Someone at 20th Century Fox is going to be fired. Late last night, Twitter and the IMDB forums were alive with chatter as a DVD quality workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine found its way online.

In no way is this an April Fool's joke, but it's serious business. Several other sites have verified its legit, and I took a glance at it myself at a couple minutes at different points in the movie, and it's certainly a working edit of the film.

But what a lot of people are pointing out, and this is something I agree with to a certain extent, that this won't exactly be the film we'll see on May 1st. Apparently this cut does not include any of the new footage that director Gavin Hood and the cast shot when there were worrying re-shoots in Vancouver months ago. Also along this note, the print also has unfinished effects including completely unfinished CG models of characters, green screen work and more.

We're not going to link to where you can find this leak or anything like that. If you really, REALLY want to find it, then I'm sure you will. But let me just say, that if you're looking to enjoy the movie, just hold off and in exactly one month, you'll get to see it on the big screen. It's not like you don't know what's going to happen anyway. Wolverine will get his claws out menacingly, be sarcastic, cut some stuff, blow some things up, and then Ryan Reynolds will make another joke. Game over.

Labels: 20th Century Fox, Gavin Hood, Hugh Jackman, Wolverine, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

20th Century Fox released what is apparently the final trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine in what might possible be the worst decision to market a big blockbuster such as this. The trailer debuted late last night over at USA Today with some new character pictures to accompany it. The video is pitifully small when embedded, and the full screen just makes the video look even worse. Luckily our friends over at Trailer Addict were able to snag it as well for us to enjoy in a bigger format.

While it's not perfect, this is the best trailer yet. Count me slightly anxious for this to be released but proceeding with caution. More footage of Gambit is always a plus, and a look at what appears to be a young Scott Summers (aka Cyclops) just discovering his optic blast capabilities. I'm still a huge critic of the Michael Bay level of explosions though. It borders on parody.

And I have a very weird bone to pick with some of the sound effects/design in this trailer (which I really hope are't the final effects to be used in the film). This is a strange nitpick, but it's only because I saw the movie I'm going to reference so many times as a kid that this just entered my mind. The sounds that are used when Gambit hits his staff into the ground and various other structures with kinetic energy is EXACTLY the same sound that the huge water splashes made when the sprinkler turns on in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. If you want to compare them, the clip for the sprinkler scene can be found here (the action starts at about 1:12 into the clip).

There's also just a lot of shots and action just taken directly from other films. The cut of Wolverine dragging his claws along that Hummer, causing it to flip over is just like the scene in The Matrix Reloaded when Morpheus slices his sword into the Twins Escalade (go to 4:31 in the clip). And the later shot of Wolverine landing on top of the helicopter is very reminiscent of an equally ridiculous scene in Live Free or Die Hard with John McClane jumping onto a jet. Granted this is a comic book movie, but this is a bit overkill in my estimate. It just feels like they're trying to hard.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1st, and I pray that people don't think Wolverine is gay after Hugh Jackman's Oscar hosting last month. We already have a gay mutant and his name is Perez Hilton. What do you guys think of the new trailer?

Labels: Gambit, Marvel, Trailers, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The more I see of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the less excited I become. There I said it. The first trailer that came out a couple months ago was action-packed for sure, but it felt a bit over the top. Now with these three new one-minute promos that aired during Fox's prime-time schedule, I'm not exactly impressed.

One of the more worrisome elements is that a lot of the forced humor that turned Wolverine into a walking punchline in X-Men: The Last Stand stuck around, and that's a bit disheartening. Also, I don't know if I'm the only one still skeptical, but I haven't seen Liev Schreiber (Defiance) do anything that makes me like him as Sabretooth yet. Hugh Jackman has already done a bit of damage control on those reshoots in Vancouver, but unless something amazing comes out before May, then I might need some more reassurance.

So far the only things sustaining a decent amount of interest and dare I say excitement are:

• Hugh Jackman as Wolverine because he's just so damn good at it
  
  
• Gambit being in the movie at all. This was a character that deserved the full fledged X-Men treatment, and it's good to see him on screen.
  
  
• Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. Despite Blade Trinity falling flat on its face, I enjoyed Reynolds character and it'll be good to see him in something other than mediocre romantic comedies again.
  
  
• Dominic Monaghan as Beak. I just want to see how he plays in a comic book movie.
  
  
• Any potential cameos from other X-Men.

Otherwise, some pretty spectacular footage is going to have to come out in the form of a new trailer to get me truly hyped. The three one-minute spots are embedded below. They work together a bit, so watch them in order.

Labels: Dominic Monaghan, Gambit, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Trailers, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Now we have teaser poster for the forthcoming superhero blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While the poster itself is cool, it's not necessarily amazing. It's not really anymore exciting or creative than the fan-made teaser that came out over a year ago. Really I think this is just a re-tread of the teaser poster for X-Men: The Last Stand, but this one shows a little more skin. Anyway, it's a start on the long trail of marketing ahead. If you missed it, check out the trailer we posted a little while back.

Labels: Posters, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Last week there was what seemed to be a bit of disturbing news from Collider regarding extensive re-shoots happening up in Vancouver for 20th Century Fox's summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Long story short, people have strong suspicions in Fox micro-managing the film behind director Gavin Hood's back, and even involvement from Richard Donner attempting to fix some sort of debacle that this tentpole film had fallen into.

Well, lo and behold, the waters parted and there was word from up on high. And this information came from a bit of an unlikely source...Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. This was such an important matter to clear up that Jackman took time out of these extensive re-shoots and I'm sure his continuing busy schedule regarding his hosting the Oscars to put the collective fan boy mind at ease.

Ain't It Cool News (AICN) received an e-mail straight from Jackman, and a bit of a bonus was also included with the e-mail. Here's what Wolverine had to say:

Hey Mate- Would you mind posting this? Thank you for your support! HJ

Hey everyone -

It's Hugh Jackman, sending this note from freezing Vancouver. I have read a lot of your online comments regarding the footage that we are currently shooting and I share your passion for the Wolverine character and the movie - I owe it all to you guys!

I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations. I am stoked by the positive response to the teaser, which clearly reflects the tone and scope of the film. If you like that, we've got much more in store!

In the meantime, here's an exclusive shot of some characters you may recognize...

Cheers,

Hugh

Well this seems reassuring enough, but it seems very hokey to me that Hugh Jackman felt the personal need to include this extra exclusive cast picture with the e-mail. This is worrying to me because I wasn't entirely blown away back when we premiered the first trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it seems like the studio is using Jackman's apparent trusted nature amongst the web to take care of damage control. I had the same uneasy feeling when meeting Eddie Izzard over the summer and asking him about Valkyrie. Without prompt Izzard proceeded to tell me and his Q&A audience that the jostling around of the film's release date had nothing to do with worry about the quality of the picture but simply a decision to get the movie out of October (apparently a month known for historical dramas) to a better date more accommodating for the thrilling, suspenseful picture that it really was. I love Eddie Izzard, but that just screamed out damage control to me.

Wolverine looks cool enough but maybe too action-packed to the extreme. These re-shoots are worrying and despite Hugh Jackman's reassurance, I'll hold my real judgment until the film is released this May.

Labels: 20th Century Fox, Fox, Gavin Hood, Hugh Jackman, Richard Donner, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine