-juno-x-men-announces-he-is-transgender |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201183149/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/01/elliot-page-star-of-juno-x-men-announces-he-is-transgender |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=December 27, 2022 |website=]}}</ref>}} appears as ]: A mutant with the ability to phase through matter and walk through solid objects, her clear affection for Iceman further adds to the tension already present between Iceman and Rogue. ] was considered for the role,<ref name="family" /> before Ratner invited Page, who impressed the director with his performance in '']'' (2005). Page initially declined, not wanting to yet jump to Hollywood filmmaking, but accepted after reading the script.<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Bowles |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-04-11-page_x.htm |title=Page becomes her characters |work=] |date=April 11, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=April 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414033413/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-04-11-page_x.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Page said part of his motivation was having a new experience: "I thought, well, when else am I going to have a chance to wear a leather suit and run through exploding things? Why not be a superhero for a change?"<ref>{{cite news |first=Mary |last=McNamara |url=https://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/05/entertainment/et-page5/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305221613/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/05/entertainment/et-page5/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |title=A strange new world |work=] |date=May 5, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> ] appears as ]: A mutant with the ability to transform his body into an organic steel, while also granting him superhuman strength and a resistance to physical damage while in that form. Cudmore wore a foam latex muscle suit covered with a chrome-plated plastic plus a hard plastic head to have the metal skin on the set, with some digital augmentation being used to enhance the facial expressions. A digital double was used only for stunts that could not be achieved practically, such as the Fastball Special where Colossus throws Wolverine at Magneto.<ref name="cinefex" /> ] appears as ]: The mutant son of an industrialist, who has feathered wings which allow him to fly. The static wings were models with a {{convert|15|ft|m}} wingspan and {{convert|5|ft|m}} height glued to Foster's back, replaced with computer-generated ones when movement was required.<ref name="cinefex" /> | |||
]'']] | |||
Using information from the now-human Mystique, the army attempts to capture Magneto's army only to realize they have been deceived by Multiple Man. Magneto and his ] have already moved on to San Francisco. To reach the Worthington Laboratories facility on ], Magneto causes the ] to break free from its moorings, rise in the air, and move to fill the gap between the San Francisco mainland and Alcatraz. In the midst of the chaos, the X-Men arrive to defend the island against the Brotherhood. Kitty Pryde and Juggernaut begin running through walls looking for Jimmy. When they each locate the boy, Kitty uses Jimmy's powers to trick Juggernaut into rendering himself unconscious. Outside, the battle rages. Kid Omega, Psylocke, and Arclight enter the facility and find Dr. Rao and Warren Worthington II. Arclight and Psylocke throw Worthington II off the roof, but Angel flies in and saves his father. As formker friends Pyro and Iceman engage in battle, Magneto encourages Jean to channel her full power against the labs. However, Wolverine manages to distract Magneto long enough for Beast to stab him in the chest with four syringes full of the antibody. | |||
] appears as young Angel, ] appears as ]: The head of Worthington Labs, the corporation developing the "cure", Worthington expects to rid his son of his mutant abilities. The addition of the character allowed Angel to integrate into the cure plot,<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617005244/http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1525 |url=http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1525 |title=Exclusive Interview: SCREENWRITER SIMON KINBERG TALKS X-MEN: THE LAST STAND – PART 1 |date=June 8, 2006 |work=iF Magazine |first=Sean |last=Elliot |archive-date=June 17, 2008 |access-date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> which also added a parallel between Warren's discovery of his son's mutation with a father finding out about his son's homosexuality.<ref name="nytimes" /> ] appears as ]: The leader of the Omegas, Callisto is a mutant with enhanced superhumanly acute senses, who senses mutants and their powers, and possesses superhuman speed and is an expert hand-to-hand combatant. The character combined the powers of the comics' Callisto with another of the ], ], and was written as someone who could be "beautiful, but with a tough persona".<ref name="ratner commentary" /> Ramirez had originally auditioned to play the mutant prostitute ], and impressed Brett Ratner so much that he decided to bring her in to play Callisto.<ref>{{cite web |title=XMEN 3 The Last Stand: An Interview with Aaron Stanford and Dania Ramirez |url=http://www.blackfilm.com/20060512/features/xmen3p2.shtml |first=Wilson |last=Morales |publisher=CineSnob |date=May 15, 2006 |access-date=March 18, 2014 |archive-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217180208/http://www.blackfilm.com/20060512/features/xmen3p2.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> ] appears as ]: A scientist who works at Worthington Labs on the mutant cure; she is killed by Kid Omega. Aghdashloo signed without a completed script, and erroneously said her character would be mutant doctor ].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2005/08/26/pop_quiz_what_d/ |title=The freakishly talented cast of 'X-Men 3' |first=Amy |last=Ryan |date=August 26, 2005 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=May 31, 2014 |archive-date=June 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602195119/http://popwatch.ew.com/2005/08/26/pop_quiz_what_d/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
With Jean raging out of control (demolishing the buildings of Alcatraz, disintegrating soldiers rushing to "cure" the quarreling mutants, and throwing water from the Bay high into the air), Storm gets the rest of the X-Men and humans to safety, with the now de-powered Magneto asking himself ,"What have I done?" Wolverine, who with his healing power can resist disintegration, is the only one who can reach Jean. Slowly and painfully, he makes his way to Phoenix, who asks poitedly, "You would die for them?" Wolverine replies, "No, not for them. For you". Jean resurfaces, and begs Logan to "save her". Wolverine tells her he loves her, and with tears in his eyes stabs her with his adamantium claws — killing her, ceasing the destruction of the island. | |||
] appears as the President: The President of the United States is tolerant of mutants, but fearful of the Brotherhood's threats. While creating the role, the producers felt that a "different" president, like an African American or a woman, had become a ] in itself and went for a traditional route with an elder ] man.<ref name="producer commentary" /> Sommer was invited by Ratner following their collaboration in '']'' (2000).<ref name="ratner commentary" /> ] appears as ]: The head of the ], Trask aids the president of the United States during the war against the mutants. The character is probably related to the comic books' ]; however, his first name is never mentioned in the film and he is portrayed as African American. In the comics, Bolivar Trask is the head of Trask Industries and creator of the mutant-hunting ]. ] appears as ]: A mutant and thief recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Madrox has the ability to create a very large number of copies of himself. The writers considered Dane's performance memorable despite being featured in only two scenes.<ref name="ratner commentary" /> Madrox's wardrobe invoked the symbols worn in his comics costume.<ref name="producer commentary">{{cite video |people=Lauren Shuler Donner, Avi Arad, Ralph Winter |title=Audio Commentary |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox |date=2006}}</ref> | |||
In the aftermath, Storm and Wolverine resume running the mutant academy. Rogue has returned, and confesses to Bobby she has taken the "cure", having decided that giving up her powers is better than living a life untouchable. McCoy is appointed to an ] at the ], with the President declaring an end to mutant oppression. Beside Professor X's tombstone two smaller tombstones are erected side by side in memory of Jean Grey and Scott Summers. In a park, Erik Lehnsherr, now simply an ordinary man, sits alone at a chessboard, looking tired and despondent. Then he reaches out, tentatively, holding his hand over a metal chess piece. It trembles slightly, revealing that the cure is either imperfect or impermanent, or that perhaps mutants of certain levels of power still retain their own. | |||
Other actors who portrayed mutants are: ] as ], a mutant with the ability to teleport herself through areas of shadow, although that depiction differs significantly from the comics; Omahyra Mota as ], a mutant who has the ability to generate shock waves of concussive force; ] as ], a mutant with the ability to eject spikes from his body, most notably his face (though the character resembles the comic books' ] and was later confirmed as such, though the official cast credits erroneously read "Kid Omega"); and ] as ], a mutant who has the ability to neutralize the powers of nearby mutants. Various characters were included at the suggestion of editor ], who brought Marvel's ''X-Men Encyclopedia'' to director Brett Ratner, searching for mutants who could make appearance. These include ], a mutant that is a very large man who can slim down to fit in a smaller space (played by two actors, Via Saleaumua – "large mode" – and Richard Yee – "small mode");<ref name="ratner commentary" /> ] (played by ]), a mutant who battles Wolverine in the forest by extruding bony spikes from his flesh – the character was added because the editing team felt that the original cut of the scene portrayed Logan as a cold-blooded killer, which could be changed if another mutant attacked Wolverine before he struck the Brotherhood<ref>"Editing Magic". ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' DVD, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment</ref> and ] (played by Clayton Dean Watmough), a mutant with transparent skin. Mark Helfrich portrays an unnamed mutant with ash-gray skin.<ref name="cinefex" /> | |||
After the credits roll, an additional scene it depicts the man in a hospital bed from earlier in the film awakening from a comatose state and calling out to Dr. MacTaggert using Xavier's voice. Dr. MacTaggert replies, "Charles?" | |||
Various other mutants make ] at the ]; Shauna Kain and Kea Wong reprised their cameo roles as ] and ] respectively, and three identical girls in the background in one scene are a reference to the ]. ] portrays ]. Adrian Hough, who previously voiced ] in '']'' (1992–1997) appears as John Grey, Jean's father. ''X-Men'' co-creator ] and writer ] have cameos in the film's opening scene as the neighbors of young Jean Grey.<ref name="ratner commentary">{{cite video |people=Brett Ratner, Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn |title=Audio Commentary |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox |date=2006}}</ref><ref name="ugom">{{cite web |url=http://www.ugo.com/therush/x-men-the-last-stand-mutants-you-may-have-m |title=X-Men: The Last Stand – Mutants You May Have Missed |publisher=UGO |first=Bryan |last=Enk |date=July 14, 2009 |access-date=May 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728023008/http://www.ugo.com/therush/x-men-the-last-stand-mutants-you-may-have-m |archive-date=July 28, 2012}}</ref> The sergeant directing defensive preparations before the Brotherhood assaults Alcatraz Island is played by ].<ref>{{cite journal |title=R. Lee Ermey Credits |journal=TV Guide |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/r-lee-ermey/credits/170603 |access-date=October 9, 2014 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042057/http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/r-lee-ermey/credits/170603 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lloyd Adams portrays the green-skinned mutant that climbs the guard tower on Alcatraz. Many fans believed this was Toad; however, the credits list him as lizard man and Brett Ratner confirmed it was ]. ] and ] also appear; however, it is not known who portrayed them. | |||
{{endspoilers}} | |||
==Production== | |||
== Project background == | |||
{{multiple image | |||
The director of the first two movies, ], left the project during preproduction in order to helm the film '']''. ] ('']'') was hired to direct the third X-Men movie; he worked on the film for some time, but reportedly family issues led him to withdraw from directing before shooting began. He was replaced by ], who was among those originally considered to direct the first film, and, coincidentally, considered by Warner Brothers to direct the 2006 ''Superman'' project before it evolved into ''Superman Returns''. | |||
| footer = ] (left), who would later direct '']'', was Fox's first choice to replace ]. Once he left, ] (right) took over directing ''The Last Stand''. | |||
|align=right | |||
| image1 = Matthew Vaughn (48017198166) CROPPED.jpg | |||
===Production history=== | |||
|width1=131 | |||
]''X-Men: The Last Stand'' began shooting in August 2005 and ended in December 2005. | |||
On ], ], a review of an incomplete early draft <ref>http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20443</ref> of the ] posted by ] from ] sparked controversy from fans, due to certain main characters' storylines. However, that draft was the very first of over two dozens drafts the film went through, and has had numerous changes happen to the storylines. | |||
| image2 = Brett Ratner 2012 Shankbone.JPG | |||
] has publicly stated some information, which was met with fan speculation. According to Stewart, "It's very intense, it's very emotional, it's very personal about the individuals that we've already got to know in the first two movies. It has some astonishing set-piece sequences. It has a number of quite significant deaths. From what I've seen so far, I think, it's likely to be extraordinary." <ref>http://scifipulse.net/Trek_ArchiveII/December2005/PatrickStewart_Dec05.html</ref> | |||
|width2=155 | |||
}} | |||
===Development=== | |||
Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman Tom Rothman said ''The Last Stand'' is the end of a trilogy, but not necessarily the end of the X-Men film series: "These three movies work as a trilogy. These characters in this relationship, it's the culmination of that saga. It's the culmination and the resolution of those relationships laid out in the first two movies." In a recent interview, Brett Ratner echoed Rothman's comments: "We wanted to make sure the audiences knew that this was a trilogy. Even though they weren't made together like '']'', this is really closure for the X-Men series. ... This is the last stand for sure." <ref>http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1524305/02142006/story.jhtml?rsspartner=rssYahooNewscrawler</ref> | |||
], the director of the first two ] ''X-Men'' films, left the project in July 2004 in favor of developing '']'' (2006) for ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dunkley |first1=Cathy |first2=Michael |last2=Fleming |name-list-style=amp |url=https://variety.com/2004/film/news/supe-s-on-with-x-man-1117907948/ |title=Supe's on with 'X' man |work=] |date=July 18, 2004 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611222632/https://variety.com/2004/film/news/supe-s-on-with-x-man-1117907948/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Singer stated that he "didn't fully have ''X-Men 3'' in my mind" in contrast to a fully formed idea for a ] film and interest in joining that franchise.<ref name="fix">{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/22/x-men-days-of-future-past-director-bryan-singer-says-he-will-be-repairing-things-that-went-wrong-in-the-brett-ratner-directed-x-men-last-stand |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225123242/http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/22/x-men-days-of-future-past-director-bryan-singer-says-he-will-be-repairing-things-that-went-wrong-in-the-brett-ratner-directed-x-men-last-stand |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 25, 2013 |title=Bryan Singer Will Be "Fixing S**t" From X-Men: The Last Stand with Days of Future Past |website=IGN |date=February 21, 2013 |access-date=March 18, 2014}}</ref> By the time of his departure, Singer had only produced a partial ] with '']'' (2003) screenwriters ] and ], who accompanied him to ''Superman Returns''. The treatment focused on Jean Grey's resurrection,<ref>{{cite web |last=Vespe, Eric (Quint) |title=Quint on Superman Returns gag reel & sequel talk with Singer |publisher=] |date=July 22, 2006 |url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/23943 |access-date=October 6, 2006 |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210142416/http://www.aintitcool.com/node/23943 |url-status=live}}</ref> which would also introduce the villainess ], a role intended for ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sigourney Weaver was nearly X-Men's Emma Frost, instead in Imaginary Heroes |first=Angela |last=Pacienza |newspaper=] |date=September 15, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.superherohype.com/features/86735-sigourney-weaver-was-going-to-be-emma-frost/ | title=Sigourney Weaver Was Going to be Emma Frost | date=September 15, 2004 | access-date=September 23, 2023 | archive-date=December 4, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204072431/https://www.superherohype.com/features/86735-sigourney-weaver-was-going-to-be-emma-frost | url-status=live }}</ref> Frost was an ] manipulating Jean's emotions in the treatment and, like the finished film, Magneto desires to control her. Overwhelmed by her powers, Jean kills herself, but Jean's spirit survives and becomes a god-like creature, which Dougherty compared to the star child in '']'' (1968).<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Bentley |title=Screenwriter reveals ideas for Singer's planned third X-Men film |work=] |date=November 26, 2008 |url=http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2008/11/x3lit.html |access-date=November 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222094401/http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2008/11/x3lit.html |archive-date=December 22, 2008}}</ref> | |||
