Live-Action “X-Men” Screenwriter In Negotiations After Success of “X-Men ’97”

After the success of X-Men ‘97, it seems that Marvel Studios is now throwing their live-action X-Men movie into overdrive, currently negotiating with Micheal Lesslie (Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) to pen the script, according to Deadline.

What’s Happening:

  • After the success of the Marvel Studios animated series, X-Men ‘97, the studio is now ramping things up on their live-action X-Men film.
  • While the film is still in early development with no talent or director attached, writer of the recent Hunger Games film, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Michael Lesslie, is reportedly in negotiations to pen the film.  
  • Reportedly, the X-Men project became one of the first major writing assignments once the writers strike had been resolved. Producer and studio head Kevin Feige and his execs made it clear there was no rush and have taken their time meeting with numerous candidates since then.
  • According to reports, it was only late last week that the decision was made to go with Lesslie.
  • Lesslie seems to be the industry’s leader in giving a franchise a bit of a rebirth. Along with the recent Hunger Games film, he is also responsible for the latest film in the Now You See Me franchise.
  • Even if Lesslie boards the film officially, it will still be quite some time before the X-Men film arrives in theaters, with the next step of finding a director for the film alongside Feige and Lesslie.
  • Regardless, new of the development on the film will surely excite fans who have been wanting a new X-Men film since the Walt Disney Company acquired Fox back in 2019.
  • Fox released seven films and a successful spin-off franchise in their X-Men universe, making it the most successful Marvel IP that Fox had control of. It was the disappointing release of Dark Phoenix in 2019 that made it clear that X-Men was in need of a bit of a makeover.
  • The news comes after the success of X-Men ‘97, which not only had the best reviews of any Marvel project in years, but also broke viewership records with their finale. This on top of this summer’s highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine, itself featuring X-Men characters and lore, showing how viable the franchise is.

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Tony Betti
Originally from California where he studied a dying artform (hand-drawn animation), Tony has spent most of his adult life in the theme parks of Orlando. When he’s not writing for LP, he’s usually watching and studying something animated or arguing about “the good ole’ days” at the parks.