X-Men is a 2000 superhero film, based upon the fictional characters the X-Men. It formed a major part of the current revival in comic-book adaptation movies. The film is about mutants who are the next evolutionary step in the chain of humanity, with special powers that manifest at puberty. These mutants are almost universally feared and loathed by the rest of humanity.
Professor Charles Xavier (the world's most powerful telepath) takes gifted individuals and teaches them to control their powers for the good of mankind in Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters, his school for gifted youngsters. Opposition to them includes United States Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), a McCarthyesque politician trying to pass legislation crafted to expose the dangers of mutants and Erik Lehnsherr (also known as Magneto), a mutant who blames humanity for the death of his family during the Holocaust. Believing that humans and mutants can never co-exist peacefully, he builds and tests a machine that develops humans into mutants.
The movie was directed by Bryan Singer and explores the ideas of prejudice and discrimination in the United States. The screenplay was written by David Hayter (who has a cameo appearance in the film as a police officer in the Statue of Liberty area). A sequel, X2, was released in 2003 and a third film, X-Men: The Last Stand, was released in 2006. The film franchise also brought up interest in a solo Wolverine movie and a Magneto-centered film.
In 1994, 20th Century Fox and producer Lauren Shuler Donner bought the film rights to the X-Men, hiring Andrew Kevin Walker to write. Walker's draft included Professor Xavier hiring Wolverine into the X-Men, which consist of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast and Angel. The Brotherhood of Mutants, consisting of Magneto, Sabretooth, Toad and the Blob, try to conquer New York City, while Henry Peter Gyrich and Bolivar Trask attack the X-Men with three eight-feet tall Sentinels. The script focused on Wolverine and Cyclops' rivalry, as well as Cyclops' self-doubt as field leader, and Magneto's backstory was that he caused the Chernobyl disaster. The script also featured the X-Copter and the Danger Room.
John Logan wrote another draft, Tom DeSanto courted Bryan Singer to direct in 1995. Singer, who was looking to do a science fiction film. and turned down the opportunity of X-Men at first. His reactions to comic books were that they were low-level literature. DeSanto brought Singer in a meeting with producers Shuler Donner, Avi Arad, and Stan Lee. After watching all the episodes from the X-Men animated series on tape, as well as reading many comics, Singer took back his words and signed on. Joss Whedon was hired to rewrite the Statue of Liberty climax, but he ended up rewriting the entire script because he thought it was generally ridiculous. His changes were scrapped because his quick-witted pop culture-referencing tone didn't please Singer's serious vision for the film. Ed Solomon wrote another script which Singer, DeSanto and Christopher McQuarrie revised. David Hayter then rewrote the final shooting script, cutting out Beast, Pyro and the Danger Room to cut the budget by $5 million, and received final credit.
Ian McKellen was cast in May 1999 as Magneto, alongside Tyler Mane as Sabretooth. McKellen had previously worked with Singer on Apt Pupil. Patrick Stewart was being negotiated for Xavier with filming set to start in July. Filming was delayed, but Fox decided to push the release date forward to July 2000.
Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March 3, 2000 in Toronto. Dougray Scott was forced out of playing Wolverine before filming began, and Hugh Jackman was cast afterward in late October. Wolverine's claws required a full silicone cast of Hugh Jackman's arm, and 700 versions for Jackman and his stunt doubles.Wikipedia
