X-Men: Days of Future Past

This article is about the 2014 film. For the comics storyline, see Days of Future Past. For other uses, see Days of Future Past (disambiguation).

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Bryan Singer
Screenplay by	Simon Kinberg
Story by	Jane Goldman Simon Kinberg Matthew Vaughn
Produced by	Lauren Shuler Donner Bryan Singer Simon Kinberg Hutch Parker
Starring	Hugh Jackman James McAvoy Michael Fassbender Jennifer Lawrence Halle Berry Anna Paquin Ellen Page Peter Dinklage Shawn Ashmore Omar Sy Ian McKellen Patrick Stewart
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	John Ottman
Music by	John Ottman
Production companies	20th Century Fox Marvel Entertainment Bad Hat Harry Productions The Donners' Company TSG Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	May 10, 2014 (2014-05-10) (Javits Center) May 22, 2014 (2014-05-22) (United Kingdom) May 23, 2014 (2014-05-23) (United States)
Running time	131 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$200 million
Box office	$746 million

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a 2014 superhero film based on the fictional X-Men characters that appear in Marvel Comics. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the seventh installment of the X-Men film series and acts as a sequel to both 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011's X-Men: First Class. The story, inspired by the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline "Days of Future Past" produced by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, focuses on two time periods and Wolverine going to 1973 to save the future of mankind. The film stars an ensemble cast, including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Nicholas Hoult, Shawn Ashmore, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. Simon Kinberg wrote the screenplay from a story conceived by him, Matthew Vaughn, and Jane Goldman.

The film is a British-American co-production with a budget of US$200 million. Principal photography began in Montreal, Quebec in April 2013 and concluded in August the same year, with additional filming and pick-ups taking place in November 2013 and February 2014. The film premiered in New York City on May 10, 2014, and was theatrically released on May 23.

X-Men: Days of Future Past received critical acclaim, becoming the best-reviewed film in the X-Men series. Reviewers commended its fresh visual style, story, and acting. It is also the highest-grossing film in the series, having earned over $745 million worldwide. A sequel, X-Men: Apocalypse, is scheduled for release on May 27, 2016, with Singer returning to direct.

Plot

In the future, robots known as Sentinels are exterminating all mutants, as well as any humans who seek to help them. A band of mutants evades the Sentinels with the help of Kitty Pryde, who can project a person's consciousness into the past. Pryde's group convenes with Storm, Wolverine, Professor Xavier, and Magneto at a monastery in China. Pryde sends Wolverine's consciousness to 1973 to prevent Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels. Following the assassination, Mystique was captured, and her DNA was used by Trask's company to create Sentinels, whose ability to adapt to any mutant power makes them almost invincible. Xavier and Magneto advise Wolverine to find both of their younger selves for help.

Wolverine awakens in 1973. At the X-Mansion, he encounters Xavier and Beast. Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters has closed after most of the teachers and students were drafted for the Vietnam War. Xavier, now a broken man, is overusing a serum which allows him to walk and suppresses his telepathy. Wolverine explains his mission and persuades Xavier to help free Magneto from a prison cell beneath the Pentagon, where he is being held for allegedly assassinating President John F. Kennedy. They rescue Magneto with the help of Peter Maximoff, a mutant with superhuman speed.

In Washington D.C., Trask unsuccessfully lobbies Congress to gain support for his Sentinel program. Meanwhile, in Saigon, Mystique prevents William Stryker from appropriating a group of mutant G.I.s for Trask's research. Mystique investigates Trask's office and discovers he has been capturing mutants to use in experiments. Xavier, Magneto, Beast, and Wolverine fly to Paris to intercept Mystique. In Paris, Mystique impersonates a South Vietnamese general to infiltrate the Paris Peace Accords with Trask, who is trying to sell his Sentinel technology to communist nations. Xavier, Magneto, Beast, and Wolverine arrive as Mystique is about to kill Trask. Magneto tries to kill Mystique to ensure her DNA cannot be used for the Sentinels, but she jumps from a window. The fight spills onto the street in view of the public, allowing Magneto and Mystique to escape. During this time in the future, Pryde's control over Logan weakens, who injures Pryde.