New contracts for returning cast members were made, as the actors and actresses had signed for only two films.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Fleming |url=https://variety.com/2003/film/news/main-x-man-locks-at-fox-1117896652/ |title=Main 'X' Man at Fox |work=] |date=December 4, 2003 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080807/http://variety.com/2003/film/news/main-x-man-locks-at-fox-1117896652/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director,<ref name="claws">{{cite news |first=John |last=Hiscock |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3652442/How-I-got-my-claws-into-Hollywood.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3652442/How-I-got-my-claws-into-Hollywood.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=How I got my claws into Hollywood |work=] |date=May 19, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> initially offering the position to ], with whom he had just finished filming on '']'' (2006).<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Sara |last=Vilkomerson |url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/07/hugh-jackman-the-wolverine-darren-aronovsky/ |title=Hugh Jackman exclusive: How 'The Wolverine' director Darren Aronofsky got the star calling up The Rock |magazine=] |date=December 7, 2010 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=April 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428173633/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/07/hugh-jackman-the-wolverine-darren-aronovsky/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ], whose comic book storyline "Gifted" from '']'' which he wrote was integrated into the script's plot, turned down the offer because he was working on a '']'' film.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cinematical.com/2007/04/24/joss-whedon-talks-x-men-4-wonder-woman-woes-and-batman-heartach/ |title=Joss Whedon Talks X-Men 4, Wonder Woman Woes and Batman Heartache |work=] |date=April 24, 2007 |access-date=October 5, 2008 |last=Davis |first=Erik |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506141153/http://www.cinematical.com/2007/04/24/joss-whedon-talks-x-men-4-wonder-woman-woes-and-batman-heartach/ |archive-date=May 6, 2007}}</ref> ]<ref>{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Vejvoda (Stax) |title=Three for X3? |website=IGN |date=October 12, 2006 |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/556/556650p1.html |access-date=October 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226103005/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/556/556650p1.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite web |last=Vejvoda, Jim (Stax) |title=X3 Director Update |website=IGN |date=October 13, 2006 |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/556/556859p1.html |access-date=October 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226103010/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/556/556859p1.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref> were also rumored to be up for consideration, though Proyas personally turned it down, citing feuds with Fox president ] while producing '']'' (2004).<ref>{{cite web |last=Vejvoda, Jim (Stax) |title=X3 trailer with FF? |website=IGN |date=February 17, 2005 |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/588/588539p1.html |access-date=October 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226103015/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/588/588539p1.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref> ] was also approached, but he was already committed to '']'' (2007).<ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Sanchez |title=Exclusive Interview: Zack Snyder Is Kickin' Ass With 300 and Watchmen! |publisher=IESB |date=February 13, 2007 |url=http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1883&Itemid=99 |access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215050330/http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1883&Itemid=99 |archive-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref> ] was also considered to direct the film but he too turned down the job. ] was also offered to direct the film but turned down as he was already committed to '']'' (2006).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.looper.com/708785/the-untold-truth-of-pans-labyrinth/ |title=The Untold Truth of Pan's Labyrinth |date=December 15, 2021 |access-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108180449/https://www.looper.com/708785/the-untold-truth-of-pans-labyrinth/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2005, with still no director hired, Fox announced a May 5, 2006, release date, with filming to start in July 2005 in ].<ref name="tax">{{cite news |first=Don |last=Townson |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/features/tax-credit-creation-1117918085/ |title=Tax credit creation |work=] |date=February 16, 2005 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107062108/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117918085 |url-status=live}}</ref> One month later, the studio, signed ] to direct, and pushed the release date three weeks to May 26, ] weekend.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dave |last=McNary |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/markets-festivals/next-x-men-firms-up-1117919936/ |title=Next 'X-Men' firms up |work=] |date=March 21, 2005 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107062233/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117919936 |url-status=live}}</ref> Vaughn cast ] as Beast, ] as Callisto, and ] as ], but family issues led him to withdraw before filming began.<ref name="family" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Director quits X-Men 3 for family |work=] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4600291.stm |access-date=December 11, 2010 |date=June 1, 2005 |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610004001/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4600291.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> Vaughn was also cautious of the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make".<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |first=John |last=Hiscock |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3668336/Matthew-Vaughn-The-Brit-whos-making-the-stars-shine.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3668336/Matthew-Vaughn-The-Brit-whos-making-the-stars-shine.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Matthew Vaughn: The Brit who's making the stars shine |work=] |date=October 5, 2007 |access-date=December 11, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In October 2023, Vaughn stated that he left the project after a group of executives had tried to sign ] on with a fake script, which included scenes of Storm rescuing kids from ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Matthew Vaughn Talks 'Kick-Ass' Reboot, Why 'Argylle's Author Will Become the "J.K. Rowling of Spy Movies" at NYCC |work=] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matthew-vaughn-kick-ass-reboot-argylle-author-x-men-nycc-1235618721/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |date=October 16, 2023 |author=White, Abbey |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015011349/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matthew-vaughn-kick-ass-reboot-argylle-author-x-men-nycc-1235618721/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Trailers === | |||
The official for the film was released in December ]. A was broadcast on ] on March 6th, 2006. A seven-minute preview of the film aired on Fox May 11, 2006, from 8:30-8:37pm ET. | |||
], who was previously considered to direct '']'' (2000) in 1996, and ] were both in the running to replace Vaughn during pre-production.<ref>{{cite web |last=B |first=Brian |url=https://movieweb.com/john-moore-or-brett-ratner-up-for-directing-x-men-3/ |title=John Moore or Brett Ratner Up For Directing ''X-Men 3''? |date=June 2, 2005 |work=MovieWeb |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403005437/https://movieweb.com/john-moore-or-brett-ratner-up-for-directing-x-men-3/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On June 5, 2005, Ratner was confirmed as Vaughn's replacement.<ref name="family">{{cite news |last1=Fleming |first1=Michael |first2=Clause |last2=Brodesser |name-list-style=amp |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/markets-festivals/new-master-for-mutants-1117923934/ |title=New master for mutants |work=] |date=June 5, 2005 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107062300/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117923934 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ratner said he was surprised to get an invitation, as he thought he would have no chance to do a comic-book film after the cancelled '']'' for Warner Bros.<ref name="about">{{cite news |first=Casey |last=Seijas |url=http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/03/19/exclusive-x-men-3-director-brett-ratner-says-theres-nothing-left-in-comics-for-him-to-adapt/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322025939/http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/03/19/exclusive-x-men-3-director-brett-ratner-says-theres-nothing-left-in-comics-for-him-to-adapt/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 22, 2009 |title=EXCLUSIVE: 'X-Men 3' Director Brett Ratner Says 'There's Nothing Left' In Comics For Him To Adapt |work=MTV News |date=March 19, 2009 |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> With a limited knowledge of the ''X-Men'' mythos, Ratner trusted his writers on doing something faithful to the comics, having the script drawing all of its scenes from the original Marvel publications.<ref name="ratner commentary" /> | |||
===Cast notes=== | |||
], ], and ]]] | |||
Nearly every actor from the previous two movies returned, the major exceptions being ] (]) and ] (]) from ''X2'', and ] (]) and ] (]) from the first film. It is interesting to note that all four actors have two-film contracts, despite Hu's character being killed in her film. The character that Cumming plays appears to have disappeared. ] (]) appears, despite reported scheduling conflicts with the June 2006 movie, '']''. | |||
===Writing=== | |||
] originally stated during interviews for '']'' that she would not be returning for her role as ] in the third film should the character not have a significant presence comparable to the comic book version. However, she decided to reprise the role after Singer left the project and ], who also felt Storm required a larger role, signed on and increased the role. | |||
], who had worked on two other Fox-produced Marvel Comics film adaptations, '']'' and '']'' (both 2005),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=filmNews&storyID=6384986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041019074119/https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=filmNews&storyID=6384986 |archive-date=2004-10-19 |title=Fox, Marvel Tap Kinberg to Draw 'X3' |work=Reuters |url-status=dead |access-date=March 18, 2014}}</ref> was hired as writer for ''X-Men 3'' in August 2004. ''X2'' co-writer ] was separately working on his own draft, and the two joined forces for a combined screenplay in January 2005. Kinberg wanted the comic book arc "]" from '']'' by writer ] and artist ] to be the emotional plot of the film, while "Gifted" by Whedon and artist ] would serve as the political focus.<ref name="one">{{cite news |first=Sean |last=Elliot |url=http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1525 |title=Exclusive Interview: Screenwriter Simon Kinberg Talks X-Men: The Last Stand – Part 1 |work=] |date=June 8, 2006 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617005244/http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1525 |archive-date=June 17, 2008}}</ref> The duo had seven months to complete ''The Last Stand''{{'}}s script, and during the first week of work completed the first eighty pages, consisting of the first two-thirds of the plot. This incomplete draft was leaked to ], who proceeded to write a negative review.<ref name="goth" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/20443 |title=AICN EXCLUSIVE! X3 Script Review! Plus An Open Letter To Tom Rothman And Fox Stockholders!! |work=] |last=McWeeny |first=Drew |date=June 13, 2005 |access-date=June 5, 2006 |archive-date=April 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421065637/http://www.aintitcool.com/node/20443 |url-status=live}}</ref> Vaughn later revised all of the major sequences in the film, but he did not receive a writer's credit.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.superherohype.com/features/167401-exclusive-interview-with-x-men-first-class-director-matthew-vaughn | title=Exclusive Interview with X-Men: First Class Director Matthew Vaughn | date=May 27, 2011 | access-date=July 31, 2022 | archive-date=July 31, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731223744/https://www.superherohype.com/features/167401-exclusive-interview-with-x-men-first-class-director-matthew-vaughn | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The writers had to fight Fox's executives to retain the Phoenix plot, as the studio only wanted the cure story as it provided a reason for Magneto's conflict with the X-Men. Still the disputes made them not add much for Jean Grey to do in most of the film's second half, as the executives considered the tone of the Phoenix story too dark for a mainstream summer movie, and that its appeal would be limited to hardcore fans rather than a general audience.<ref name="goth" /> Penn defended the divergences from the original Dark Phoenix stories, stating that the Phoenix was not a ]-shaped cosmic force "because it doesn't fit into the world," and that Cyclops did not have as much screentime as Wolverine because the latter was more popular and "with Cyclops, you can't see his eyes. It's a harder character to relate to for the audience."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/04/15/interview-zak-penn-on-the-grand-x-men-fans-and-co-writing-hulk/ |title=INTERVIEW: ZAK PENN ON THE GRAND, X-MEN FANS AND CO-WRITING HULK |date=April 15, 2008 |access-date=March 18, 2014 |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202122730/http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/04/15/interview-zak-penn-on-the-grand-x-men-fans-and-co-writing-hulk/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Killing Cyclops was Fox's decision, based on the availability of actor James Marsden, who was cast in Singer's ''Superman Returns''. The studio considered killing him off-screen with a dialogue reference, but Kinberg and Penn insisted that Jean kill him, emphasizing their relationship. Xavier's death was intended to match the impact of ]'s demise in '']'' (1982), as Fox felt the script called for a dramatic turning point. Kinberg and Penn were originally cautious, but grew to like the idea of killing off Xavier. They decided to write a post-credits scene suggesting the character's return for a sequel.<ref name="goth">{{cite AV media |first=Jeff |last=Goldsmith |url=http://www.fluctu8.com/podcast-episode/x-men-3-qanda-10321-8193.html |title=X-Men 3 Q & A with Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg |work=Creative Screenwriting Magazine |format=MP3 |date=June 12, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141008042517/http://www.fluctu8.com/podcast-episode/x-men-3-qanda-10321-8193.html |archive-date=October 8, 2014}}</ref> | |||
Alan Cumming was reportedly uncomfortable with the long hours he had to take with the Nightcrawler makeup, but still planned to return for X3. However, the part for Nightcrawler was so minimal, it was not worth it to bring him back and go through the long and costly make up process when he was barely in the film, and the character was cut. However, he did agree to do voice work for the character for the video game based on the film, which would explain Nightcrawler's absence, alongside Shawn Ashmore, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Tyler Mane & Eric Dane. | |||
As the studio was simultaneously developing '']'' (2009), limitations were set on which mutants could be used for cameo appearances in ''X-Men 3'' in an attempt to avoid risking character development for ''Wolverine''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sean |last=Elliot |url=http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1527 |title=Exclusive Interview: Screenwriter Simon Kinberg Talks X-Men: The Last Stand – Part 3 |work=] |date=June 20, 2006 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614061546/http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=1527 |archive-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref> ] was considered for both the convoy scene being freed by Magneto and the Battle of Alcatraz along with the X-Men, but the writers did not want to introduce a fan favorite character and "not be able to do him justice." Kinberg reasoned, "there just wasn't enough space", and considered Gambit would only work with as much screentime as Beast.<ref name="ratner commentary" /><ref name="one" /> ] had been uncomfortable with the long hours he had to take with the prosthetic makeup as ] in ''X2'', but still planned to return for the sequel. The part of Nightcrawler was so minimal, however, that the studio felt it was not worthwhile to go through the long and costly makeup process, so the character was cut.<ref name="CBR News">{{cite web |title="X-Men: The Last Stand" – Dave Gorder – The Super-Associate Producer |website=] |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6747 |access-date=June 5, 2006 |date=February 23, 2006 |first=George A. |last=Tramountanas |archive-date=March 22, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322212644/http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6747 |url-status=live}}</ref> Kinberg felt that "there wasn't much left to do with the character. It also felt like he might tread a little bit on the terrain of Beast, in terms of similarities in the characters and their political standpoints in terms of dealing with their mutancy". Nightcrawler's absence was later explained in ].<ref name="one" /> The introductory scenes tried to emulate the Auschwitz opener for the first film, going with different scenes that resonated later in the plot instead of an action scene like in most ]. Afterwards came a scene in the ], which was considered for the previous ''X-Men'' films but never included for budget and writing concerns. The writers tried to make the simulation not feel extraneous by showcasing some of the character conflicts and abilities in a "]"-inspired battle with a Sentinel. Another repurposed scene was Magneto attacking the convoy to free Mystique, Madrox and Juggernaut, which Penn had previously envisioned for ''X2''.<ref name="ratner commentary" /> | |||
Additions to the cast include veteran TV actor ] as ], former British ]er ] as the ], actor/director ] as ], ] as the ], and ] as ]. New members of the ] include ] as ] (whose name was spotted in Stryker's files in X2), ] as ], ] as a ]-like character listed as ] in the official credits, ] as ]<!--who could phase somewhat like Kitty Pryde-->, and ], credited as simply Omahyra, as ]. While the Juggernaut is referred to in the official press notes as Professor Xavier's stepbrother, this is not mentioned within the film. The character ], who appears in the film, is not listed in the official press notes' cast list and goes uncredited in the finished film. She is played by the actress ]. | |||
Ratner collaborated with Penn and Kinberg in rearranging the plot structure of the film.<ref name="about" /> Originally, the Golden Gate Bridge sequence was in the middle of the film, where the moved bridge was used by Magneto to free mutants being held prisoners on Alcatraz, and the climax was set in ]<ref name="premiere.com">{{cite web |title=Cover Story: X-Men: The Last Stand (Page 3 of 4) |work=] |url=http://www.premiere.com/behindthescenes/2748/cover-story-x-men-the-last-stand-page3.html |access-date=December 26, 2007 |date=May 2006 |first=Tom |last=Russo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226013420/http://www.premiere.com/behindthescenes/2748/cover-story-x-men-the-last-stand-page3.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref> Ratner felt too many recent action films, such as '']'' (2001) and ''X2'' itself, had their ending in Washington, and the Golden Gate sequence "would be the biggest sequence in my entire career", and suggested to instead put the Worthington laboratory in Alcatraz, along with "creating a face for the cure", which became the character of Jimmy/Leech. Kinberg agreed, as he previously argued with Penn about "blowing so many things early in the movie".<ref name="ratner commentary" /><ref name="San Francisco Chronicle">{{cite news |first=Hugh |last=Hart |title=Industry Buzz |work=] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/industrybuzz/article/INDUSTRY-BUZZ-2536575.php |access-date=June 5, 2006 |date=April 23, 2006 |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102204727/http://www.sfgate.com/movies/industrybuzz/article/INDUSTRY-BUZZ-2536575.php |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Seymour">{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Seymour |url=http://www.fxguide.com/featured/x-men_extreme_makeover/ |title=X-Men: Extreme Makeover |work=] |date=June 12, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=January 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116060301/http://www.fxguide.com/featured/x-men_extreme_makeover/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Possible sequel(s)== | |||
