X2
The time has come for those who are different to stand united.
X2 (2003)
Budget
$110 000 000
Revenue
$407 711 549
Director
Scenario
Bryan Singer
Author
Composer
Producer
Ralph Winter
Actors
Hugh Jackman
Logan / Wolverine
Patrick Stewart
Professor Charles Xavier
Ian McKellen
Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
James Marsden
Scott Summers / Cyclops
Brian Cox
William Stryker
Famke Janssen
Jean Grey
Halle Berry
Ororo Munroe / Storm
Alan Cumming
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
Short description
X2 continues the story of the X-Men, a team of mutants with extraordinary abilities who live in a world that fears and distrusts them. When a powerful mutant launches a devastating attack, anti-mutant sentiment surges. William Stryker, a former military figure, leads a campaign against mutants and targets Professor Charles Xavier's school, forcing the X-Men to defend themselves. Wolverine also investigates his own forgotten past, which appears to be connected to Stryker. To fight back, the X-Men find an unexpected ally in Magneto, who has escaped from his plastic prison.
Bryan Singer directed the film, his fourth feature after The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil and X-Men, and the second entry in the series he began with X-Men. Michael Dougherty, David Hayter and Dan Harris wrote the screenplay, and Ralph Winter and Lauren Shuler Donner produced. Hugh Jackman returns as Logan, alongside Patrick Stewart as Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey and Brian Cox as Stryker. The film cost about 110 million dollars and took roughly 408 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from 610,000 votes, and on TMDB 7/10 from 11,201 votes. A critics' rating of 7.7/10 from 249 reviews places it slightly above both audience scores, indicating broadly favourable professional notices.
What's left behind the scenes
- Hugh Jackman trained under the same trainer as Angelina Jolie for the film “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001).
- Applying makeup for Alan Cumming for the church scenes took about 10 hours.
- Yuriko's claws were attached to Kelly Hu's fingernails. Therefore, she had to grow her nails out a bit so that it was possible to attach the claws.
- For the role in this film, Hugh Jackman gained 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle mass.
- It took around 5 hours to apply Rebecca Romijn's makeup.
- Most of the actors in the museum scene were mimes, for whom remaining still for a period of time wasn't particularly difficult. Mimes were also used in the final scene in the Oval Office.
- Unlike the first film, Rebecca Romijn did not wear contact lenses, and the effects of changing her eye color were created on a computer this time.
- The set for Striker's base was so large that the crew moved around it on bicycles. It was the largest set in North America.
- 27 draft versions of the script were written.
- All scenes inside Professor X's Cerebro were filmed first, after which the set was repurposed for Stryker's Cerebro.
- The second largest set was the turbine room decoration on the old dam.
- Bryan Singer strongly demanded that the writers thoroughly research what would happen if the dam were to breach. They found answers to most questions online.
- According to safety regulations, the helicopter blades should not move when actors are inside the vehicle (in this case – Rebecca Romijn and Ian McKellen). Therefore, the rotating helicopter blades were added in post-production using computer special effects.
- The Oval Office set was so detailed that its construction took 2 months.
- Several sets specifically built for the film were never used. These included the "Danger Room" and several rooms at Stryker's base. A fight between Toad and Sabretooth was supposed to take place in one of the rooms at Stryker's base.
- The film "Why Does Man Create?" (1968) is playing on the video monitors in the museum.
- According to Bryan Singer, the film's script is based on the graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills."
- The mansion used for the school can also be seen in the series "Smallville" (2001).
- An extended fight scene between Cyclops and Yuriko exists, having been filmed but never appearing in either the theatrical release or the deleted scenes on the DVD.
- Wolverine's personal number is 458-25-243.
- The toilet set where Mystique injects the guard is an unused set from the film 'X-Men' (2000).
- It was rumored that Ethan Embry could have played Leapfrog.
- David Kay, who voiced Professor X in the series 'X-Men: Evolution' (2000), played a small role in the film.
- Most of the shots showing the exterior of the Xavier mansion were borrowed from the first film.
- The age difference between Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly) and Brian Cox (William Stryker) is 27 days, yet Stryker states that Kelly is at least 20 years younger than him.
- Rogue’s true name was never revealed in the comics. However, in the film, her name is Marie D’Ancanto.
- The Oval Office set is an exact replica, but the corridors leading to it were intentionally made wider than in reality to provide more space for fight scenes.
