James Cameron Fixed The Ending Of X-Men: Days Of Future Past

The next ‘X-Men’ movie may be just around the corner, but the previous instalment, ‘Days of Future Past’, needed the help of James Cameron to get it right.

Speaking after almost two months of shooting ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (and according to Cinema Blend), director Bryan Singer revealed he sought out the ‘Terminator’ director’s help in order to get the ending spot on.

The outcome we see in ‘Days of Future Past’ concludes with Wolverine having saved the day and woken up in his own, shaped timeline. With Trask’s plans halted in its tracks and the mutant genocide thwarted, Singer asked Cameron about the mechanics of his time travel story.

“I sent a cut of the movie, ‘Days of Future Past’, to James Cameron, almost finished, rough, but almost done, because I value his advice, and I pitched my time travel concept to him when I was at a party at Peter Jackson’s,” Singer shared.

And, according to Cameron himself, the original ending for the film was somewhat unsatisfactory. Apparently Cameron was eager to discuss elements of time travel, such as “collapsing the super position” and “how it would work in quantum physics.”

The ‘Titanic’ helmer said he wasn’t satisfied after seeing a cut of the film either, after Singer sent an early version over.

“So I send the film to Jim, and at the end the movie, when Wolverine woke up, originally my editor was obsessed with this visual blurriness, so when Wolverine is walking around, he’s seeing things in a blurriness,” Singer recalls.

“So I sent that to Jim and Jim called me, and so he called up and Jim goes, ‘Bryan, that blurry thing made me think that the wool was going to be pulled out from under me and I was not satisfied. I thought it was going to be, it was a lie, and it failed, it would all be dark, something, and then suddenly it was OK.’”

We tend to agree: it’s essential, after witnessing the epic story, to learn if Wolverine succeeds or not in his attempt to save the future. “So I pulled the effect. He gave me no other note,” he confirmed.

But while Cameron was adamant this lack of clarity would annoy audiences, he made clear to Singer how important it was for viewers to know what the outcome was: “He said, “I love the movie, it’s going to be great, but please let the audience enjoy the fact that it all turned out OK in that future,” and so I pulled the effect.”

The two endings don’t sound a whole lot different, but with Cameron’s input, the ending does sway towards the more positive, clearer resolution rather than attempting to deceive its audience.

‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is in UK cinemas from 19 May.

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Picture credit: Twentieth Century Fox