The LIE that was told to Halle Berry to get her to star in X-Men: The Last Stand

Matthew Vaughn has explained why he left X-Men: The Last Stand.

The first two X-Men movies in the original trilogy were directed by Bryan Singer, who opted to leave before the third film to work on Superman Returns. Vaughn was then selected as his replacement, but he also would eventually step away, which led to the appointment of Brett Ratner as director.

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Numerous reports have circulated as to why Vaughn left the project, but he has now confirmed that the main reason was a lie that was set to be told to Halle Berry to get her to agree to star in the movie.

“I went into one of the executive’s office and I saw an X3 script, and I immediately knew it was a lot fatter," he said at New York Comic Con.

"I was like 'what the hell is this draft?' He went, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no. I’m the director. I’m worrying about this draft. He wouldn’t tell me, so I grabbed it literally — it was like a crazy moment — opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Storm. Kids dying of no water. She creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children.'”

3.41 (2650)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

A 'cure' for mutation has been invented through the mutant Jimmy. For the first time in their lives, mutants now have a choice: keep their powers, leaving them unaccepted by society, or give up their powers to become human. Meanwhile, Magneto tries to rally an army of mutants to destroy the cure, and Charles Xavier and his mutants discover that Jean Gray is back. But she's not quite herself.

Directed by: Brett Ratner
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Ian McKellen

Vaughn admits that was a "pretty cool idea" but the executive would go on to say that the studio had no plans to actually film that scene with Storm.

“ ‘What is this?’ ‘Oh, it’s Halle Berry’s script," he continued.

"I went, ‘OK, because she hasn’t signed up yet.’ ‘But this is what she wants it to be, and once she signs up, we’ll throw it in the bin. I was like, ‘Wow, you’re gonna do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm? I’m outta here.’ So I quit at that point.”

It is unclear whether the interaction with Vaughn led to the executive removing the scene with Storm or whether it was still used to get Berry to sign up.

The Last Stand went on to receive negative reviews from critics and is considered one of the worst X-Men movies.

Vaughn would go on to direct X-Men: First Class.