Fox Initially Thought X-MEN Would Crash and Burn… Then It Changed Superhero Movies Forever
It’s kind of crazy to think about now, but there was a time when comic book movies didn’t have Hollywood studios throwing money at them. They just had no interest in them and didn’t think they had a future.
With the Marvel Cinematic Universe dominating theaters and projects like Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon, Things have certainly changed and they are more of a safe bet. That wasn’t the case back in 2000 when X-Men was gearing up for release, though.
In fact, according to former chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, Bill Mechanic, the people at 20th Century Fox weren’t exactly confident in what Bryan Singer was making.
Mechanic, who was at Fox from 1996 to 2000, opened up about the studio’s reaction during an interview. What he described sounds almost unbelievable considering how things turned out.
“They saw it and thought it was a disaster—why would anybody make a Marvel comic into a movie?”
Yeah… that outlook aged interestingly.
At the time, Mechanic was already on his way out after a string of internal frustrations, and the negative reaction to X-Men didn’t help.
The film wasn’t viewed as a potential franchise starter or a cultural turning point. If anything, it was seen as a risky experiment based on material executives didn’t take seriously.
Of course, we all know what happened next. X-Men hit theaters and it blew up at the box office, and it helped reshape the entire industry. The film laid the groundwork for modern superhero storytelling and kicked off a franchise that would go on to pull in nearly $6 billion worldwide.
That success played a huge role in paving the way for everything that followed, including the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now, fast forward to today, and the X-Men are once again at the center of massive anticipation. Ever since The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, fans have been waiting to see mutants fully integrated into the MCU.
That moment is getting closer, with projects like Avengers: Doomsday expected to finally bring those worlds together in a big way.
Marvel isn’t stopping there either. A full X-Men reboot is already in development, with Jake Schreier, known for Thunderbolts, attached to direct. The film likely won’t arrive until after Avengers: Secret Wars, which is currently slated for December 2027, but it’s clearly a major priority moving forward.
And you can bet the mindset at Disney is very different from what Fox was thinking back in 2000.
What was once dismissed as a “disaster” is now one of the most valuable and influential properties in modern entertainment. Funny how that works.
Source: Business Insider