The chances of a fourth installment have been publicly stated to rest on just how well this film does at the box office, and as of Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, the movie had grossed $107 million, "largest ever for Memorial Day weekend and the fourth-biggest in box office history." <ref>http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/28/boxoffice.ap/index.html</ref> Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/4995028.stm</ref> also firmly said that if the movie fares well, there will be more movies in the franchise. The final scene and extra scene after the credits leave the franchise open. Also Vinnie Jones said that when contracting for his role of Juggernaut he signed for 3 movies, whether or not those other 2 movies are in the main franchise are unknown | |||
===Filming=== | |||
A ] ] <ref>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/</ref> and a ] ] <ref>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499519/</ref> have been announced and are in the scripting stages of production. | |||
] | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' began ] in August 2005 and wrapped in January 2006. Much of the film was shot at ], the same location of ''X2''.<ref name="tax" /><ref name="CBR News" /> Locations included the ] and ], which doubled for the X-Mansion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalroads.ca/rru-news/location-location-royal-roads-stars-many-films |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305215030/http://www.royalroads.ca/rru-news/location-location-royal-roads-stars-many-films |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |title=Location, location: Royal Roads stars in many films |work=] |access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref> An old lumber mill next to the ] doubled as Alcatraz Island.<ref name="leech">{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=146801a6-106e-4ce4-8c50-9f4c4e20837b |work=The Vancouver Province |first=Greg |last=Schafer |title=Meeting Wolverine was Bright's idea |date=May 26, 2006 |access-date=May 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324100946/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=146801a6-106e-4ce4-8c50-9f4c4e20837b |archive-date=March 24, 2016}}</ref> The tight schedule made Ratner "begin ] the day I started shooting," sending the scenes he had just filmed to his editors. The editing team was led by Mark Helfrich, who had edited all of Ratner's films, assisted by ] in the action scenes and ] with effects-heavy footage.<ref name="post">{{cite web |url=http://www.postmagazine.com/Publications/Post-Magazine/2006/June-1-2006/DIRECTORS-CHAIR-XMEN-THE-LAST-STAND.aspx |title=DIRECTOR'S CHAIR: 'XMEN: THE LAST STAND' |first=Iain |last=Blair |work=Post Magazine |date=2006-06-01 |access-date=2014-10-04 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054645/http://www.postmagazine.com/Publications/Post-Magazine/2006/June-1-2006/DIRECTORS-CHAIR-XMEN-THE-LAST-STAND.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be ''X2'', now it's ''X3''."<ref name="CBR News" /> The $210{{nbsp}}million budget also made ''The Last Stand'' the ] to be made at the time.<ref name="marks" /><ref name="claws" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Sharon |last=Waxman |title=A Big Gorilla Weighs In |work=] |date=October 27, 2005}}</ref> The film's record would be first broken by '']'' (2006)'s $225{{nbsp}}million budget.<ref>{{cite web |first=J |last=Coyle |date=December 14, 2009 |title=From 'Cleopatra' to 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Avatar' joins tradition of the Hollywood colossus |work=] |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-us-film-risky-movies,0,2643825.story |archive-url=https://archive.today/20091217205845/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-us-film-risky-movies,0,2643825.story |archive-date=December 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref> The original ] was ], who eventually opted to depart the production. ], a frequent collaborator of Ratner, replaced him, with assistance of ].<ref name="notes">{{cite press release |title=X-Men: The Last Stand production notes |publisher=20th Century Fox |year=2006 |url=http://predoc.org/docs/index-232077.html |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140325181448/http://predoc.org/docs/index-232077.html |archive-date=March 25, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/james-muro-2-1117935673/ |title=James Muro |work=Variety |date=January 8, 2006 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |first=Michael |last=Goldman |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204100839/https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/james-muro-2-1117935673/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairmen ] and ] debated whether Rogue should give Iceman a passionate kiss at the film's end or simply hold his hand. The two executives screened ''The Last Stand'' for their daughters, as well as the studio's female marketing executives, and the hand holding prevailed. Gianopulos stated that the kissing "was all about sex, and we didn't want that."<ref>{{cite news |first=Laura M. |last=Holson |title=Fox's Own Superheroes: A Daring Duo at the Studio |work=] |date=June 12, 2006}}</ref> A strong campaign of secrecy about the script was enforced by Ratner and the writers. Even the actors had problems with getting full screenplays, the ] did not reveal all the characters, and many scenes were shot in varied ways.<ref name="leech" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/interviews/aaron-stanford-interview-for-x-men-3-the-last-stand/ |date=January 28, 2008 |title=Aaron Stanford Interview |first=Stephen |last=Snart |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-date=May 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526190140/http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/interviews/aaron-stanford-interview-for-x-men-3-the-last-stand/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Both of the ending scenes were not included on the shooting script, with Ratner taking a small crew during one day's lunch time to film the post-credits scene with Xavier, and later going to London to film Magneto in the park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/91101-that-x-men-secret-ending |title=That X-Men Secret Ending! |publisher=Superhero Hype |first=Edward |last=Douglas |date=May 29, 2006 |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-date=March 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324195035/http://www.superherohype.com/features/91101-that-x-men-secret-ending |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Differences from the comics== | |||
{{spoiler}} | |||
Note: several items here skip items mentioned elsewhere in this article, such as the source of Cain Marko's power and his relationship to Xavier, though they technically should be mentioned here. | |||
In 2014, Kinberg said of the wobbling chess piece at the end of the film, "There is a scene before the credits where Magneto's playing chess, and you see that he can just make the chess piece move, so there's a hint that he's starting to regain his powers. The leap from there was that cure from ''The Last Stand'' didn't work exactly the way they thought it would, and so we just leaped forward however many years, and he's got his powers back."<ref>Kinberg in {{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jacelacob/x-men-days-of-future-past-questions-simon-kinberg-answers |publisher=BuzzFeed.com |title=10 Burning Questions About 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past,' Answered |date=May 24, 2014 |access-date=June 2, 2016 |first1=Jace |last1=Lacob |first2=Adam B. |last2=Vary |archive-date=May 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527075512/https://www.buzzfeed.com/jacelacob/x-men-days-of-future-past-questions-simon-kinberg-answers |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
- Xavier and Magneto were friends in the comics, having met each other in a mental hospital in Israel. It was there that they parted ways after a confrontation with Baron Struker; this occurred years before the founding of the X-men (Uncanny X-men # 161). In the films the impression is given that Magnus and Xavier were friends and founded the School for Gifted Youngsters before parting ways (hence the scene where they recruit Jean Grey). | |||
In 2017, according to co-star ] in a 2017 interview during the ] and ] movement, he accused Ratner of ], saying he outed Page as a ] at a cast and crew meet and greet during production, which made him feel violated.<ref>Guglielmi, Jodi. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330185912/https://people.com/movies/ellen-page-brett-ratner-x-men/ |date=March 30, 2023 }}, ''People'', November 10, 2017.</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927030210/https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/kz3k7m/ellen-page-accuses-director-brett-ratner-of-homophobic-harassment |date=September 27, 2019 }}, ''Vice'', November 11, 2017.</ref> Fellow co-star and bisexual actress ] expressed support of Page, stating that she was present when Ratner made the comment.<ref name="accusescbc">{{cite news|title=Ellen Page accuses Brett Ratner of sexual harassment|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ellen-page-facebook-ratner-1.4397539|work=]|date=November 20, 2017|access-date=April 29, 2023|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201231958/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ellen-page-facebook-ratner-1.4397539|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
- The distinct impression is given in the last film that Jean Grey is in fact bonded with the Phoenix Force at the end of the last film, X2, before she "died", swept away by the water released from the dam. In this film, however, the Phoenix is portrayed as a repressed personality of Jean Grey, her latent "dark side", as opposed to the universal source of power that it is in the comics. How she becomes the Phoenix is significantly different as well; in the comics she gains this power after trying to pilot a space shuttle through a solar flare after the X-men escaped confinement on an orbiting space station (Uncanny X-men #100 and #101). In the films she is simply always this powerful, but the power has been supressed by Professor Xavier. | |||
===Visual effects=== | |||
- Several of the film's secondary characters, including Callisto and Leech, are members of the Morlocks, a group of mutants who live under New York City in the comics. No such affiliation is mentioned in the film. | |||
To make sure the visual effects were made in just one year and without exceeding the budget, special effects supervisor John Bruno shipped the 900 visual effects shots to eleven companies in four countries – United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada – and did extensive ].<ref name="awn">{{cite web |url=http://www.awn.com/articles/production/ix-meni-last-vfx-stand |publisher=AWN.com |title=X-Men: The Last VFX Stand |first=Tara |last=DiLullo |date=June 1, 2006 |access-date=October 26, 2011 |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014141905/http://www.awn.com/articles/production/ix-meni-last-vfx-stand |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Seymour" /> Their work begun in April 2005, before the director Brett Ratner had even been announced,<ref name="marks" /> and Bruno made sure to emphasize practical effects, "shoot as many practical elements as possible, and only use ] when we had to." For instance, complex wirework rigs were employed which enabled the actors to do some stunts without resorting to digital doubles,<ref name="cinefex">{{cite journal |title=Dark Phoenix Rising |first=Jody |last=Duncan |journal=] |issue=106 |date=July 2006 |pages=36–65}}</ref> including a computer controlled flying rig from ] for Angel's flight,<ref name="Seymour" /> and one for Halle Berry's flying spins.<ref name="post" /> | |||
Bruno estimates one-sixth of the effects budget was spent on the Golden Gate Bridge scene, which employed both a miniature of the bridge and computer graphics.<ref name="marks">{{cite magazine |first=Steve |last=Daly |url=https://ew.com/article/2006/06/07/breaking-down-coolest-x-men-fx/ |title=X Marks the Shots |magazine=] |date=June 6, 2006 |access-date=September 12, 2009 |archive-date=April 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426004112/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1201520,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The miniature was filmed over a period of two months in Santa Clarita, California, just outside of Los Angeles. The effects team would shoot one minute of footage outdoors each day at "]," complete with explosives in order to have enough plates to composite the scene.The effects team had to work without reference footage due to the city of San Francisco vetting any filming in the actual bridge, including aerial shooting as the area has restrictions on flying helicopters.<ref name="cinefex" /> ] had further challenges in matching the varied weather conditions across the film's plates. As ] supervisor Matt Twyford detailed, "the elements consisted of cold, rainy night live-action footage from Vancouver, sunny day miniature elements, traditional misty day background plates of San Francisco, and of course the CGI bridge and CGI elements."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.framestore.com/work/x-men-last-stand |title=X-Men The Last Stand: Bridge Troubled Over Water |publisher=Framestore |access-date=September 12, 2009 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212429/http://www.framestore.com/work/x-men-last-stand}}</ref> Another miniature was for the Grey home, which had a destructable equivalent matching the Canadian location and also had a digital equivalent.<ref name="cinefex" /> A notable effect was the "digital skin-grafting", which rejuvenated the faces of senior actors ] and ], made by the ]'s ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2006/Volume-29-Issue-6-June-2006-/Face-Off.aspx |title=Face Off |publisher=Computer Graphics World |date=June 2006 |access-date=4 February 2014 |first=Barbara |last=Robertson |archive-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204045657/http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2006/Volume-29-Issue-6-June-2006-/Face-Off.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> Bruno made sure to ask the atomization made by Phoenix was not too vivid and gruesome, instead resembling ].<ref name="Seymour" /> | |||
- Although several characters die in the course of altering timelines (Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse), in the "main" timelines of the Uncanny X-men, Charles Xavier and Scott Summers never die, though Jean Grey does (and comes back to life several times). | |||
===Music=== | |||
- In the original Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean kills herself, rather than forcing any of her friends to do the deed. In the film Logan kills her, though it does echo a similar mercy killing of Mariko Yashida, his fiancée, in the comics. | |||
{{main|X-Men: The Last Stand (soundtrack){{!}}''X-Men: The Last Stand'' (soundtrack)}} | |||
Ratner, a fan of ]'s work in '']'' (2002), invited Powell to write the music for ''The Last Stand''. Powell was unsure if the ''Bourne'' work was "the kind of score that would fit the film" and Fox became reluctant on the composer's availability, given he was already scoring '']'' (2006) at the time of Ratner's contact. However, Powell finished the ''Ice Age'' score early to accept the job even if it resulted in a tighter schedule. Powell included references to the score from the previous two films as "it all had to be in the same family, and the same language". The Phoenix theme used lyrics from ]'s '']'' for the choir parts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scorenotes.com/interviewArchive/john_powell_interview.html |title=An Interview with John Powell |publisher=ScoreNotes.com |date=November 2006 |access-date=January 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114190348/http://www.scorenotes.com/interviewArchive/john_powell_interview.html |archive-date=November 14, 2010}}</ref> A soundtrack album was released on May 23, 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/x-men-the-last-stand-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000420611 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand |website=] |access-date=March 11, 2014 |first=James Christopher |last=Monger |archive-date=February 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205041133/http://www.allmusic.com/album/x-men-the-last-stand-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000420611 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Marketing== | |||
- The "Fastball Special" that Wolverine and Colossus perform in this movie is more aptly named the "Hammer Special", as Colossus whirls Logan around before throwing him, whereas, in the comics, the throw is more akin to throwing a baseball, hence the name. This may have to do with the height differences between the actors and the characters, as the movie actors are very close in height, while the comic characters are often portrayed as being nearly two heads apart in height. | |||
