A liar? I would never call you a liar Destiny. Perhaps I'm just not getting through because you are absolutely correct. It's just that given what's happened in between that interview and now - it no longer matters what Alan Cumming said in 2003.
It is lucky for me that I detect sarcasm!
well a thought that a contract was a contract that is legaly binding maybe i was wrong.
Yes, a contract is legally binding, but what happened is that Fox did not
pick up the option on Alan Cumming's contract to play Nightcrawler in a third XMen movie.
Contract options are Hollywood's way of dealing with the complexities of things like "there's going to be another movie in the series but we don't know who's going to direct it, what it's going to be about, or who's going to be in it". Because the movie business can be so vague and because sometimes projects can sit for years before someone works on them, Hollywood has devised this system of "options" so no one gets screwed.
I just spent the weekend with two friends who live in LA and work in the movie business talking about this stuff. Here's a simple example involving my friend Damon who writes screenplays in Hollywood and has several scripts
optioned to Fox/Searchlight Pictures:
Damon wrote a script about ... let's say ... an American Kung Fu expert who's into Salsa dancing, and Fox
optioned that script for
3 years. This means that for the next three years, contractually, Fox as good as owns Damon's script. During that 3 year period Fox may or may not make the movie, they may also make changes to Damon's script if they like. If Fox decides that they want to change the script so the Kung Fu expert is played by Jackie Chan and is into ballet, Damon can't say a word about it - as long as the script is optioned to Fox, he is contractually obligated to follow their "vision".
If Fox doesn't renew their option on Damon's Kung Fu script after the 3 year obligation ends, it goes back to being his again. During the time that Fox had the option on the script, he couldn't touch it; he couldn't make unauthorized changes or attempt to make the film with another studio, it would have been a breach of the contract with Fox. Notice however, that at no point is Fox obligated to make Damon's movie. The contract between Damon and Fox gives the company the
option to make the movie and that is all.
Now apply this option model to the actors in the XMen films. The contracts they signed for X2 gave Fox the
option of contractually obligating the actors to return for XMen 3.
Alan Cumming's contract was not a promise of a part in the third XMen film, but rather the possibility that he might be obligated to return for XMen 3 whether he wanted to or not, should Fox chose to
pick up his option. Sadly, it appears that they have chosen not to do this. Fox is not in breach of contract - they are freeing Alan Cumming from the potential contractual obligation he might have had if there had been a part for him as Nightcrawler in the third film. Alan Cumming fulfilled his contract with Fox for X2 and Fox chose not to exercise the option of contracting him to act in XMen 3. It's all perfectly legal - this is how Hollywood works.
All of the rest of the X2 cast had options for another XMen film as well; it remains to be seen exactly how many options Fox picked up and how many they dropped.
-e