Halle Berry has several remarkable roles to her credit including her X-Men role as Storm. The $6 billion franchise, however, has more story behind the scenes, especially for Berry’s presence in the franchise.
Berry debuted the franchise in 2000 in the first installment, X-Men itself. While she was set to return for the sequel, the screenwriters had to rewrite the script for her role in the $407 million movie as she popularized her name following her Oscar win in 2002.
X-Men Sequel Script Was Rewritten Just For Halle Berry
There is no denying that Halle Berry’s role as Storm in the X–Men has been one of the biggest and most highly recognized roles in her career. Following the success of the first installment of the franchise, the studio was all geared up for a sequel. Made with $75 million, the movie grossed over an astounding $297 million globally.
Berry made her name in another movie that gained global attention. The actor won an Oscar for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Marc Forster’s 2001 romantic drama Monster’s Ball. Her Oscar win also affected the pre-production of the X-Men sequel.
Reportedly, Fox— the studio behind the franchise, demanded a rewrite for the movie’s screenplay as Berry initially had less screen time. But following her Oscar win, the studio wanted her to have a longer screen presence.
The screenplay for the film was written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, and David Hayter. Recommissioning the writers definitely cost Fox a huge amount but considering her popularity the studio was ready to spend some more on the project.
Studio Execs Tricked Halle Berry, Director Claimed
Before Brett Ratner took over X-Men: The Last Stand, Matthew Vaughn was set to direct the 2006 movie. But the director left the project as he observed something unprecedented. Appearing at New York Comic Con, the director claimed that the studio tricked Halle Berry into joining the movie with a fake script.
“Hollywood is really political and odd. I went into an executive’s office and I saw a script that was a lot fatter,” Vaughn said (via EW). “I was like, what the hell’s this draft? They said, ‘don’t worry about it.'”
Originally, there was a scene specifically designed for Berry’s script which was set in Africa as she was supposed to save the starving children with her power.
“That’s a pretty cool idea. So I was like, what’s this? They said it was the Halle Berry script. ‘She hasn’t signed on yet, but this is what she wants it to be. So once she signs on, we’ll throw it in the bin.’ I said wow, you’re going to do that to an Oscar-winning actress? I’m out of here. So I quit at that point. I figured I was mincemeat,” Vaughn added.
The director was eventually roped in for the franchise’s 2011 film X-Men: First Class but his recent comment has sparked debate online among fans. Berry has not responded to Vaughn’s comment as of yet.