The marketing for ''The Last Stand'' was darker and more ambiguous compared to the two predecessors. Rothman declared that the decision was made so the film would "be different from all of the other movies in the summer," with a campaign that "wanted people to stop and not have it be so immediately apparent that we're selling a movie. We're interested in selling an emotion and an idea."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/news/tights-in-a-twist-1117940355/ |title=Tights in a twist |magazine=Variety |access-date=March 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090720/http://variety.com/2006/film/news/tights-in-a-twist-1117940355/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The film's official website was launched in October 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/89653-x3-teaser-site-online |title=X2 Teaser Site Online |publisher=] |date=October 14, 2005 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007081445/http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/89653-x3-teaser-site-online |url-status=live}}</ref> The ] release with '']'' the following December<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.joblo.com/?id=9535 |title=X3 teaser trailer! |publisher=JoBlo Media Inc. |work=] |date=December 5, 2005 |access-date=February 6, 2014 |last=Sampson |first=Mike |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023075124/http://www.joblo.com/?id=9535 |archive-date=October 23, 2012}}</ref> was done in conjunction with the studio releasing the film's first official screen shots of the film to '']''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Bowles |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-12-04-x3_x.htm |title=New mutants, director recharge 'X3' |work=] |date=December 4, 2005 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727152548/http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-12-04-x3_x.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> ] created a toy line, scanning the actors from the film with likenesses for the first time in the trilogy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90115-diamond-select-toys-on-board-for-x3 |title=Diamond Select Toys on Board for X3 |date=January 25, 2006 |publisher=Superhero Hype! |access-date=December 13, 2010 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007154555/http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90115-diamond-select-toys-on-board-for-x3 |url-status=live}}</ref> Additional product ]s came with ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2006_Campaigns/x3_minisite.jsp?locale=en_US |title=X3 Minisite |publisher=] Motor Company |access-date=December 13, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930052451/http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2006_Campaigns/x3_minisite.jsp?locale=en_US | archive-date = September 30, 2011}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion-incentive/e3id5be315f15f95c42cb928d9fec3ebb3b |title='Apocalypic' Slurpee Hits 7-Eleven |work=] |date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=December 13, 2010 |last=Polikarpov |first=Yana |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503215616/http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion-incentive/e3id5be315f15f95c42cb928d9fec3ebb3b |archive-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref> A seven-minute sneak peek aired on ] two weeks before the film's theatrical release.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90945-7-minute-x-men-sneak-peek-now-online |title=7-Minute X-Men Sneak Peek Now Online! |publisher=Superhero Hype! |date=May 11, 2006 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007081842/http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90945-7-minute-x-men-sneak-peek-now-online |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
] published a ] of the film, written by comic book writer ],<ref>{{cite book |isbn=0-345-49211-0 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand |publisher=Del Rey |last=Claremont |first=Chris |year=2006 |author-link=Chris Claremont | url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/xmenlaststand00chri}}</ref> while ] published ''The Art of X-Men: The Last Stand: From Concept to Feature Film''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557047340 |title=The Art of X-Men: The Last Stand: From Concept to Feature Film |work=] |date=May 26, 2006 |access-date=December 13, 2010 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115122324/https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557047340 |url-status=live}}</ref> Claremont also worked on ]'s tie-in video game, '']'', doing the script along with screenwriter Zak Penn. The game's story bridges the events between ''X2'' and ''The Last Stand'',<ref>{{cite news |first=Edward |last=Douglas |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90651-zak-penn-on-his-potential-x-men-spin-off |title=Zak Penn on His Potential X-Men Spin-off |date=April 11, 2006 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007082035/http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/90651-zak-penn-on-his-potential-x-men-spin-off |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=7048 |title=E3: Zak Penn Talks 'X-Men: The Last Stand' Game & Film |publisher=] |date=May 11, 2006 |first=Jeremy |last=Goldstone |archive-date=March 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302183737/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=7048|url-status=live}} Archive link requires text-blocking to make black text on black background appear.</ref> featuring Wolverine, Iceman and Nightcrawler as playable characters, voiced by their film portrayers Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, and Alan Cumming. Patrick Stewart also appears as Professor X.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=196906 |title=Marvel and Activision's X-Men: The Official Game Takes a Stand on Retail Shelves Nationwide |date=May 16, 2006 |publisher=Activision |access-date=October 8, 2014 |archive-date=September 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919035822/http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=196906 |url-status=live}}</ref> The game was released to negative reviews and eventually underperformed commercially.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-losses-less-than-expected/1100-6155213/ |title=Activision losses less than expected |website=GameSpot |first=Tor |last=Thorsen |date=August 3, 2006 |access-date=October 7, 2014 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411230724/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-losses-less-than-expected/1100-6155213/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{endspoilers}} | |||
== |
==Release== | ||
===Theatrical=== | |||
[[Image:X3cast16.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Top row: Foster, Grammer, Ramirez, Cudmore, Marsden, Ashmore, Berry, Jackman. | |||
] for an advance screening|alt=Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Kelsey Grammer hold a flag with the X-Men: The Last Stand logo and the inscription "We Salute Our Troops" in a ship's deck.]] | |||
Bottom row: Janssen, Jones, McKellen, Romijn, Stewart, Stanford, Paquin, Page]] | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' premiered at an out-of-competition event of the ] on May 22, 2006.<ref name="Corliss">{{cite news |last=Corliss |first=Richard |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1620697,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023074903/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1620697,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 23, 2007 |title=X-Men, Keanu and Other Mutants |magazine=] |date=May 26, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |author-link=Richard Corliss}}</ref> Two days later, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Kelsey Grammer attended an advance screening at ], as the ship was en route to New York City for ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=23865 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140215214314/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=23865 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 15, 2014 |title=X-Men Visit Kearsarge |publisher=United States Department of Navy |date=May 27, 2006 |access-date=February 15, 2014 |first=Robert |last=Keilman }}</ref> The film was released in the United States on May 26, 2006, in 3,690 theaters,<ref name="box" /> while also opening in 95 international markets that same weekend.<ref name="bow" /> | |||
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===Home media=== | |||
! Actor | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' was released on October 3, 2006, on ] and ] by ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/3057/X-Men:-The-Last-Stand-(2006).html |title=X-Men: The Last Stand DVD Release Date October 3, 2006 |publisher=DVDs ReleaseDates |access-date=January 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910064254/http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/3057/X-Men:-The-Last-Stand-(2006).html |url-status=live}}</ref> It was available in three editions: single-disc, two-disc, and a trilogy ] with the previous two films. Extras included three alternative endings, each with optional commentary by director Ratner; 10 ]s; ] from Ratner, the writers and the producers; and two hidden ]. The two-disc edition came with a 100-page commemorative comic book with a new story written by ''X-Men'' co-creator Stan Lee, his first original Marvel comic book in five years.<ref name="MarvelDVD">{{cite web |url=http://marvel.com/news/movies/2006/10/2/671/x-men_the_last_stand_x-plodes_onto_dvd |title=X-Men: The Last Stand X-plodes onto DVD |date=October 2, 2006 |work=] |access-date=December 13, 2010 |archive-date=August 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821230207/http://marvel.com/news/movies/2006/10/2/671/x-men_the_last_stand_x-plodes_onto_dvd |url-status=live}}</ref> The DVD sold 2.6{{nbsp}}million units in its first day, exceeding Fox's expectations,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/x-men-kick-starts-dvd-139198 |title='X-Men' kick-starts DVD fourth quarter |first=Thomas K. |last=Arnold |date=October 5, 2006 |publisher=Associated Press |website=]|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020032653/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/home_video/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003220557 |archive-date=October 20, 2006}}</ref> and sold a total of 5{{nbsp}}million in its first week.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/october-home-vid-takes-stand-141010 |title=October home vid takes 'Stand' |date=October 27, 2006 |first=Thomas K. |last=Arnold |publisher=Associated Press |website=] |access-date=March 2, 2014 |archive-date=March 2, 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302183912/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/october-home-vid-takes-stand-141010}}</ref> A ] edition was issued in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/92141-x-men-the-last-stand-hitting-blu-ray-disc |title=X-Men: The Last Stand Hitting Blu-ray Disc |publisher=Superhero Hype |date=November 1, 2006 |access-date=March 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093306/http://www.superherohype.com/features/92141-x-men-the-last-stand-hitting-blu-ray-disc |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
! Role | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' is included in the ] ] set '']'', which was released on September 25, 2018.<ref>{{Citation |title=X-Men: 3-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/X-Men-Trilogy-4K-Blu-ray/210987/ |access-date=2018-11-08 |archive-date=December 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222080858/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/X-Men-Trilogy-4K-Blu-ray/210987/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Reception== | |||
===Box office=== | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' earned $45.1{{Nbsp}}million on its opening day and went on to generate $102.7{{Nbsp}}million during its three-day opening weekend, making it the fourth-highest opening weekend of all time, behind '']'', '']'' and '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-05-29-0605290181-story.html|title='X-Men: The Last Stand' scores Memorial Day weekend record|website=]|date=May 29, 2006|access-date=April 17, 2022|archive-date=April 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417234842/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-05-29-0605290181-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film then grossed $122.8{{Nbsp}}million during the four-day ] weekend, which was the highest at that time, surpassing '']'' and ''Shrek 2''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sean |last=Salisbury |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/siteinfo/?id=2260&p=.htm |title=Q. What records were broken in 2006? |publisher=IMDB |work=] |date=February 25, 2007 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=September 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908005828/http://boxofficemojo.com/siteinfo/?id=2260&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> It would hold this record until it was surpassed by '']'' the next year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boxoffice/early-summer-movies-underperform-at-box-office-idUSN2826542020070530|title=Early summer movies underperform at box office|newspaper=Reuters|date=May 30, 2007|access-date=April 21, 2022|archive-date=April 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421155938/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boxoffice/early-summer-movies-underperform-at-box-office-idUSN2826542020070530|url-status=live}}</ref> The film's release was also a new single-day record for Friday openings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/f-th.htm?page=Fri&p=.htm |title=Single Day Records: Highest Grossing Fridays |work=] |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830125641/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/f-th.htm?page=Fri&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The opening weekend gross was surpassed six weeks later by '']'', making ''The Last Stand''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s opening the second-highest of 2006.<ref name="year" /> Internationally, ''The Last Stand'' topped the box office in 26 countries with a total gross of $76.1{{nbsp}}million overall, but suffered competition from '']'', which retained the top spot in most markets, and beat ''The Last Stand'' in international gross that weekend with $91{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="bow">{{cite web |url=http://business.highbeam.com/2012/article-1G1-147058439/da-vinci-fights-off-xmen-bow-holds-overseas-909-mil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011010419/http://business.highbeam.com/2012/article-1G1-147058439/da-vinci-fights-off-xmen-bow-holds-overseas-909-mil |archive-date=October 11, 2012 |work=] |title='Da Vinci' fights off 'X-Men' bow: holds overseas with $90.9 mil to sci-fi film's $76.1 mil start.(boxoffice: WEEKEND ANALYSIS) |date=May 30, 2006 |access-date=January 21, 2011 |author-link=Hy Hollinger |first=Hy |last=Hollinger}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2079&p=.htm |title=Around the World Roundup: 'Da Vinci' Withstands 'X-Men' |first=Conor |last=Bresnan |date=May 30, 2006 |access-date=January 21, 2011 |archive-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916090514/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2079&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The film's second weekend dropped 67 percent to $34{{nbsp}}million, which was the steepest post-Memorial Day opening drop on record.<ref>{{cite news |first=Brandon |last=Gray |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2084&p=.htm |title=Exes Exceed 'X-Men' |work=] |date=June 5, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830093236/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2084&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' eventually grossed $234.4{{Nbsp}}million in the domestic box office and $225{{Nbsp}}million internationally, for a worldwide total of $459.4{{Nbsp}}million,<ref name="box">{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x3.htm |title=X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) |work=] |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=December 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210162926/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=x3.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> the fourth-highest in domestic grosses<ref name="year">{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2006&p=.htm |title=2006 Domestic Grosses |work=] |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=February 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201023501/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2006&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> and seventh-highest worldwide for 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2006&p=.htm |title=2006 Worldwide Grosses |work=] |access-date=December 11, 2010 |archive-date=October 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030190712/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2006&p=.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' was also the highest-grossing film in the franchise, until it was surpassed by '']'' eight years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=xmen.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051202182945/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=xmen.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 2, 2005 |title=Franchises: X-Men |work=] |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> | |||
===Critical response=== | |||
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|57|5.9|240|''X-Men: The Last Stand'' provides plenty of mutant action for fans of the franchise, even if it does so at the expense of its predecessors' deeper moments.|access-date=March 29, 2024|ref=y}} {{Metacritic film prose|58|38|ref=yes|access-date=March 29, 2024}} Audiences polled by ] gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2016/05/x-men-apocalypse-alice-through-the-looking-glass-memorial-day-weekend-box-office-1201763668/ |title=Why Nobody Chased 'Alice Through The Looking Glass': Memorial Day Box Office Postmortem |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |date=May 31, 2016 |website=] |access-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-date=May 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528142410/https://deadline.com/2016/05/x-men-apocalypse-alice-through-the-looking-glass-memorial-day-weekend-box-office-1201763668/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
'']'' gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating,<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Ebert & Roeper Review X-Men: The Last Stand|series=At the Movies|series-link=At the Movies (1986 TV program)|first1=Roger|last1=Ebert|author-link1=Roger Ebert|first2=Richard|last2=Roeper|author-link2=Richard Roeper|date=May 20, 2006|season=20|number=49|quote= The movie has intriguing ideas, also works as a sensational special effects extravaganza. Thumbs up. Thumbs up for me as well, it does work on both levels.}}</ref> with ] saying, "I liked the action, I liked the absurdity, I liked the incongruous use and misuse of mutant powers, and I especially liked the way it introduces all of those political issues and lets them fight it out with the special effects."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/x-men-the-last-stand-2006 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand (PG-13) |publisher=rogerebert.com |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |access-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220171542/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/x-men-the-last-stand-2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Stephanie Zacharek of '']'' gave it a mixed review, noting that it was "only half a mess", and that Ratner "could have stuck a bit more closely to the 'Dark Phoenix' narrative than he did." However, Zacharek did note that that third act captured some of the original story's "majesty", praising the performances of Jackman, McKellen, Romijn and Janssen.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2006/05/26/xmen_stand/ |first=Stephanie |last=Zacharek |title=X-Men: The Last Stand |work=Salon.com |access-date=January 31, 2012 |archive-date=November 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106034641/http://www.salon.com/2006/05/26/xmen_stand/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ]'s performance was praised by critics. Matt Mueller of '']'' was impressed with Janssen's performance and said, "Playing the super-freaky mind-control goddess like '']''{{'}}s ]'s all-powerful psycho sister, her scenes – particularly that one with the house – crackle with energy and tragedy. If only the rest of ''X3'' had followed suit."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/x-men_the_last_stand |title=X-Men: The Last Stand – Film Review |magazine=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606112510/http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/x-men_the_last_stand |archive-date=June 6, 2007 |access-date=December 17, 2018}}</ref> | |||
