X-Men: Apocalypse
Only the strong will survive.
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
![Watch film X-Men: Apocalypse — X-Men: Apocalypse | Teaser Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/COvnHv42T-A/maxresdefault.jpg)
Budget
$178 000 000
Revenue
$543 934 105
Director
Scenario
Bryan Singer
Author
Composer
Producer
Lauren Shuler Donner
Actors
James McAvoy
Professor Charles Xavier
Michael Fassbender
Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
Jennifer Lawrence
Raven / Mystique
Nicholas Hoult
Hank McCoy / Beast
Oscar Isaac
En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse
Rose Byrne
Moira MacTaggert
Evan Peters
Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver
Josh Helman
Col. William Stryker
Short description
X-Men: Apocalypse is set in 1983, a decade after the events of its predecessor. An ancient mutant named En Sabah Nur, worshipped as a god in early Egypt and known as Apocalypse, awakens after thousands of years and finds the world not to his liking. Convinced that only the strongest deserve to survive, he gathers powerful mutants to his side, among them a disillusioned Magneto, and sets out to reshape humanity under his own rule. Professor Charles Xavier and Raven must bring together a team of young X-Men to confront him.
Bryan Singer directed the film, his fourth X-Men entry following X-Men, X2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Simon Kinberg wrote the screenplay, and Lauren Shuler Donner, Kinberg and Hutch Parker produced. The cast includes James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven, Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy, Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse and Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert.
Released in May 2016, the film cost about 178 million USD and earned roughly 544 million USD worldwide, a solid return though below the previous installment. Its ratings sit in mixed territory: 6.8/10 on IMDb from around 490,000 votes and 6.5/10 on TMDB, while a critics' score of 5.7/10 from 345 reviews places reviewers below general audiences. It runs 144 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Tom Hardy and Idris Elba were considered for the role of Apocalypse at one point.
- The film was originally going to be called "X-Men: Age of Apocalypse" after the comic book series of the same name, but the title was later changed to simply "X-Men: Apocalypse" because it sounded more ominous and to avoid resembling the titles "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction".
- Before casting Alexandra Shipp as Storm, the filmmakers considered Zendaya Coleman and Amber Stevens for the role.
- Before casting Taye Sheridan as Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, the filmmakers considered Timothy Chalamet, Ben Hardy, Charlie Rowe, Taron Egerton, Logan Lerman, Josh Hutcherson, Dylan O'Brien, Jesse Plemons, and Jamie Blackley for the role.
- This is the fifth on-screen appearance of the mutant Peter Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver. The character played a cameo role in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2009), appeared in the post-credits scene in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014), and played central roles in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015). Although in the comics Quicksilver is one character, due to the specifics of rights ownership, different characters with only common superpowers appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the X-Men Cinematic Universe.
- Sophie Turner is famous for playing Sansa Stark in the television series "Game of Thrones" (2011), where Peter Dinklage, the actor who played Dr. Bolivar Trask in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014), plays one of the key roles.
- Sophie Turner and Famke Janssen, the previous actress to play Jean Grey, share certain similarities. Neither of them is naturally red-haired: Turner is a blonde, and Janssen is a brunette. Both were born in Europe: Turner in England, and Janssen in the Netherlands. Both are a few centimeters taller than the actors who played Cyclops: Taye Sheridan is 173 centimeters tall, while Turner is 175 centimeters; James Marsden is 178 centimeters, and Janssen is 182 centimeters. Both actresses are older than the actors who played Cyclops – Turner is 9 months older than Sheridan, and Janssen is 9 years older than Marsden.
- Actress Tuesday Knight campaigned on social media in support of her casting as Spark, also known as Dazzler, but to no avail.
- In the comics, Elizabeth Braddock, also known as Psylocke, is English, and Warren Worthington III, also known as Archangel, is American. In the film, the role of Psylocke is played by an American, and the role of Archangel by an Englishman.
- Ben Hardy became the second actor named Ben to play Angel in the "X-Men" franchise films. Ben Foster played the role in Brett Ratner's "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006).
- In the series "Game of Thrones" (2011), Sophie Turner, who played Jean Grey in the film "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), played the daughter of Sean Bean. Former Grey actress Famke Janssen starred with Sean Bean in Martin Campbell's James Bond film "GoldenEye" (1995) and in Gary Fleder's "Silence".
- The film is released exactly ten years after the premiere of "X-Men: The Last Stand".
- Preparing for the role, Olivia Munn took sword fighting lessons.
- Actress Jamie Chung expressed interest in the role of Psylocke, also known as Betsy Braddock.
- Stan Lee appears in a cameo with his wife.
- In the original trilogy, Archangel, Psylocke, and Jubilee are younger than Cyclops, Jean, Storm, and Quicksilver. In the film, however, it is shown that Jubilee is the same age as this quartet, while Psylocke and Archangel are older.
- Michael Fassbender, who plays Magneto, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays Nightcrawler, are on opposing sides in the film. In John McLean's western "Slow West" (2015), they appear as allies.
- In the comics, Betsy Braddock, also known as Psylocke, was born in England to white European parents, but later took the body of a Japanese ninja named Kwannon. The actress who plays her in the film, Olivia Munn, has Chinese ancestry on her mother's side and German and Irish roots on her father's side, making her Eurasian. Similarly, with some stretching, one can characterize the comic book character herself (after the body swap).
