Matthew Vaughn Quit X-Men 3 After Fake Script & Lies

Matthew Vaughn was set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, the conclusion to 20th Century Fox's first live-action series based on the classic Marvel property. According to the director, he decided to leave the project due to how the studio planned to treat one of the film's leads. During a spotlight panel at New York Comic Con, Vaugn revealed that one studio executive had sent Halle Berry a fake script containing sensitive material in order to entice the star to appear.

"One of the main reasons I actually quit X3 and it was a true story, and I don't care if I'm not meant to say it, but Hollywood is really political in an odd way. I went into one of the executives office and I saw an X3 script and I immediately knew that it was a lot fatter. I was like, 'What the hell's this? This draft?' Oh, don't worry about it. Like no, no, I'm the director," Vaughn said during the panel. "I'm worrying about this draft. Tell me what it is. Wouldn't tell me, so I grabbed it from him. It was like a crazy moment, but I grabbed it. Open the first page and it said Africa, Storm. kids dying have no water, she creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children. Okay, it's pretty cool idea."