Justin Chang of '']'' said the film was "a wham-bam ] noticeably lacking in the pop ], moody atmospherics, and emotional weight that made the first two Marvel comicbook adaptations so rousingly successful."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/x-men-the-last-stand-1200516077/|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026110046/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930584/ |archive-date=October 26, 2012 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand |publisher=Reed Business Information |work=] |date=May 22, 2006 |first=Justin |last=Chang}}</ref> ] of '']'' called it a "diminished sequel, a brute-force enterprise" and said it was an example of "what happens when movies are confused with sandwich shops as franchise opportunities".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1200037,00.html |title=X-Men: The Last Stand review |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=June 2, 2006 |access-date=January 31, 2012 |first=Lisa |last=Schwarzbaum |archive-date=April 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427161951/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1200037,00.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Minneapolis '']'' characterized Ratner's approach as "Forget subtlety! Let's blow things up!"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/11524436.html |title='X-Men' trilogy goes down in flames |work=] |location=], ] |date=May 25, 2006 |access-date=January 31, 2012 |first=Colin |last=Covert |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607075708/http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/11524436.html |archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref> ] of '']'' magazine called it "just another big-budget B-movie. It's a fast and enjoyable B-movie, though."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/movies/reviews/17071/index1.html |title=Oh, Jesus |work=] |date=May 21, 2006 |access-date=January 31, 2012 |first=David |last=Edelstein |archive-date=June 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602195449/http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/17071/index1.html |url-status=live}}</ref> ] of '']'' said, "Last stand? My ass. Billed as the climax of a trilogy, the third and weakest chapter in the X-Men series is a blatant attempt to prove there is still life in the franchise. And there is: just enough to pull a ''Star Trek'' and spawn a ''Next Generation'' saga."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/x-men-the-last-stand-20060526 |title=X-Men: The Last Stand Movie Review |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=May 26, 2006 |access-date=January 31, 2012 |first=Peter |last=Travers |archive-date=August 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825094120/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/x-men-the-last-stand-20060526 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
''X-Men: The Last Stand'' has been criticized by fans for killing off major characters such as Charles Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. The 2014 film '']'' has subsequently been viewed by some critics as a revision of those controversial plot elements in ''X-Men: The Last Stand''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Five Ways "X-Men: Days of Future Past Fixes the Franchise's Previous Mistakes |url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/05/five-ways-x-men-days-of-future-past-fixes-the-franchises-mistakes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405090310/http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/05/five-ways-x-men-days-of-future-past-fixes-the-franchises-mistakes/ |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |access-date=April 4, 2018 |website=Complex}}</ref> | |||
=== Other responses === | |||
Writer Kinberg stated, "There are a lot of things about 'X3' that I love and there are a lot of things that I regret," detailing that he would have preferred the Dark Phoenix as the main plotline and "I would have fought harder" for that considering that at the time, "the darkness of her story was a little bit daunting on a huge $200{{nbsp}}million studio movie", leading Fox to ask for rewrites.<ref name="crush">{{cite web |title=Writer-Producer Simon Kinberg on 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' and Tearing Down 'The Last Stand' |url=https://screencrush.com/simon-kinberg-x-men-days-of-future-past/?trackback=tsmclip |first=Mike |last=Ryan |date=May 19, 2014 |publisher=Screencrush |access-date=May 26, 2014 |archive-date=June 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180927/http://screencrush.com/simon-kinberg-x-men-days-of-future-past/?trackback=tsmclip |url-status=live}}</ref> Having admitted to being unhappy with the way some elements of the film turned out, Kinberg then went on to direct and write the reboot film '']'', which retold the events of ''X-Men: The Last Stand''.<ref name="RebootJan2016">{{cite web |last=Romano |first=Nick |date=January 21, 2016 |title=Rebooting The Dark Phoenix Saga? Here's What Simon Kinberg Says |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rebooting-Dark-Phoenix-Saga-Here-What-Simon-Kinberg-Says-106727.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622040043/http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rebooting-Dark-Phoenix-Saga-Here-What-Simon-Kinberg-Says-106727.html |archive-date=June 22, 2017 |access-date=June 27, 2017 |publisher=Cinema Blend}}</ref> | |||
Previous ''X-Men'' director Bryan Singer declared that ''The Last Stand'' "isn't what I would have done" and he was dissatisfied with the busy plot and excessive character deaths, but Singer still liked some parts of the movie, such as Elliot Page's casting – leading Singer to bring Page back as Kitty Pryde in '']'' – and the scenes with Leech, which he described as "really sweet moments".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/03/17/everything-else-bryan-singer-told-me-about-x-men-days-of-future-past/ |title=Everything Else Bryan Singer Told Me About X-Men: Days Of Future Past |publisher=Bleeding Cool |date=March 17, 2013 |access-date=January 31, 2014 |last=Connelly |first=Brendon |archive-date=November 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103041322/http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/03/17/everything-else-bryan-singer-told-me-about-x-men-days-of-future-past/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Matthew Vaughn, who was attached as director before dropping out, said that given the limited time they had to make it, the film was "pretty good"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metrofrance.com/fr/article/2007/10/23/16/5209-38/index.xml |title=Interview Matthew Vaughn |access-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101013633/http://www.metrofrance.com/fr/article/2007/10/23/16/5209-38/index.xml |archive-date=November 1, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> but criticized Ratner's direction: "I could have done something with far more emotion and heart. I'm probably going to be told off for saying that, but I genuinely believe it."<ref name="telegraph" /> While promoting his own installment of the franchise, 2011's '']'', Vaughn would say regarding ''The Last Stand'' that "I storyboarded the whole bloody film, did the script. My ''X3'' would have been 40 minutes longer. They didn't let the emotions and the drama play in that film. It became wall-to-wall noise and drama. I would have let it breathe and given far more dramatic elements to it."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collider.com/x-men-first-class-sequel/92795/ |title=Matthew Vaughn Talks X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, Possible Sequel, James Bond, and the X3 That Could Have Been |website=Collider |date=May 24, 2011 |access-date=January 31, 2012 |first=Adam |last=Chitwood |archive-date=January 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128022634/http://collider.com/x-men-first-class-sequel/92795/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
===Accolades=== | |||
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" | |||
|+Awards and nominations for ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="col"| Award | |||
! scope="col"| Category | |||
! scope="col"| Nominee(s) | |||
! scope="col"| Result | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row" | ]<ref>{{cite journal|date=Winter 2007|title=CDG Awards:Excellence in Film Fantasy|url=http://www.costumedesignersguild.com/cdg-magazine/the-costume-designer-winter-07.pdf|journal=The Costume Designer|publisher=]|page=20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124235856/http://www.costumedesignersguild.com/cdg-magazine/the-costume-designer-winter-07.pdf|archive-date=January 24, 2011|access-date=June 18, 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Excellence in Costume Design for Film – Fantasy | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Makovsky, Judianna" | Judianna Makovsky | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards/scifi.asp |title=Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy |work=] |publisher=] |year=2007 |access-date=September 18, 2011 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041648/http://www.empireonline.com/awards/scifi.asp |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards/scene_shortlist.asp |title=Scene Of The Year (shortlisted) |work=Empire |publisher=] |year=2007 |access-date=September 18, 2011 |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119113657/http://www.empireonline.com/awards/scene_shortlist.asp |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy | |||
| ] | |||
| ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Scene of the Year | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Phoenix and Professor X showdown, The" |The Phoenix and Professor X showdown | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row" | ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ifta.ie/winners/iftawinners2007.html |title=The 4th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards Winners |publisher=Irish Film and Television Academy |access-date=January 17, 2009 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005827/http://ifta.ie/winners/iftawinners2007.html |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Best International Actor | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="McKellen, Ian" | ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
! rowspan="3" scope="row" | ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=2007 |title=People's Choice Awards 2007 Nominees |publisher=PeoplesChoice.com |access-date=March 17, 2014 |archive-date=April 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428091745/http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Favorite Female Action Star | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Berry, Halle" | ] | |||
| {{Won}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Favorite Movie Drama | |||
| ] | |||
| rowspan="2" | ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Favorite Movie | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row" | ]<ref name="st">{{cite web |url=http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards2006.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202121119/http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards2006.shtml |archive-date=December 2, 2007 |title=2006 11th Annual Satellite Awards |publisher=] |access-date=June 18, 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
||] | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Helfrich, Mark, Mark Goldblatt, Julia Wong" | ], ], ] | |||
| {{won}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row" rowspan="6" | ]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117964717.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1 |title='Superman' tops Saturns |magazine=] |date=May 10, 2007 |access-date=May 11, 2007 |last=Cohen |first=David S. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013045616/http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117964717.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1 |archive-date=October 13, 2012}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Best Costume | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Makovsky, Judianna" | Judianna Makovsky | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Best Music | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Powell, John" | ] | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Best Science Fiction Film | |||
| ] | |||
| ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Best Special Effects | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Bruno, John, Eric Saindon, Craig Lyn" | John Bruno, Eric Saindon, Craig Lyn | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Grammer, Kelsey" | ] | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Janssen, Famke" | ] | |||
| ] | |||
| {{won}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
! scope="row" rowspan="6" | ]<ref name="teens2">{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/zap-teenchoicenominees-story.html#page=1 |title=Teen Choice Awards Spread the Love |work=Chicago Tribune |date=June 15, 2006 |access-date=June 23, 2011 |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603062215/http://www.chicagotribune.com/zap-teenchoicenominees-story.html#page=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Choice Action Movie Actor | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Jackman, Hugh" | ] | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Choice Action Movie Actress | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="Berry, Halle" | Halle Berry | |||
| Warren Worthington II | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Choice Movie Liplock | |||
| ] | |||
| Hugh Jackman & Famke Janssen | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| Choice Movie Rumble | |||
| Josef Sommer | |||
| The |
| ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | ||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| data-sort-value="McKellen, Ian" | Ian McKellen | |||
| ] | |||
| {{nom}} | |||
|- | |||
|- | |||
| ] | |||
! scope="row" | ]s<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms28.htm |title=Young Artist Awards 28th nominations |publisher=] |access-date=June 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627043416/http://www.youngartistawards.org/noms28.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| Best Supporting Young Actor in a Feature Film | |||
|- | |||
| ] |
| data-sort-value="Bright, Cameron" | ] | ||
| {{nom}} | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| Lance Gibson | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| ] | |||
| Kid Omega | |||
|- | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
|- | |||
| Uncredited: ] | |||
| ] | |||
|} | |} | ||
== |
==Future== | ||
In February 2006, Ratner said that ''The Last Stand'' could be the final '']'' film: "We wanted to make sure the audiences knew that this was a trilogy. Even though they weren't made together like '']'' (2001-2003), this is really closure for the ''X-Men'' series. ... This is the last stand for sure."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1524305/x-men-director-says-movie-will-really-be-the-last-stand/ |title='X-Men' Director Says Movie Will Really Be 'The Last Stand' |publisher=] |date=February 14, 2006 |access-date=June 2, 2014 |first=Brandee J |last=Tecson |archive-date=June 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602142336/http://www.mtv.com/news/1524305/x-men-director-says-movie-will-really-be-the-last-stand/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
The novelization of the film, written by comic book writer ], was released on Tuesday, ], ]. | |||
The next two ''X-Men'' films, '']'' (2009) and '']'' (2011) were ] that took place before the events of the first ''X-Men'' movie. The first film set chronologically after ''The Last Stand'' was '']'' (2013), a ],<ref>{{cite news |date=October 25, 2012 |last=Hewitt |first=Chris |url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=35599 |title=James Mangold Talks The Wolverine |work=] |access-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113134358/http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=35599 |archive-date=November 13, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> that shows Logan heading for Japan to escape the memories of what occurred during ''The Last Stand''. Jackman and Janssen reprised their roles, while McKellen and Stewart appear in a ].<ref>{{cite web |date=March 28, 2013 |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin P. |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704484/the-wolverine-trailer-hugh-jackman.jhtml |title=Exclusive: Hugh Jackman Digs Into 'The Wolverine' Trailer |publisher=MTV News |access-date=June 10, 2013 |archive-date=January 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109044217/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704484/the-wolverine-trailer-hugh-jackman.jhtml |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
==Taglines== | |||
] | |||
* Take a Stand | |||
* Whose Side Will You Be On? | |||
* The end has come. Destiny awaits... | |||
'']'', the direct sequel to ''The Last Stand'', was released on May 23, 2014, with Jackman, Berry, Stewart, McKellen, Paquin, Page, Ashmore, Cudmore, Grammer, Janssen, and Marsden reprising their respective roles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Exclusive: Bryan Singer & Nicholas Hoult on X-Men: Days of Future Past |publisher=Superhero Hype! |url=http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/175033-exclusive-bryan-singer-a-nicholas-hoult-on-x-men-days-of-future-past |date=February 13, 2013 |access-date=February 14, 2013 |first=Edward |last=Douglas |archive-date=March 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317101917/http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/175033-exclusive-bryan-singer-a-nicholas-hoult-on-x-men-days-of-future-past |url-status=live}}</ref> The plot, inspired by the comic book "]" story arc, begins with a ]n future set years after ''The Last Stand''. Wolverine's consciousness is sent back in time, to his 1973 body in order to guide the younger Xavier and Magneto into preventing the events that lead to the desolate future. The events of the film end up ], changing some events in films set after ''First Class'', resulting in an altered timeline where Jean and Cyclops are still alive.<ref name="fix" /><ref name="crush" /> | |||
==Trivia== | |||
{{spoiler}} | |||
<!-- * The first public screening was at 8:00AM GMT at Dana Mall Cinema in Bahrain. "Give a specific date for this before reading, or at least a ballpark. --> | |||
* Just as ''X2'' was inspired by the X-Men story arc '']'' and the ] backstory of Wolverine, ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' references the classic X-Men ], in which Jean is resurrected as a superbeing of terrifying abilities, and the acclaimed ''Gifted'' story arc from '']'', in which Dr. Kavita Rao invents a mutant "cure". | |||
* Longstanding X-Men comic-book icons seen in the film include the ] and (as a hologram shown within) a giant, mutant-hunting ] robot. | |||
* The movie features the "]", the famous tag-team move in Marvel Comics between Colossus and Wolverine, where the super-strong and much larger Colossus throws Wolverine at their opponent -- in this case, a Sentinel, and later at Magneto. <ref>http://www.thexverse.com/assets/gallery/xtls/trailers/trailer/cap146.jpg</ref> | |||
* Many of the minor mutants appear in different versions than in the original comics: | |||
** In the original comics, neither Spike, Psylocke nor Multiple Man are Brotherhood villains. However, in the alternative ] universe, Multiple Man is a villain. | |||
** Kid Omega is portrayed as a mutant with spiky quills, arguably not in line with the psi-savant of the comics. | |||
** In the film, Callisto is depicted to have super-speed (new power) and a slight variation on her original super-acute senses (i.e., she senses the power levels of mutants). | |||
* In the first scene, when the camera passes the Grey's mailbox, you can see the number 1769 on the mailbox possibly referring to the year ]. | |||
