So far, 2016 has been neither a great nor a very bad year for 20th Century Fox's X-Men Universe. While Deadpool surprised the studio by bagging no less than $782.61 million worldwide – despite its R-rating and a ban imposed by China – their mainstream mutants failed to meet their expectations with X-Men: Apocalypse. And then there's the story of losing directors for projects like Gambit and Deadpool 2.
So, how is Fox planning to move ahead with the franchise? We might have the answer! A story by The Hollywood Reporter that apparently features some details about the studio's plans for the X-Men Universe has surfaced on the web.
According to the report, the studio is not only moving quickly to find a replacement director for Deadpool 2 following Tim Miller's departure; they’re also planning Deadpool 3! They have a great deal of faith in Ryan Reynolds and his Merc with a Mouth, and are "readying a filmmaker search" for the unconventional superhero's third standalone movie. The outlet's sources claim that the studio wants to introduce X-Force in Deadpool 3.
Actors from mainstream X-Men movies, including Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult, have reached the end of their contracts with Fox, and Hugh Jackman has already announced that his journey as Wolverine will end with next year's Logan. As per the report, the mainstream X-Men franchise is about to get a soft reboot…or, in the Hollywood Reporter's words, "The reset button has been pressed!"
Writer/producer Simon Kinberg has already started working on a new script with Lawrence, Fassbender, and McAvoy "optimistically in mind". But Bryan Singer, who has directed four X-Men movies to date, wouldn't be involved with the new project.
Since Channing Tatum has completed filming for Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky, Fox is looking forward to moving Gambit back into active development with a new filmmaker. And Josh Boone's The New Mutants is looking good enough to kick off production by spring 2017.
