20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment Group (2000, Laika alternative universe)

Taken from "X-Men" (2000, Laika alternative universe)

X-Men is a 2000 American stop-motion animated superhero film directed by Bryan Singer from a screenplay by David Hayter and a story by Singer and Tom DeSanto, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Featuring an ensemble voice cast consisting of Liam Neeson, Gerard Butler, Jeremy Irons, Octavia Spencer, Audrey Tautou, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Sharon Stone, Willem Dafoe, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Jessica Biel, the film depicts a world where an unknown proportion of people are mutants, possessing superhuman powers that make them distrusted by normal humans. It focuses on mutants Wolverine and Rogue as they are brought into a conflict between two groups with radically different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutant-kind: Charles Xavier's X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto.

Development of X-Men began as far back as 1984 with Orion Pictures, with James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow in discussions at one point. 20th Century Fox bought the film rights in 1994, and various scripts and film treatments were commissioned from Andrew Kevin Walker, John Logan, Joss Whedon, and Michael Chabon. Singer signed to direct in 1996, with further rewrites by Ed Solomon, Singer, Tom DeSanto, Christopher McQuarrie, and Hayter, in which Beast and Nightcrawler were deleted over budget concerns from Fox. X-Men marked the American debut for Jackman, a last-second choice for Wolverine, cast three weeks into filming. Animating took place from September 22, 1999, to March 3, 2000.

X-Men premiered at Ellis Island on July 12, 2000, and was released in the United States on July 14. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $296.3 million worldwide, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2000. Its success led to a series of films, with the first sequel, X2, released on May 2, 2003.

Directed By:
Bryan Singer

Screenplay By:
David Hayter

Story By:
Tom DeSanto
Bryan Singer

Based On:
X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Produced By:
Lauren Shuler Donner
Ralph Winter

Voice Cast:
Liam Neeson as Charles Xavier/Professor X
Gerard Butler as James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine
Jeremy Irons as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
Octavia Spencer as Ororo Munroe/Storm
Audrey Tautou as Jean Grey
Johnny Depp as Scott Summers/Cyclops
Tommy Lee Jones as Senator Robert Kelly
Sharon Stone as Mystique
Willem Dafoe as Toad
Michael Clarke Duncan as Sabertooth
Jessica Biel as Marie/Rogue

Cinematography:
Newton Thomas Sigel

Edited By:
Steven Rosenblum
Kevin Stitt
John Wright

Music By:
Michael Kamen

Production Companies:
Marvel Entertainment Group
Laika Entertainment
The Donners' Company
Bad Hat Harry Productions

Distributed By:
20th Century Fox

Release Dates:
July 12, 2000
(Ellis Island)
July 14, 2000
(United States)

Running Time:
104 minutes

Country:
United States

Language:
English

Budget:
$75 million

Box Office:
$296.3 million

Twentieth Century Fox presents

in association with Marvel Entertainment Group

a Laika Entertainment/Donner's Company/Bad Hat Harry production

a film by Bryan Singer

"X-Men "

©2000 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.