** When Jean Grey's Phoenix powers manifest themselves, she looks rather undead than like a flame goddess in the comics. | |||
** While ], a.k.a. the Juggernaut, is Charles Xavier's stepbrother in the canonical Marvel Comics stories, no relationship between the two is acknowledged in the film. The official press notes, however, describe him as "the unstoppable giant who is also Professor Xavier's stepbrother". Additionally, Juggernaut is a mutant in the film, but in the comics, his power derives from a mystic jewel, known as the Crimson Ruby of ], that is bound to his soul (though this is a topic of contention since the ruby was lost). In the Ultimate Marvel version of the character, Juggernaut is a mutant with apparently no connection to Professor Xavier. | |||
* Angel's wings were initially too heavy for Ben Foster, and were remade from foam. | |||
* Storm & Callisto engage in two battles during the film. In the comics, Storm defeated Callisto to become leader of ]. | |||
* For one sequence, a 2,500-foot replica of the ] was built. | |||
* This is the first film that features the original six X-Men: Professor X, Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Jean Grey. However, all six are never together onscreen. | |||
* X-Men co-creator ] and popular writer ] have cameos in the film's opening scene, as neighbors in Jean Grey's old neighborhood. Respectively, they are credited as "Waterhose man" and "Lawnmower man". | |||
* ] is the third actress to play Kitty Pryde in the X-Men movies. The others are ] (''X-Men'') and ] (''X2''). All three actresses are ]. | |||
* Filmmakers considered utilizing the Beast character since the first X-Men movie, but reportedly due to budget constraints he ultimately was not used. However, in ''X2'' someone identified as Hank McCoy does appear on a television screen in a cameo role. <!---It is not stated whether Beast has used an Image Inducer, as he and Nightcrawler did in the comics. Thus, this doesn't create a previously stated continuity problem, since Beast did serve as an original X-Man under Xavier.---> | |||
* The casting of Kelsey Grammer and Vinnie Jones as the Beast and the Juggernaut, respectively, was one of Matthew Vaughn's main contributions to the project. Ellen Page and Ben Foster were brought in by Brett Ratner. | |||
* The whirlwind wire-stunt Halle Berry performed in a fight scene caused her to vomit because of her motion sickness. | |||
* The final battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants was originally scripted to take place in ], but Ratner opted to change the location. | |||
* All the actors (excluding Kelsey Grammer) performed their own stunts. | |||
* The Juggernaut's line to Kitty Pryde -- "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" -- alludes to a popular parody video based on Juggernaut's character from an episode of '']''. | |||
* In the opening, Professor Xavier tells Magneto that misusing power is not right. That is a central theme of the book '']'' by ]. In the beginning of ''X2'', Magneto reads an old copy of the book in his prison cell, and Professor X uses the book as a teaching tool in the end of that movie. | |||
* There is a scene at the Institute in which three identical girls are walking in the backgound. These could be the remaining ] and in the book, it is confirmed that they are the proteges of Emma Frost. | |||
* Psylocke appears only once in the middle of the film and at the end. She displays the power to blend into the shadows (one of her Crimson Dawn powers in the comics), and drops from a wall with Kid Omega and Arclight as they attack Warren's father. She doesn't use her trademark psionic knife. | |||
== |
== Notes == | ||
{{notelist}} | |||
{{main|X-Men: The Official Game}} | |||
Games publisher ] released '']'', the official video game tie-in to the film across all major videogame platforms on May 16th, 2006. The various editions of the game bridge the events of the films '']'' and ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' and feature many of both films' prominent characters. Most notably, it provides an explanation to Nightcrawler's absence. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane, Shawn Ashmore and Tyler Mane (Sabretooth in the first film) reprise their film roles in this game. On April 4th, 2006, Activision confirmed that ], ], ], and ] will appear in the game. ], ] and ] have also been included in the roster. | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
==External links== | |||
{{Commons}} | |||
{{Wikiquote}} | |||
* {{Official website|https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/x-men-the-last-stand#digital}} | |||
* | |||
* {{IMDb title}} | |||
{{Navboxes|title=''X-Men: The Last Stand'' | |||
==Footnotes== | |||
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<references/> | |||
{{X-Men in film}} | |||
{{Brett Ratner}} | |||
{{Marvel comics films}} | |||
{{Simon Kinberg}} | |||
{{Zak Penn}} | |||
}} | |||
{{Portal bar|United States|United Kingdom|Film|Comics|Speculative fiction|2000s}} | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
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==References== | |||
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* Brett Ratner and Ellen Page interview, '']'' #345 | |||
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* (official site) | |||
* {{ymovies title|1808490830}} | |||
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* {{imdb title|id=0376994}} | |||
* at | |||
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Latest revision as of 07:40, 25 December 2024
2006 film by Brett Ratner
X-Men: The Last Stand | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Brett Ratner |
Written by | |
Based on | X-Men by |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Dante Spinotti |
Edited by | |
Music by | John Powell |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
Countries |
|
Language | English |
Budget | $210 million |
Box office | $460.4 million |
X-Men: The Last Stand (also marketed as X3: The Last Stand, or X-Men 3) is a 2006 superhero film based on the X-Men comic books published by Marvel Entertainment Group. It is the sequel to X2 (2003), as well as the third installment (and the final film of the original X-Men trilogy) in the X-Men film series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and features an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, and Patrick Stewart. Written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, the film is loosely based on two X-Men comic book story arcs, "Gifted" and "The Dark Phoenix Saga", with a plot that revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among mutants and humans, and on the resurrection of Jean Grey who unleashes a dark force.
Bryan Singer, who had directed the two previous films, X-Men and X2, decided to leave the sequel to work on Superman Returns (2006). X2 composer and editor John Ottman and X2 writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty also left to work on Superman Returns, as did James Marsden, who had very limited screen time in The Last Stand before his character was killed off due to his departure from the film. Singer had not even defined the storyline for a third film. Matthew Vaughn, who co-wrote the script (though was uncredited) and was initially hired as the new director, left due to personal and professional issues, and was replaced with Ratner. Filming took place from August 2005 to January 2006 with a budget of $210 million, and was consequently the most expensive film made at the time of its release. It had extensive visual effects created by 11 different companies.
X-Men: The Last Stand premiered in the Out of Competition section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States on May 26 by 20th Century Fox. It grossed approximately $459 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2006; it was at the time the highest-grossing film in the series and after 2018 stood as the fourth-highest-grossing film of the franchise. It received mixed reviews from critics and was deemed inferior to its predecessors.
A standalone sequel, The Wolverine, was released in 2013; it was followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past a year later in 2014, which retconned the events of The Last Stand. Jackman and Stanford reprised their roles as Wolverine and Pyro, respectively, in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine.
Plot
In 1986, Charles Xavier and Magneto meet young Jean Grey at her parents' house to invite her to join their school, the X-Mansion. Ten years later in 1996, industrialist Warren Worthington II discovers his son is a mutant, as the latter tries to cut off his wings.
In the present, Worthington Labs announces an inoculation, to suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their abilities and offers the "cure" to any mutant who wants it. The cure interests some mutants such as Rogue, who cannot touch anyone without harming them, while others are wary of it. Magneto re-establishes his Brotherhood of Mutants with those who oppose the cure, warning it will be weaponized to exterminate the mutant race. With help from Pyro, Callisto, and several other mutants, Magneto attacks a mobile prison and frees Mystique, Multiple Man, and Juggernaut. Mystique shields Magneto from a cure dart and loses her mutant abilities, so he abandons her.
Cyclops, still distraught over the loss of Grey, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Grey suddenly appears to Cyclops, but kills him as they kiss. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Logan and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, they find only telekinetically floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Grey.
At the X-Mansion, Xavier explains that when Grey sacrificed herself to save them, she also freed the "Phoenix", a dark alternate personality with godlike destructive potential which Xavier had telepathically repressed. Logan is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Grey's mind but, once she awakens, he discovers that she killed Cyclops and is not the woman he once knew. The Phoenix emerges, knocks out Logan, and escapes to her childhood home. Learning of Grey's return, Magneto and the Brotherhood arrive at the house at the same time as the X-Men, with Magneto and Xavier both vying for Grey's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and disintegrates Xavier, then leaves with Magneto.
A depowered Mystique gives up Magneto's base in the woods to the FBI who raid it. However, the detected human heat signatures in the camp are Multiple Man and his copies. Magneto and the Brotherhood attack Alcatraz with the intention to kill a young mutant named Jimmy, whose genome is used to create the cure. They overwhelm the military troops until the remaining X-Men arrive to confront them. During the fight, Kitty Pryde saves Jimmy from Juggernaut, Iceman subdues Pyro, and Logan distracts Magneto for Hank McCoy to inject him with the cure, nullifying his powers. The Phoenix awakens and begins destroying anyone within range of her powers. Logan realizes that only he can stop the Phoenix due to his healing factor and adamantium skeleton. When Logan approaches her, Grey momentarily gains control and begs him to kill her. Logan is forced to fatally stab Grey, killing her.
Sometime later, mutant rights are finally obtained and Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress. The President of the United States appoints McCoy as ambassador to the United Nations. Rogue, having taken the cure, rekindles her relationship with Iceman. Meanwhile, Magneto sits at a chessboard in San Francisco, seemingly human and weak, and as he gestures toward a metal chess piece, it wobbles slightly.
Elsewhere, Moira MacTaggert, while checking on a comatose patient, is startled when he greets her with Xavier's voice.
Cast
- Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine:
A Canadian mutant born with hyper-acute, animal-like senses, claws on his hands, and an accelerated healing factor that made it possible to implant a coating of the indestructible metal alloy adamantium on his skeleton. Jackman was pleased to see that the script allowed Wolverine to expand his character choices, as instead of questioning whether he would remain a loner or join the X-Men, Logan now is asked if he will play a leadership role in the X-Men. - Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm:
A mutant, who is one of Xavier's earlier students and the leader of the X-Men in Cyclops' absence. Storm is a woman with the ability to manipulate the weather. Berry had stated during interviews for X2 that she would not return unless the character had a significant presence comparable to the comic book version, leading to a larger role in The Last Stand's script. Berry declared that her ethnicity made the actress identify with the cure plot: "When I was a child, I felt that if only I could change myself, my life would be better. As I've gotten older, I've come to terms with what utter nonsense that is." The character was given a more modern haircut, and costume designer Judianna Makovsky opted to give Storm more black clothes, a color she only wore in the leather costume for previous films, to make her "tougher and sexier". - Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto:
Leader and founder of the Brotherhood, Magneto is a mutant Holocaust survivor who wages war against humanity in the name of mutant superiority. He has the ability to control and manipulate metal, making him one of the most powerful mutants. Well known for his homosexuality, McKellen found a parallel of the cure with many prejudices: "It's abhorrent to me, as it would be if a person said I need curing of my sexuality, or if someone said that black people could take a pill that would 'cure' them of being black." McKellen's shooting schedule had to accommodate his work in both The Da Vinci Code (2006) and the London theatre, going as far as filming the actor in England to later superimpose into the Vancouver plates. - Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier:
A mutant with uncharted telepathic powers, and founder of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants. Xavier is an authority on genetic mutation and an advocate of peaceful relations between human and mutant kind. Stewart signed to the film without knowing Xavier would die, and not meeting original director Matthew Vaughn – both would meet in Manchester, where Stewart was filming Eleventh Hour (2006), but eventually Brett Ratner called to introduce himself as the new director. - Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Phoenix:
A mutant former member of the X-Men, a Class 5 mutant who possesses potentially limitless telepathic and telekinetic powers. The X-Men learn that she has survived the flooding dam from the previous film, but when the rest of the team finds her, Grey has given in completely to her aggressive alternate personality of her powers, the Phoenix. Her mutant powers rival those of Xavier. The writers described the multiple personalities as "an Oedipal drama played out", where the Phoenix was "someone embodying Greek goddess", while Jean Grey kept the character as "a human, grounded in Freudian terms, a victim, a schizophrenic. To mark the change of Jean Grey into Phoenix, her wardrobe focused on red colors, and everyday fabric in contrast to the leather costumes of the X-Men. Digital make-up also made Jean's face darker with her skin showing some veins and her eyes turning black, signifying the Phoenix personality of her powers. Haley Ramm plays a young Jean Grey. - Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue:
A young mutant woman whose power causes her to temporarily take on the powers of anyone she touches, leaving her victims (mutant or human) unconscious; Rogue's lack of control over her power causes a great deal of strain on her relationship with Iceman. Paquin declared that while Rogue did not have "a large physical component in this movie", the "adult decisions" the character was forced to make allowed for more intensity on the emotional side. - Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy / Beast:
A mutant former student of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants who is now a member of the U.S. Cabinet as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Beast is a brilliant scientist and statesman. He is covered in blue fur and has heightened strength, reflexes and agility, as well as pointed fangs and a lion-like roar. Grammer's make-up took three hours to apply, it involved applying latex prosthetics before painting his eye area and lips blue, applying various hair pieces and wigs, and a muscle suit covered with a hand-punched fur suit. - James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops:
A mutant, who is X-Men's field leader, Cyclops emits powerful energy blasts from his eyes, and must wear specially made glasses to prevent the destruction of anything he looks at. Although he is in a committed relationship with Jean Grey, her Phoenix persona kills him early in the film. the decision to kill the character off early, was due to a scheduling conflict that Marsden had with Superman Returns. Marsden saw no problem in having a smaller role, as the films opted to feature Wolverine as the standpoint character, and feeling that "it's difficult when you have however many new characters that you're trying to introduce to an audience in 90 to 120 minutes, to give everyone their due." - Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme / Mystique:
A blue-skinned mutant who possesses the ability to shape-shift to mimic anyone's appearance, as well as fight with incredible agility, reflexes and strength. She is also a woman of few words. She jumps in front of cure darts intended for Magneto and, after she loses her mutant abilities as a result, Magneto abandons her. Romijn described this story as "a traumatic experience" for Mystique, given that the previous movies implied that she and Magneto had "a deep-seated bond", and becoming "a frail mortal would be her worst nightmare". - Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman:
A young mutant, Iceman can create constructs of ice or blasts of cold. Ashmore's commitments to X-Men made him decline Bryan Singer's invitation to play Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns. The actor was content with his bigger role after Bobby joined the X-Men main team in X2, as during the previous production he wondered "When do I get to freeze something or get into a fight?" - Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce / Pyro:
A mutant who was a student of Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants with a grudge against his former friend Bobby Drake, Pyro has the ability to manipulate fire, generated through wrist-mounted lighters. Stanford stated that with the Brotherhood, Pyro "is allowed to fully explore his power" for lacking moral restraints. The actor was comfortable with returning to the role, particularly for following The Hills Have Eyes (2006), which had an exhausting shoot in the Moroccan desert, while Pyro was nowhere near as physically demanding – "My character's pretty much stand-and-deliver, stand there and throw fire at people. There's no acrobatics." - Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko / Juggernaut:
A mutant criminal recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Juggernaut is incredibly strong, fast and, once he gains momentum, he is nearly unstoppable. The film's version of Juggernaut is depicted as a mutant and his relation to Charles Xavier was never mentioned. Matthew Vaughn cast Jones, who he met producing the Guy Ritchie gangster movies where Jones began his acting career. The actor had to go through a four-hour make-up process to portray Juggernaut, which included a muscle suit and a prosthetic chin. The costume tried to retain the bullet-shaped helmet of the comics without going excessively over the top.
