ROTTEN TOMATOES: It's Official: Brett Ratner to Direct "X-Men 3"

It's Official: Brett Ratner to Direct "X-Men 3"

by Scott Weinberg | June 06, 2005

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Variety confirms what the gossip mill has been churning: Brett Ratner (director of both "Rush Hour" movies, as well as "Money Talks," "The Family Man," "After the Sunset," and "Red Dragon") has signed on to replace Matthew Vaughn as director of the third "X-Men" movie.

Whether or not the hardcore comic-book community will embrace this decision remains to be seen, but the quick hiring of Mr. Ratner means that "X-Men 3" is still on course to make its May 2006 release date. The director comes into a production that includes veterans Hugh Jackman & Patrick Stewart, newcomers Kelsey Grammer & Vinnie Jones, and an allegedly fantastic screenplay by Simon Kinberg & Zak Penn.

To his credit, Ratner is a self-admitted comics fan and was among the directors considered to helm the original "X-Men" movie. On the other hand, very little in Mr. Ratner's filmography indicates that he has the knack for this sort of ultra-flashy, high-end spectacle. Keep your fingers crossed, X-Fans!

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(1-20 of 40 posts) | Reply

wiggins writes:
on Jun 06 2005 01:21 AM

Bad news. Ratner is a pretty mediocre director and for this material a very bad choice in my opinion, I'd strongly favor Singer or Vaughn over this guy. His movies just aren't that good and I don't think he has the vision of X-men at all, so my anticipation level has dropped from excited back to skeptical where it usually is. Dammit.

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Ophiuchus writes:
on Jun 06 2005 03:44 AM

It could've been just the scriptwriters' faults that Ratner's previous films were bad.

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jbbb3 writes:
on Jun 06 2005 07:42 AM

Could be worse, I guess.

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EDucation writes:
on Jun 06 2005 08:00 AM

3 words

Whut

The

Fuck

(Reply to this)

speelbergo writes:
on Jun 06 2005 08:10 AM

[b]NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[/b]
Ratner is much worse than mediocre. He sucks nuts. He's my #1 candidate for HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR?????????????

Sorry, this could not get any worse if the director of Superman III stepped in.

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Madman writes:
on Jun 06 2005 09:40 AM

Well I kind of liked "Red Dragon"... Oh nevermind.

Madman

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BILL 20257 writes:
on Jun 06 2005 09:41 AM

In reply to this comment (#822770)
It is now an absolute impossibility that this film will now turn out well.

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Now it's dark writes:
on Jun 06 2005 10:16 AM

This rushed production will surely suck.

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Atariboyx writes:
on Jun 06 2005 10:47 AM

Fox is making a serious mistake. They should put production on hold, however much it might cost, to find a GOOD director. Take a hint from WB and Batman Begins. Mathew Vaughn was a better choice, and he's only directed one film so far. I do not want to hear this next year: "From the director of such masterpieces as Money Talks, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and the Family Man.."
I mean he hasn't put out one film that has made me think, wow this guy has potential. It's all weightless fluff. Even Red Dragon wasn't that great, there was no voice to the film, and I feel x-men will suffer the same fate.

I was looking forward to another directors VISION of x-men, besides singer's, which always felt a bit restrained to me, though decent nonetheless. Now it'll be another 5 years before we see such an x-men. And by then fox will have hired uwe boll for x4. Kill me.

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olletso writes:
on Jun 06 2005 11:33 AM

[b]the equation for suck[/b]
never mind the director. what about the writer's - responsible for elektra, xxx.

perhaps they can incorporate the spiderman clones, and the power pack.

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batkeith writes:
on Jun 06 2005 12:52 PM

[b]Perspective[/b]
Most of you have not seen Layer Cake, so you do not know how good a director Matt V is. He might be an over-hyped dwarf Englishman who'd rather watch soccer and wear ladies' underwear than concentrate on a movie.

Besides that, Ratner has the charisma to get Anthony Hopkins and Ed Norton to do a movie with him, and his most serious fare (Red Dragon) is his most successful (68% on RT). He has something, even if you won't forgive him for Money Talks. And Red Dragon was a rush job, also.

The only gripe I will allow is the writer, Kinberg. He has a horrifying track record - Elektra and XXX2. For these, he should be given the Mark of Caine, which is a nice way of saying we ought ice-pick him in the tailbone.

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Scott Weinberg writes:
on Jun 06 2005 03:36 PM

Mr. Kinberg also has sole credit on "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" -- a movie I enjoyed quite a bit.

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new_school_critic writes:
on Jun 06 2005 03:44 PM

In reply to this comment (#822780)
[b]But some of us have..[/b]
seen Layercake and know just how good of a director he is. The one thing he is not is "over-hyped" in fact I would say after seeing Layercake that he is under-hyped. It is pretty obvious after watching "Layercake'" and then watching "Swept Away", that Guy Ritchie is the one who is over-hyped and that Vaugn was the driving force behind "Snatch" and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".