- Beast and Gambit were originally intended to be new characters, but it was later decided to introduce Prowler into the plot.
- Neil Patrick Harris auditioned for the role of the Jester.
- The music playing in the opening scene of the film is "Dies Irae" from Mozart's Requiem.
- Originally, the film was to include a scene in the "Danger Room", but due to a budget cut from $125 to $110 million, it was decided to omit it.
- Jean Grey's final monologue is a word-for-word repeat of Professor X's opening monologue in the film "X-Men" (2000).
- In a bar, a discussion about the mutant situation is playing on TV. One of the speakers is Dr. Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast. We do not see the other participant in the discussion, but learn his name – Dr. Shaw. Most likely, this is Dr. Sebastian Shaw, the leader of the 'Hellfire Club'.
- Filming the fight scene between Wolverine and Yuriko lasted 3 weeks.
- Kelly Hu says only one line throughout the film.
- Cyclops' scar on his neck, indicating that he was under Stryker's control, was added during post-production using computer special effects.
- Initially, Jean Grey was supposed to become temporarily blind after reuniting with Cyclops. The scenes were filmed that way, but later it was decided to abandon this idea.
- The vehicle Cyclops drives to escape with Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman, and Pyro is a “Mazda RX-8”.
- Shortly before the assassination attempt on the president, at the very beginning of the film, you can notice portraits of US presidents who were assassinated – Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and William McKinley.
- When Mystique views files on Striker's computer, she displays photos of guards at the prison where Magneto is held. The third photo from the end depicts Bryan Singer in a guard uniform. The name under the photo reads – Singer, B.
- When Pyro destroys the police cars, a pig squeal was used as one of the elements in the sound mix to create the explosion effect.
- When Wolverine enters the room with the adamantium at Striker’s base, you can notice many X-ray images on one of the walls. The one furthest to the right depicts something resembling a left wing. According to DVD commentary, this is a hint at Angel. In the comics, Angel’s wings were replaced with metal, and he became Archangel.
- Ian McKellen specifically asked the screenwriters to rewrite the scene where Bobby comes out to his parents as a mutant to make it resemble the scene where he comes out as gay.
- According to Bryan Singer, the scene where Senator Kelly transforms into Mystique was inspired by the episode "The Howling Man" from "The Twilight Zone" (1959).
- In the final scene of the film, Professor Xavier talks about T.H. White's book "The Once and Future King." Magneto was reading the same book before Stryker's arrival.
- A shark is drawn on Pyro's lighter, which is a reference to the film "Jaws" (1975).
- The ice wall separating Wolverine and Stryker during their 'first' meeting was actually made of real ice. It weighed 3,500 pounds (1,587 kilograms).
- Magneto's line, "When will they ever learn?" is a reference to certain comic book characters (such as Jean Grey) who can fly, but do not utilize these abilities in the film.
- When Mystique browses computer files to find Magneto's location, several names appear on the screen which are references to members of the film crew: De Santo, T. (Tom De Santo, executive producer), Doherty, M. (Michael Doherty, screenwriter), Donner, L. (Lauren Shuler Donner, producer), Young, R.D. (likely Rob Young, one of the sound operators), Harris, D. (Dan Harris, screenwriter), Singer, B. (Bryan Singer, director).
- Originally, during the scene where they attempt to kill all mutants using 'Cerebro', Bryan Singer intended to show the effect of 'Cerebro' not only on the mutants at Stryker's base, but also on mutants worldwide. Beast and Gambit were supposed to appear in the scene. The scene was filmed but did not make it into the final cut.
- According to Bryan Singer, during filming he told Famke Janssen that he intended to kill Jean Grey at the end of the film in order to resurrect her in the third installment as the Dark Phoenix. Famke agreed to this plot development without any objections.
- In the scene with Iceman cooling the soda, the liquid level in the bottle changes from scene to scene.
- At the end of the final scene, when the mutants came to the president to express their position, the camera pulling away from the president shows Striker's folder open on the table. A few seconds later, the folder is already closed in front of the president.
- The final scene in Xavier's mansion with Cyclops, Wolverine, and Professor X was filmed at Shepperton Studios in London, because Hugh Jackman was already filming "Van Helsing" (2004) at the time, and the producers released him for one day to complete filming in Brian Singer's film.
- The Oval Office set was subsequently used for several episodes of the television series "Stargate SG-1" (1997-2007).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