Additionally, Elliot Page appears as Kitty Pryde: A mutant with the ability to phase through matter and walk through solid objects, her clear affection for Iceman further adds to the tension already present between Iceman and Rogue. Maggie Grace was considered for the role, before Ratner invited Page, who impressed the director with his performance in Hard Candy (2005). Page initially declined, not wanting to yet jump to Hollywood filmmaking, but accepted after reading the script. Page said part of his motivation was having a new experience: "I thought, well, when else am I going to have a chance to wear a leather suit and run through exploding things? Why not be a superhero for a change?" Daniel Cudmore appears as Peter Rasputin / Colossus: A mutant with the ability to transform his body into an organic steel, while also granting him superhuman strength and a resistance to physical damage while in that form. Cudmore wore a foam latex muscle suit covered with a chrome-plated plastic plus a hard plastic head to have the metal skin on the set, with some digital augmentation being used to enhance the facial expressions. A digital double was used only for stunts that could not be achieved practically, such as the Fastball Special where Colossus throws Wolverine at Magneto. Ben Foster appears as Warren Worthington III / Angel: The mutant son of an industrialist, who has feathered wings which allow him to fly. The static wings were models with a 15 feet (4.6 m) wingspan and 5 feet (1.5 m) height glued to Foster's back, replaced with computer-generated ones when movement was required.
Cayden Boyd appears as young Angel, Michael Murphy appears as Warren Worthington II: The head of Worthington Labs, the corporation developing the "cure", Worthington expects to rid his son of his mutant abilities. The addition of the character allowed Angel to integrate into the cure plot, which also added a parallel between Warren's discovery of his son's mutation with a father finding out about his son's homosexuality. Dania Ramirez appears as Callisto: The leader of the Omegas, Callisto is a mutant with enhanced superhumanly acute senses, who senses mutants and their powers, and possesses superhuman speed and is an expert hand-to-hand combatant. The character combined the powers of the comics' Callisto with another of the Morlocks, Caliban, and was written as someone who could be "beautiful, but with a tough persona". Ramirez had originally auditioned to play the mutant prostitute Stacy X, and impressed Brett Ratner so much that he decided to bring her in to play Callisto. Shohreh Aghdashloo appears as Dr. Kavita Rao: A scientist who works at Worthington Labs on the mutant cure; she is killed by Kid Omega. Aghdashloo signed without a completed script, and erroneously said her character would be mutant doctor Cecilia Reyes.
Josef Sommer appears as the President: The President of the United States is tolerant of mutants, but fearful of the Brotherhood's threats. While creating the role, the producers felt that a "different" president, like an African American or a woman, had become a cliché in itself and went for a traditional route with an elder Caucasian man. Sommer was invited by Ratner following their collaboration in The Family Man (2000). Bill Duke appears as Trask: The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Trask aids the president of the United States during the war against the mutants. The character is probably related to the comic books' Bolivar Trask; however, his first name is never mentioned in the film and he is portrayed as African American. In the comics, Bolivar Trask is the head of Trask Industries and creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinels. Eric Dane appears as Multiple Man: A mutant and thief recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Madrox has the ability to create a very large number of copies of himself. The writers considered Dane's performance memorable despite being featured in only two scenes. Madrox's wardrobe invoked the symbols worn in his comics costume.
Other actors who portrayed mutants are: Meiling Melançon as Psylocke, a mutant with the ability to teleport herself through areas of shadow, although that depiction differs significantly from the comics; Omahyra Mota as Arclight, a mutant who has the ability to generate shock waves of concussive force; Ken Leung as Kid Omega, a mutant with the ability to eject spikes from his body, most notably his face (though the character resembles the comic books' Quill and was later confirmed as such, though the official cast credits erroneously read "Kid Omega"); and Cameron Bright as Jimmy / Leech, a mutant who has the ability to neutralize the powers of nearby mutants. Various characters were included at the suggestion of editor Mark Helfrich, who brought Marvel's X-Men Encyclopedia to director Brett Ratner, searching for mutants who could make appearance. These include Phat, a mutant that is a very large man who can slim down to fit in a smaller space (played by two actors, Via Saleaumua – "large mode" – and Richard Yee – "small mode"); Spike (played by Lance Gibson), a mutant who battles Wolverine in the forest by extruding bony spikes from his flesh – the character was added because the editing team felt that the original cut of the scene portrayed Logan as a cold-blooded killer, which could be changed if another mutant attacked Wolverine before he struck the Brotherhood and Glob Herman (played by Clayton Dean Watmough), a mutant with transparent skin. Mark Helfrich portrays an unnamed mutant with ash-gray skin.
Various other mutants make cameos at the X-Mansion; Shauna Kain and Kea Wong reprised their cameo roles as Siryn and Jubilee respectively, and three identical girls in the background in one scene are a reference to the Stepford Cuckoos. Olivia Williams portrays Moira MacTaggert. Adrian Hough, who previously voiced Nightcrawler in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) appears as John Grey, Jean's father. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee and writer Chris Claremont have cameos in the film's opening scene as the neighbors of young Jean Grey. The sergeant directing defensive preparations before the Brotherhood assaults Alcatraz Island is played by R. Lee Ermey. Lloyd Adams portrays the green-skinned mutant that climbs the guard tower on Alcatraz. Many fans believed this was Toad; however, the credits list him as lizard man and Brett Ratner confirmed it was Anole. Avalanche and Vanisher also appear; however, it is not known who portrayed them.
Production
Matthew Vaughn (left), who would later direct X-Men: First Class, was Fox's first choice to replace Bryan Singer. Once he left, Brett Ratner (right) took over directing The Last Stand.Development
Bryan Singer, the director of the first two 20th Century Fox X-Men films, left the project in July 2004 in favor of developing Superman Returns (2006) for Warner Bros. Pictures. Singer stated that he "didn't fully have X-Men 3 in my mind" in contrast to a fully formed idea for a Superman film and interest in joining that franchise. By the time of his departure, Singer had only produced a partial story treatment with X2 (2003) screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, who accompanied him to Superman Returns. The treatment focused on Jean Grey's resurrection, which would also introduce the villainess Emma Frost, a role intended for Sigourney Weaver. Frost was an empath manipulating Jean's emotions in the treatment and, like the finished film, Magneto desires to control her. Overwhelmed by her powers, Jean kills herself, but Jean's spirit survives and becomes a god-like creature, which Dougherty compared to the star child in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
New contracts for returning cast members were made, as the actors and actresses had signed for only two films. Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director, initially offering the position to Darren Aronofsky, with whom he had just finished filming on The Fountain (2006). Joss Whedon, whose comic book storyline "Gifted" from Astonishing X-Men which he wrote was integrated into the script's plot, turned down the offer because he was working on a Wonder Woman film. Rob Bowman and Alex Proyas were also rumored to be up for consideration, though Proyas personally turned it down, citing feuds with Fox president Thomas Rothman while producing I, Robot (2004). Zack Snyder was also approached, but he was already committed to 300 (2007). Peter Berg was also considered to direct the film but he too turned down the job. Guillermo del Toro was also offered to direct the film but turned down as he was already committed to Pan's Labyrinth (2006). In February 2005, with still no director hired, Fox announced a May 5, 2006, release date, with filming to start in July 2005 in Vancouver. One month later, the studio, signed Matthew Vaughn to direct, and pushed the release date three weeks to May 26, Memorial Day weekend. Vaughn cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Dania Ramirez as Callisto, and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, but family issues led him to withdraw before filming began. Vaughn was also cautious of the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make". In October 2023, Vaughn stated that he left the project after a group of executives had tried to sign Halle Berry on with a fake script, which included scenes of Storm rescuing kids from Africa.
Brett Ratner, who was previously considered to direct X-Men (2000) in 1996, and John Moore were both in the running to replace Vaughn during pre-production. On June 5, 2005, Ratner was confirmed as Vaughn's replacement. Ratner said he was surprised to get an invitation, as he thought he would have no chance to do a comic-book film after the cancelled Superman: Flyby for Warner Bros. With a limited knowledge of the X-Men mythos, Ratner trusted his writers on doing something faithful to the comics, having the script drawing all of its scenes from the original Marvel publications.
Writing
Simon Kinberg, who had worked on two other Fox-produced Marvel Comics film adaptations, Fantastic Four and Elektra (both 2005), was hired as writer for X-Men 3 in August 2004. X2 co-writer Zak Penn was separately working on his own draft, and the two joined forces for a combined screenplay in January 2005. Kinberg wanted the comic book arc "The Dark Phoenix Saga" from The Uncanny X-Men by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne to be the emotional plot of the film, while "Gifted" by Whedon and artist John Cassaday would serve as the political focus. The duo had seven months to complete The Last Stand's script, and during the first week of work completed the first eighty pages, consisting of the first two-thirds of the plot. This incomplete draft was leaked to Ain't It Cool News, who proceeded to write a negative review. Vaughn later revised all of the major sequences in the film, but he did not receive a writer's credit.
The writers had to fight Fox's executives to retain the Phoenix plot, as the studio only wanted the cure story as it provided a reason for Magneto's conflict with the X-Men. Still the disputes made them not add much for Jean Grey to do in most of the film's second half, as the executives considered the tone of the Phoenix story too dark for a mainstream summer movie, and that its appeal would be limited to hardcore fans rather than a general audience. Penn defended the divergences from the original Dark Phoenix stories, stating that the Phoenix was not a firebird-shaped cosmic force "because it doesn't fit into the world," and that Cyclops did not have as much screentime as Wolverine because the latter was more popular and "with Cyclops, you can't see his eyes. It's a harder character to relate to for the audience." Killing Cyclops was Fox's decision, based on the availability of actor James Marsden, who was cast in Singer's Superman Returns. The studio considered killing him off-screen with a dialogue reference, but Kinberg and Penn insisted that Jean kill him, emphasizing their relationship. Xavier's death was intended to match the impact of Spock's demise in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), as Fox felt the script called for a dramatic turning point. Kinberg and Penn were originally cautious, but grew to like the idea of killing off Xavier. They decided to write a post-credits scene suggesting the character's return for a sequel.
As the studio was simultaneously developing X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), limitations were set on which mutants could be used for cameo appearances in X-Men 3 in an attempt to avoid risking character development for Wolverine. Gambit was considered for both the convoy scene being freed by Magneto and the Battle of Alcatraz along with the X-Men, but the writers did not want to introduce a fan favorite character and "not be able to do him justice." Kinberg reasoned, "there just wasn't enough space", and considered Gambit would only work with as much screentime as Beast. Alan Cumming had been uncomfortable with the long hours he had to take with the prosthetic makeup as Nightcrawler in X2, but still planned to return for the sequel. The part of Nightcrawler was so minimal, however, that the studio felt it was not worthwhile to go through the long and costly makeup process, so the character was cut. Kinberg felt that "there wasn't much left to do with the character. It also felt like he might tread a little bit on the terrain of Beast, in terms of similarities in the characters and their political standpoints in terms of dealing with their mutancy". Nightcrawler's absence was later explained in the tie-in video game. The introductory scenes tried to emulate the Auschwitz opener for the first film, going with different scenes that resonated later in the plot instead of an action scene like in most blockbusters. Afterwards came a scene in the Danger Room, which was considered for the previous X-Men films but never included for budget and writing concerns. The writers tried to make the simulation not feel extraneous by showcasing some of the character conflicts and abilities in a "Days of Future Past"-inspired battle with a Sentinel. Another repurposed scene was Magneto attacking the convoy to free Mystique, Madrox and Juggernaut, which Penn had previously envisioned for X2.