Ratner is another one who is over-hyped, I am sick of these directors who do mediocore movie and then are able to DIRECT AGAIN! I actually liked Red Dragon, but look at the story he was dealing with, the directing was nothing spectacular.

This is a major hit to the X-Men franchise. Vaugn was going to create a "Lord of the Rings" quality film out of X-3, if his previous movie and his casting decesions where any indication, and now Ratner is going to create a "Daredevil" quality movie! Hey, I know it's an assumption, but I'll welcome him to prove me wrong.

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piranhahead writes:
on Jun 06 2005 07:48 PM

[b]Boo hoo[/b]
Ratner is a fine director with a history of nothing-special movies.

You guys are overlooking the fact that he is excellent at directing action flicks. The actual script and acting ability of the cast will carry everything else. Now quit bawling plz.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Jun 06 2005 09:14 PM

[b]I hope it turns out ok[/b]
red dragon is a very good film, maybe hel might get it right again this time

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Tumppu writes:
on Jun 07 2005 08:35 AM

Rathner is one of those studio's "bitches" who has no REAL vision. He's the guy you hire when the only goal is to get the movie finished in time.

Sure he made the pretty good Red Dragon. But the strenght of that film comes from the source material NOT from the directing. The guy has no own voice and the Red Dragon wasnt nothing more than a "paint-by-numbers" movieillustartion of the book. Also REALLY watch Red Dragon and you notice that Rathner has no control over his stars (Norton and Hopkins). Norton doesn't seem to give a rats ass about the movie and totally underplays his role. Hopkins in other hand couldn't be more over the top.

My expectation for X3 are LOW to say the least!

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jsmccune writes:
on Jun 07 2005 09:55 AM

[b]"Jessus Chrrist." -- Mr. Slave[/b]
Seriously, X3 -- academy award hopeful? Come on. This is an action movie, so an action oriented helmer is more appropriate. So, he's the "bitch" of hollywood... whatever that's supposed to mean. Unless you make a movie that's unintelligible or so completely out there, you're a sell-out. My guess is that all the X movies were meant to make $$$.

Those people knocking Rattner are not the target audience. Look what happened when Alfonso C. directed HP3 -- critics loved it (Yippee Kai Yeah!), but, on the whole, audiences weren't altogether thrilled. So, X3, might not be arthouse material and far from it -- two thumbs up for that, dude.

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Tumppu writes:
on Jun 07 2005 11:01 AM

In reply to this comment (#822786)
I wasnt talking about an art movie! (Also academy awards have little to if nothign to do with ART) But X-Men stories have (great) dept wether you like it or not. I also absolutely belong to the target audience or at least I did... I was totally waiting X3 when Singer still where going to direct it even after he left. But not anymore!

In my opinion the studio is making a BIG mistake by hiring hack-Ratner only because they have no time to find someone better. Especialy when other "comicmovies" have talented guys like Nolan (Batman) and of course Singer (Superman) directing. Ratner also isnt an action director as you put it. He has mainly directed stupid comedies based on one joke stretched to 90 minutes or more.

Why would you bring Cueron in to this discussion? Your just making my point =) Cueron is an filmmaker with tallent and vision not just some mindless drone. HP3 was absolutely the best of the series no doubt about that.

"Bitch" = Studiodirector who never guestions the descissions made by the studio. And also aren't concidered as FILMMAKERS. These are the guys you get to direct childish adventure movies like Mummy Returns or disaster movies. MAKES TOTALLY MINDLESS ENTERTAINMENT!!

So, I say that people who "knock" Ratner like good movies and appriciate talent. Looks like there is quite a few of us here. In my book Ratner is just a notch above McG!

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new_school_critic writes:
on Jun 07 2005 01:43 PM

In reply to this comment (#822787)
[b]Amen[/b]
You got to it first. Harry Potter 3 actually made a grip of money, 249.3 million domestically to be exact AND it was a fn' fantastic movie. Now there where other things powering those numbers beside the quality of the film, but that quality film made money never the less. The movie doesn't need to suck to make money, so why would you condemn your movie into sucking by hiring Ratner?!

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BeastfromtheEast88 writes:
on Jun 07 2005 01:45 PM

I'm crying right now. The X-men are no doubt my favorite franchise and this decision is killing me. I was killed when Singer dropped, then Vaughn came on and I was cool with the whole thing after hearing such great things about him. I'm dyin' here, big time. Why God, why?! I can't take this. Even if Ratner is an action director, what does that matter in this case. The X-men films have been about so much more than their action. Demanding any amount of seriousness from his actors will happen when hell freezes over. I must go and curl up in the fetal position now and tell myself that he'll step down out of generosity.

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