- In the Apocalypse film, the Four Horsemen accompany him – Storm (Famine), Magneto (War), Archangel (Death), and Psylocke (Pestilence). Archangel and Psylocke were Horsemen in the comics (Archangel from the beginning, and Psylocke became one of the Horsemen in the "Uncanny X-Force" comic book series, the first issue of which appeared in 2010). Storm and Magneto played the role of Horsemen in the animated series "X-Men: Evolution" (2000-2003).
- Apocalypse has the ability to change bodies. In the comics, he did not have this ability. It appeared in the plot of the "X-Men: Twelve" crossover, when Apocalypse tried to transfer his consciousness into the body of a powerful mutant and become like a god.
- In the scene where the mutant Apocalypse transmits a message to the world through Charles, a video series of footage from different countries is shown, including the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The film takes place in 1983, when the Cathedral had not yet been rebuilt – it was reconstructed much later.
- To play the role of Charles Xavier, actor James McAvoy shaved his head. McAvoy had wanted to do this in previous X-Men films.
- Producer Simon Kinberg admitted that this film will feature more destruction than any other film in the X-Men franchise. As he himself stated: "We spent a lot of time discussing creating the most powerful mutant villain of all those who have already appeared in the franchise, surpassing Magneto or Phoenix! That is, it's equivalent to a disaster movie about the demise of all humanity. That’s the scale of destruction we’re talking about. It's a Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich style movie, something that has never been in the X-Men franchise or any other superhero story."
- Patrick Stewart, who is not in this film but who played the role of Charles Xavier in previous films of the franchise, jokingly told Bryan Singer that he is ready to play even Mystique if Jennifer Lawrence "lets him down." As Stewart stated: "I am ready to undress on camera and paint myself blue. And the world is ready to accept me like that."
- 2016 will mark the film debut of Apocalypse, combining animation with live-action, and the 30th anniversary of his appearance in X-Men comics (this happened in May 1986).
- According to screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, he and director Bryan Singer discussed the idea of showing the formation of the classic X-Men team in this film, so that subsequent films in the franchise could continue to develop the theme of this "new generation of X-Men" shown in the films 'X-Men: First Class' (2011), 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014), and 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016).
- Before casting Sophie Turner in the role of Jean Grey, the filmmakers considered Elle Fanning, Chloë Grace Moretz, Hailee Steinfeld, Saoirse Ronan, Daisy Ridley, Lily Collins, and Margot Robbie.
- The first film to feature both Summers brothers – mutants Scott, or Cyclops, and Alex, or Havok. A third brother, Gabriel, also known as Vulcan, was present in the comics, but has yet to appear on screen. The creators of 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016) also decided that two brothers would be enough.
- The first significant role for the mutant Betsy Braddock, or Psylocke. She made a brief appearance in 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006).
- This was Jubilee Lee's first substantial role as a mutant after appearing in 'Generation X' (1996), where she was one of the main characters, and in minor roles in the first three films of the 'X-Men' franchise.
- For filming as Storm, actress Alexandra Shipp got a mohawk haircut.
- Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays Kurt Wagner, or Nightcrawler, once planned to play a young Logan, also known as Wolverine, in 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' (2009), but instead chose to star in John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic drama 'The Road'.
- Charles Xavier’s wheelchair in the trailer is the same one Patrick Stewart used in Brian Singer’s "X-Men" (2000).
- Oscar Isaac is the third actor to have appeared in films from the "Star Wars" franchise (specifically, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 2015) who has joined the cast of films about the X-Men. Ray Park played Toad in "X-Men" (2000) and Darth Maul in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" (1999), while Rose Byrne, who played Moira in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), played a handmaiden named Dormé in "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" (2002).
- Josh Helman became the first actor in the 'X-Men' franchise to play the role of William Stryker in more than one film.
- Bryan Singer declined to direct 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006) as he was involved in the 'Superman Returns' project. The film 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016) utilized a concept he would have applied to 'X-Men: The Last Stand' had he directed it.
- Producer Simon Kinberg explained that due to the time travel in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014), the course of history was altered, and some of the mutants became different from how they were portrayed in previous films of the franchise. This facilitated the appearance of old characters in new films, shown from a different angle (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Angel, Jubilee).
- Producer Simon Kinberg called Apocalypse the most dangerous villain in the franchise. “Unlike other villains, he does not differentiate between mutants and humans. He only sees the weak and the strong. For him, this is a world that has gone astray, worshipping false idols and needing to be saved from itself. He is like an Old Testament Lord: either fall in line and worship me, or the earth will open up and swallow you all.”
- According to the comics, Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, is older than his brother Alex, known as Havok. In the film, it's the opposite, and Alex, played by Lucas Till, is older than Scott, played by Tye Sheridan. The filmmakers did this because Havok was already established as a character for the film “X-Men: First Class.” For a time, they even considered removing the characters’ relationship altogether, but then decided that Havok would simply be older.
- The scene where Quicksilver acts within the Institute for Gifted Youngsters run by Professor X takes 3 minutes of screen time, but took 3.5 months to film. Evan Peters spent more time on set than any other actor. This scene was filmed with “3-D Phantom” cameras moving at a speed of 50 miles per hour and capturing 3,100 frames per second.
Auditions in India
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