Ratner collaborated with Penn and Kinberg in rearranging the plot structure of the film. Originally, the Golden Gate Bridge sequence was in the middle of the film, where the moved bridge was used by Magneto to free mutants being held prisoners on Alcatraz, and the climax was set in Washington, D.C. Ratner felt too many recent action films, such as Planet of the Apes (2001) and X2 itself, had their ending in Washington, and the Golden Gate sequence "would be the biggest sequence in my entire career", and suggested to instead put the Worthington laboratory in Alcatraz, along with "creating a face for the cure", which became the character of Jimmy/Leech. Kinberg agreed, as he previously argued with Penn about "blowing so many things early in the movie".
Filming
X-Men: The Last Stand began shooting in August 2005 and wrapped in January 2006. Much of the film was shot at Vancouver Film Studios, the same location of X2. Locations included the Hatley Park National Historic Site and Royal Roads University, which doubled for the X-Mansion. An old lumber mill next to the Fraser River doubled as Alcatraz Island. The tight schedule made Ratner "begin post-production the day I started shooting," sending the scenes he had just filmed to his editors. The editing team was led by Mark Helfrich, who had edited all of Ratner's films, assisted by Mark Goldblatt in the action scenes and Julia Wong with effects-heavy footage.
According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be X2, now it's X3." The $210 million budget also made The Last Stand the most expensive film to be made at the time. The film's record would be first broken by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)'s $225 million budget. The original cinematographer was Philippe Rousselot, who eventually opted to depart the production. Dante Spinotti, a frequent collaborator of Ratner, replaced him, with assistance of J. Michael Muro. Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairmen Thomas Rothman and Jim Gianopulos debated whether Rogue should give Iceman a passionate kiss at the film's end or simply hold his hand. The two executives screened The Last Stand for their daughters, as well as the studio's female marketing executives, and the hand holding prevailed. Gianopulos stated that the kissing "was all about sex, and we didn't want that." A strong campaign of secrecy about the script was enforced by Ratner and the writers. Even the actors had problems with getting full screenplays, the call sheets did not reveal all the characters, and many scenes were shot in varied ways. Both of the ending scenes were not included on the shooting script, with Ratner taking a small crew during one day's lunch time to film the post-credits scene with Xavier, and later going to London to film Magneto in the park.
In 2014, Kinberg said of the wobbling chess piece at the end of the film, "There is a scene before the credits where Magneto's playing chess, and you see that he can just make the chess piece move, so there's a hint that he's starting to regain his powers. The leap from there was that cure from The Last Stand didn't work exactly the way they thought it would, and so we just leaped forward however many years, and he's got his powers back."
In 2017, according to co-star Elliot Page in a 2017 interview during the MeToo and Time's Up movement, he accused Ratner of homophobia, saying he outed Page as a lesbian at a cast and crew meet and greet during production, which made him feel violated. Fellow co-star and bisexual actress Anna Paquin expressed support of Page, stating that she was present when Ratner made the comment.
Visual effects
To make sure the visual effects were made in just one year and without exceeding the budget, special effects supervisor John Bruno shipped the 900 visual effects shots to eleven companies in four countries – United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada – and did extensive previsualization. Their work begun in April 2005, before the director Brett Ratner had even been announced, and Bruno made sure to emphasize practical effects, "shoot as many practical elements as possible, and only use CGI when we had to." For instance, complex wirework rigs were employed which enabled the actors to do some stunts without resorting to digital doubles, including a computer controlled flying rig from Cirque Du Soleil for Angel's flight, and one for Halle Berry's flying spins.
Bruno estimates one-sixth of the effects budget was spent on the Golden Gate Bridge scene, which employed both a miniature of the bridge and computer graphics. The miniature was filmed over a period of two months in Santa Clarita, California, just outside of Los Angeles. The effects team would shoot one minute of footage outdoors each day at "golden hour," complete with explosives in order to have enough plates to composite the scene.The effects team had to work without reference footage due to the city of San Francisco vetting any filming in the actual bridge, including aerial shooting as the area has restrictions on flying helicopters. Framestore had further challenges in matching the varied weather conditions across the film's plates. As compositing supervisor Matt Twyford detailed, "the elements consisted of cold, rainy night live-action footage from Vancouver, sunny day miniature elements, traditional misty day background plates of San Francisco, and of course the CGI bridge and CGI elements." Another miniature was for the Grey home, which had a destructable equivalent matching the Canadian location and also had a digital equivalent. A notable effect was the "digital skin-grafting", which rejuvenated the faces of senior actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, made by the Brothers Strause's Lola Visual Effects. Bruno made sure to ask the atomization made by Phoenix was not too vivid and gruesome, instead resembling oatmeal.
Music
Main article: X-Men: The Last Stand (soundtrack)Ratner, a fan of John Powell's work in The Bourne Identity (2002), invited Powell to write the music for The Last Stand. Powell was unsure if the Bourne work was "the kind of score that would fit the film" and Fox became reluctant on the composer's availability, given he was already scoring Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) at the time of Ratner's contact. However, Powell finished the Ice Age score early to accept the job even if it resulted in a tighter schedule. Powell included references to the score from the previous two films as "it all had to be in the same family, and the same language". The Phoenix theme used lyrics from Benjamin Britten's Requiem Mass for the choir parts. A soundtrack album was released on May 23, 2006.
Marketing
The marketing for The Last Stand was darker and more ambiguous compared to the two predecessors. Rothman declared that the decision was made so the film would "be different from all of the other movies in the summer," with a campaign that "wanted people to stop and not have it be so immediately apparent that we're selling a movie. We're interested in selling an emotion and an idea." The film's official website was launched in October 2005. The teaser trailer release with King Kong the following December was done in conjunction with the studio releasing the film's first official screen shots of the film to USA Today. Diamond Select Toys created a toy line, scanning the actors from the film with likenesses for the first time in the trilogy. Additional product tie-ins came with Harley-Davidson and 7-Eleven. A seven-minute sneak peek aired on Fox Broadcasting two weeks before the film's theatrical release.
Del Rey Books published a novelization of the film, written by comic book writer Chris Claremont, while Newmarket Press published The Art of X-Men: The Last Stand: From Concept to Feature Film. Claremont also worked on Activision's tie-in video game, X-Men: The Official Game, doing the script along with screenwriter Zak Penn. The game's story bridges the events between X2 and The Last Stand, featuring Wolverine, Iceman and Nightcrawler as playable characters, voiced by their film portrayers Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, and Alan Cumming. Patrick Stewart also appears as Professor X. The game was released to negative reviews and eventually underperformed commercially.
Release
Theatrical
X-Men: The Last Stand premiered at an out-of-competition event of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2006. Two days later, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Kelsey Grammer attended an advance screening at USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), as the ship was en route to New York City for Fleet Week. The film was released in the United States on May 26, 2006, in 3,690 theaters, while also opening in 95 international markets that same weekend.
Home media
X-Men: The Last Stand was released on October 3, 2006, on DVD and UMD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was available in three editions: single-disc, two-disc, and a trilogy box set with the previous two films. Extras included three alternative endings, each with optional commentary by director Ratner; 10 deleted scenes; audio commentaries from Ratner, the writers and the producers; and two hidden Easter eggs. The two-disc edition came with a 100-page commemorative comic book with a new story written by X-Men co-creator Stan Lee, his first original Marvel comic book in five years. The DVD sold 2.6 million units in its first day, exceeding Fox's expectations, and sold a total of 5 million in its first week. A Blu-ray edition was issued in November 2006.
X-Men: The Last Stand is included in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set X-Men: 3-Film Collection, which was released on September 25, 2018.
Reception
Box office
X-Men: The Last Stand earned $45.1 million on its opening day and went on to generate $102.7 million during its three-day opening weekend, making it the fourth-highest opening weekend of all time, behind Shrek 2, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Spider-Man. The film then grossed $122.8 million during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, which was the highest at that time, surpassing The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Shrek 2. It would hold this record until it was surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End the next year. The film's release was also a new single-day record for Friday openings. The opening weekend gross was surpassed six weeks later by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, making The Last Stand's opening the second-highest of 2006. Internationally, The Last Stand topped the box office in 26 countries with a total gross of $76.1 million overall, but suffered competition from The Da Vinci Code, which retained the top spot in most markets, and beat The Last Stand in international gross that weekend with $91 million. The film's second weekend dropped 67 percent to $34 million, which was the steepest post-Memorial Day opening drop on record. X-Men: The Last Stand eventually grossed $234.4 million in the domestic box office and $225 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $459.4 million, the fourth-highest in domestic grosses and seventh-highest worldwide for 2006. X-Men: The Last Stand was also the highest-grossing film in the franchise, until it was surpassed by X-Men: Days of Future Past eight years later.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 57% of 240 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "X-Men: The Last Stand provides plenty of mutant action for fans of the franchise, even if it does so at the expense of its predecessors' deeper moments." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating, with Roger Ebert saying, "I liked the action, I liked the absurdity, I liked the incongruous use and misuse of mutant powers, and I especially liked the way it introduces all of those political issues and lets them fight it out with the special effects." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com gave it a mixed review, noting that it was "only half a mess", and that Ratner "could have stuck a bit more closely to the 'Dark Phoenix' narrative than he did." However, Zacharek did note that that third act captured some of the original story's "majesty", praising the performances of Jackman, McKellen, Romijn and Janssen. Famke Janssen's performance was praised by critics. Matt Mueller of Total Film was impressed with Janssen's performance and said, "Playing the super-freaky mind-control goddess like GoldenEye's Xenia Onatopp's all-powerful psycho sister, her scenes – particularly that one with the house – crackle with energy and tragedy. If only the rest of X3 had followed suit."
Justin Chang of Variety said the film was "a wham-bam sequel noticeably lacking in the pop gravitas, moody atmospherics, and emotional weight that made the first two Marvel comicbook adaptations so rousingly successful." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called it a "diminished sequel, a brute-force enterprise" and said it was an example of "what happens when movies are confused with sandwich shops as franchise opportunities". The Minneapolis Star Tribune characterized Ratner's approach as "Forget subtlety! Let's blow things up!" David Edelstein of New York magazine called it "just another big-budget B-movie. It's a fast and enjoyable B-movie, though." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, "Last stand? My ass. Billed as the climax of a trilogy, the third and weakest chapter in the X-Men series is a blatant attempt to prove there is still life in the franchise. And there is: just enough to pull a Star Trek and spawn a Next Generation saga."
X-Men: The Last Stand has been criticized by fans for killing off major characters such as Charles Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. The 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past has subsequently been viewed by some critics as a revision of those controversial plot elements in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Other responses
Writer Kinberg stated, "There are a lot of things about 'X3' that I love and there are a lot of things that I regret," detailing that he would have preferred the Dark Phoenix as the main plotline and "I would have fought harder" for that considering that at the time, "the darkness of her story was a little bit daunting on a huge $200 million studio movie", leading Fox to ask for rewrites. Having admitted to being unhappy with the way some elements of the film turned out, Kinberg then went on to direct and write the reboot film Dark Phoenix, which retold the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.
Previous X-Men director Bryan Singer declared that The Last Stand "isn't what I would have done" and he was dissatisfied with the busy plot and excessive character deaths, but Singer still liked some parts of the movie, such as Elliot Page's casting – leading Singer to bring Page back as Kitty Pryde in X-Men: Days of Future Past – and the scenes with Leech, which he described as "really sweet moments".
Matthew Vaughn, who was attached as director before dropping out, said that given the limited time they had to make it, the film was "pretty good" but criticized Ratner's direction: "I could have done something with far more emotion and heart. I'm probably going to be told off for saying that, but I genuinely believe it." While promoting his own installment of the franchise, 2011's X-Men: First Class, Vaughn would say regarding The Last Stand that "I storyboarded the whole bloody film, did the script. My X3 would have been 40 minutes longer. They didn't let the emotions and the drama play in that film. It became wall-to-wall noise and drama. I would have let it breathe and given far more dramatic elements to it."
Accolades
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Costume Design for Film – Fantasy | Judianna Makovsky | Nominated |
Empire Awards | Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated |
Scene of the Year | The Phoenix and Professor X showdown | Nominated | |
Irish Film & Television Award | Best International Actor | Ian McKellen | Nominated |
People's Choice Award | Favorite Female Action Star | Halle Berry | Won |
Favorite Movie Drama | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated | |
Favorite Movie | Nominated | ||
Satellite Award | Best Editing | Mark Helfrich, Mark Goldblatt, Julia Wong | Won |
Saturn Award | Best Costume | Judianna Makovsky | Nominated |
Best Music | John Powell | Nominated | |
Best Science Fiction Film | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated | |
Best Special Effects | John Bruno, Eric Saindon, Craig Lyn | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actor | Kelsey Grammer | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actress | Famke Janssen | Won | |
Teen Choice Award | Choice Action Movie | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated |
Choice Action Movie Actor | Hugh Jackman | Nominated | |
Choice Action Movie Actress | Halle Berry | Nominated | |
Choice Movie Liplock | Hugh Jackman & Famke Janssen | Nominated | |
Choice Movie Rumble | X-Men: The Last Stand | Nominated | |
Choice Movie Villain | Ian McKellen | Nominated | |
Young Artist Awards | Best Supporting Young Actor in a Feature Film | Cameron Bright | Nominated |
Future
In February 2006, Ratner said that The Last Stand could be the final X-Men film: "We wanted to make sure the audiences knew that this was a trilogy. Even though they weren't made together like Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), this is really closure for the X-Men series. ... This is the last stand for sure."
The next two X-Men films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and X-Men: First Class (2011) were prequels that took place before the events of the first X-Men movie. The first film set chronologically after The Last Stand was The Wolverine (2013), a standalone sequel, that shows Logan heading for Japan to escape the memories of what occurred during The Last Stand. Jackman and Janssen reprised their roles, while McKellen and Stewart appear in a mid-credits scene.
X-Men: Days of Future Past, the direct sequel to The Last Stand, was released on May 23, 2014, with Jackman, Berry, Stewart, McKellen, Paquin, Page, Ashmore, Cudmore, Grammer, Janssen, and Marsden reprising their respective roles. The plot, inspired by the comic book "Days of Future Past" story arc, begins with a dystopian future set years after The Last Stand. Wolverine's consciousness is sent back in time, to his 1973 body in order to guide the younger Xavier and Magneto into preventing the events that lead to the desolate future. The events of the film end up retroactively changing the continuity of the series, changing some events in films set after First Class, resulting in an altered timeline where Jean and Cyclops are still alive.
Notes
- In the DVD commentary, it is revealed that the patient was "P. Xavier", Charles Xavier's brain-dead twin brother, whose character was written for the scene. Earlier in the film, MacTaggert spoke in a video about the ways of using mutant powers, such as transferring the mind of a dying man into the body of a patient with no higher brain function, giving an explanation for his resurrection.
- Credited as Ellen Page; the film was released before Page came out as transgender.
References
- ^ "X-Men The Last Stand (2006)". London: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2014. For full data, click "Show more" link.
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