Matthew Vaughn claims executives planned to trick Halle Berry with fake ‘X-Men’ script
Matthew Vaughn has claimed he decided against directing X-Men: The Last Stand after learning plans by studio executives to trick Halle Berry with a fake script.
Vaughn first made his entry into the X-Men universe in 2011 with X-Men: First Class which relaunched the franchise. However, the director has now revealed he was set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 but pulled out after stumbling on plans to entice Berry to reprise her role as Storm.
Speaking at New York City Comic-Con, Vaughn said: “One of the main reasons I quit X-Men 3, and this is a true story. I went to an executive’s office and I saw an X3 script. It was a lot fatter.”
He continued: “I asked, ‘What is this draft?’ They were like, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ So I grabbed it, and opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Kids dying from no water, and Storm creates a thunderstorm to save all these children.’”
Vaughn added: “I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I said, ‘What is this?’ They said, ‘This is the Halle Berry script, because she hasn’t signed on yet. This is what she wants it to be. And once she signs on, we’ll throw it in the bin.’ I thought, if you’re going to do that to an Oscar winning actress who plays Storm, I quit. I thought, I’m mincemeat.”
Berry did appear as Storm in The Last Stand. However, the film didn’t feature any scenes set in Africa.
Meanwhile, last month, the first trailer arrived for Vaughn’s new film Argylle. The teaser sees Henry Cavill take on a mysterious spy role alongside the likes of John Cena, Dua Lipa and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie is set for a cinematic release on February 2nd 2024 before moving to Apple TV+.
The synopsis for Argylle reads: “Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise) is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past.”
It continues: “Accompanied by Aiden (Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.