Matthew Vaughn, the English filmmaker known for producing films such as Stardust, Kick-Ass, and the Kingsman movies, was at one point, set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, the third installment in the X-Men movie series. Recently, Vaughn revealed why he decided to leave the project.
During a spotlight panel at New York Comic Con, the filmmaker said that one studio executive had sent Halle Berry a fake script that includes sensitive content as a way to coax the Oscar-winning actress into agreeing to star in the X-Men: The Last Stand.
Here's what Matthew Vaugn said during the panel (via THR):
One of the main reasons I actually quit X3 and it was a true story, and I don't care if I'm not meant to say it, but Hollywood is really political in an odd way. I went into one of the executives office and I saw an X3 script and I immediately knew that it was a lot fatter. I was like, 'What the hell's this? This draft?' Oh, don't worry about it. Like no, no, I'm the director. I'm worrying about this draft. Tell me what it is. Wouldn't tell me, so I grabbed it from him. It was like a crazy moment, but I grabbed it. Open the first page and it said Africa, Storm. kids dying have no water, she creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children. Okay, it's pretty cool idea.
Vaughn said that the executive revealed that the scene was only included to get the Storm actress to agree to show up in the movie, and the studio intended to chop the scene after Berry signed her contract.
"They said it was the 'The Halle Berry script,' because she hasn't signed up yet. But once she gets what she wants it to be and she signs up, we'll throw it in the bin," the director added. "And I was like, 'Wow, you're going to do that to an Oscar winning actress who plays Storm? I'm out of here. So I quit."
Matthew Vaughn Would Direct Another X-Men Movie
Even though Brett Ratner ended up directing X-Men: The Last Stand, which was released in May 2006, Vaughn would go on to direct X-Men: First Class, the fourth mainline installment in the X-Men movie series, for 20th Century Fox. Berry would also later return for another X-Men movie when she reprised her role for X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was released in 2014. That movie was directed by Bryan Singer, and Vaughn contributed to its story with Simon Kinberg and Jane Goldman.
