Composer-editor John Ottman says Bryan Singer and the X-Men team drifted into complacency after X-Men: Days of Future Past, then entered X-Men: Apocalypse without a firm third act—helping create major plot gaps. Ottman called the grind to finish the movie a “t
When John Ottman looks back on X-Men: Apocalypse, he doesn’t remember it as a clean, controlled sprint. He remembers the opposite: a production that he says blew past problems he thought would be handled, only for them to “explode” later—especially around the third act.
Ottman. the composer-editor who worked with Bryan Singer on several films and won an Oscar—controversially—for Bohemian Rhapsody. talked through the disaster he believed was building on the Half the Picture podcast. He said Singer and the creative team behind the X-Men franchise were in a state of complacency after the success of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
That 2014 release, widely considered one of the best superhero movies of the 2010s, landed big. Ottman said he was able to provide instant feedback while working on the edit for X-Men: Days of Future Past. He added that Simon Kinberg and his team of writers would implement his notes and shoot the necessary scenes. The movie, Ottman said, “barely had any reshoots” because of how well-executed it was.
Then production time arrived for X-Men: Apocalypse.
Ottman said his concerns about the script were not addressed immediately. He also claimed Singer was reportedly missing in action on occasion. He said the film began production without a firm third act in place, which he linked directly to “massive logical gaps” in the climax.
Balancing old favorites and a new batch of younger characters, Ottman said he often found himself cornered. He described the pressure in a blunt. personal way: “I was given the script. and I had pages and pages of notes. I see things that are going to blow up in my face. For my own sanity, I can’t let the script be the way it is. Then we go into production and we have no third act. It’s not unheard of, and I guess Marvel films that way, too. They have no ending and they just wing it.”.
He didn’t stop at structure—he talked about the chaos of trying to build an ending under time pressure. For the third act. he said the team was huddling together with the second unit director. trying to come up with solutions. He also brought up the tools of the trade—“Thank God for voice-overs”—as a way to get through the problems. “So, a lot of the problems I thought were going to happen, they exploded in my face. For the third act. we were huddling with the team and the second unit director. and just coming up with s**t… Thank God for voice-overs… I don’t have good memories. but it’s also just a blur. It was a total, total, total nightmare to get that thing to where it was.”.
The numbers, meanwhile, show the franchise still had plenty of pull even with the behind-the-scenes turmoil. X-Men: Apocalypse brought back the cast of X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past and introduced a new batch of younger characters. It grossed a little under $550 million worldwide against a budget of $178 million. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at a 47% score.
X-Men: Apocalypse also became the end of the franchise as the very next installment, Dark Phoenix, tanked at the box office. A full MCU reboot is now in the works from Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier.
Release date: May 18, 2016. Runtime: 144 minutes. Director: Bryan Singer. Writers: Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris, Michael Dougherty. Producers: Hutch Parker, Josh McLaglen, Lauren Shuler Donner, Stan Lee.
Ottman’s account leaves one image lingering: a movie that made it to theaters, but not without a third act that—by his telling—arrived late, improvised, and fought for in a way that didn’t feel steady at all.
John Ottman Bryan Singer X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past Simon Kinberg Rotten Tomatoes Dark Phoenix MCU reboot Thunderbolts*
So basically they rushed it and messed up the ending? Sounds about right.
I always felt Apocalypse was like… halfway there. Like the third act just disappeared. Also Bryan Singer missing?? idk I’m not surprised though.
Wait I thought Days of Future Past was the one with the good ending, so how did they mess up after that. Also aren’t reshoots like normal? Maybe the composer is just mad they didn’t do his version or something.
I mean, “no firm third act” sounds like they didn’t know what they were doing with Apocalypse. But also maybe it’s because X-Men movies are cursed after a certain point. Like you can tell the plot jumps around and you’re just expected to accept it. Anyway, Bryan Singer drama aside, the writing felt off, not the music, so yeah total nightmare seems right.