There is a sense of saddness that comes with this story. If it is indeed true (and it looks like it is) it means that Singer is trully off the project (something other people have been saying for a long time, but I have stubornly refused to accept). However, if anyone can take X-Men 3 to where it needs to go, I can’t think of another person who might step up to the plate as well as Joss Whedon could. Our good friends over at CountingDown report the following from Production Weekly: According to the often accurate ‘Production Weekly’, Joss Whedon (Serenity) is IN as director of ‘X-Men 3’, with production slated to begin in Vancouver in June 2005.
Now, this seems a bit odd, in that Whedon is currently just starting post-production on ‘Serenity’ (the film adaptation of his tragically cancelled TV show ‘Firefly’), and with that film set for release in late April, Whedon wouldn’t have much prep time for his X-Outing. However, he’s also known for juggling multiple projects (at one time, Whedon was the showrunner for 3 different television shows at once), and has stated that he would change as little of the cast as possible from Singer’s line-up. He’s also been writing the ‘Astonishing X-Men’ comic for Marvel for the past few months, so he should be pretty well-versed in the characters.
Whedon has a fantastic knack for the telling of quasi-fantasy stories (Fantasy set in the real world). Buffy and Angel are stories of the extraordinary within the realm of the ordinary world… sounds a lot like the X-Men franchise. I still pine for Singer… but Whedon will do just fine. It’s like someone telling me that Jennifer Garner cancelled our date, but that Keira Knightley will be taking her place. Not bad. Read the whole article here.