Trask is saved, but the world is horrified by the existence of mutants. President Richard Nixon approves Trask's Sentinel program and arranges an unveiling ceremony. Trask's scientists recover Mystique's blood from the street. Meanwhile, Magneto—who has recovered his telepathy-blocking helmet—intercepts the prototype Sentinels in transit and laces their polymer-based frames with steel, allowing him to control them. At the mansion, Xavier stops taking his serum and slowly regains his mental powers, while losing the ability to walk. Through Wolverine, Xavier speaks to his future self and is inspired to work for peace between humans and mutants once again. He uses Cerebro to track Mystique, who is heading to Washington D.C.

As Xavier, Wolverine, and Beast search for Mystique, Nixon unveils the Sentinel prototypes at the White House. Magneto commandeers the Sentinels and attacks the crowd, then sets the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium around the White House as a barricade. Nixon and Trask, accompanied by the Cabinet, Secret Service officers, and Mystique (disguised as a Secret Service member), are taken to a safe room. Wolverine and Beast try to stop Magneto, but he pits a Sentinel against them and then throws Wolverine into the Potomac River. In the future, the X-Men make their final stand as a large army of Sentinels attack the monastery. In 1973, Magneto pulls the safe room from the White House and prepares to kill Nixon and his Cabinet. Mystique, disguised as Nixon, incapacitates Magneto with a plastic gun. Xavier persuades Mystique to spare Trask and allows her and Magneto to flee. Mystique's actions are seen as a mutant saving the President, leading to the cancellation of the Sentinel program. Trask is arrested for trying to sell American military secrets.

Wolverine wakes up in the future to find Iceman, Rogue, Colossus, Pryde, Beast, Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Xavier alive. In 1973, Mystique impersonates Stryker and takes custody of Wolverine.

In a post-credits scene, a crowd chants to En Sabah Nur, who is using telekinesis to build pyramids as four horsemen keep watch nearby.

Cast

The cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past promoting the film at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. From top to bottom: Jackman, McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence, Berry, Hoult, Paquin, Page, Dinklage, McKellen, Stewart, Ashmore, Sy, and Peters.

• Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine; a mutant with accelerated healing, enhanced senses, adamantium-laced skeleton and retractable bone and adamantium claws.

• James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X; the world's most powerful telepath. Singer described the younger Xavier as "a very different beast from First Class's feckless playboy. He's a wounded animal, bearded, long-haired, filled with rage at the way the world has treated him." Kinberg said the film was intended to be the story of the younger Xavier beginning to "become the Professor Xavier we know" as Wolverine mentored him.

• Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto; the master of magnetism and "one of the most powerful mutants on Earth."

• Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique; a mutant who can shape-shift. Singer said Mystique "is less innocent, evolved, getting closer to where Mystique was in X-Men 2".

• Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm; a mutant who can control the weather and one of the most battle-tested and powerful X-Men. Berry was asked if her pregnancy affected her role as Storm, she replied, "I wasn’t in as much as I was meant to be. My ever-growing belly was posing a constant challenge! What I could do was getting more limited so the role that I play is so different from what it could have been, due to my surprise pregnancy." According to Kinberg, Berry had another scene in the film but was cut because of Berry's limited schedule.

• Nicholas Hoult and Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast; a mutant with super-strength, agility, and speed. Hoult plays the character in scenes set in 1973 while Grammer makes a cameo appearance as Beast in the future setting.

• Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue; a mutant who can absorb the life force and mutant abilities of anyone she touches. Kinberg wrote a shorter part for Paquin than initially planned because she did not have much time to be on-set. During post-production, Paquin's role was reduced to a cameo after most of her scenes were cut; Kinberg stated that her role was cut because it was a "sub-plot. It was a deviation from the main story of the movie." However, she was still featured in the film's various promotional materials. Kinberg stated that an extended version of the film with all of Paquin's scenes reinstated into the film, titled the Rogue Cut will be released in 2015.

• Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde / Shadowcat; a mutant who can pass through solid objects. As the youngest of the X-Men, she plays an important role in their fight for survival. Singer described Pryde as the prime facilitator and that Pryde's phasing ability enables time-travel to happen. Kinberg, when asked why Pryde is not the time-traveler in the film adaptation of the comic-book story, said, "[If] we tried to follow the original and use Kitty, we had a problem because Ellen is 25 years old and she'd be -20 in the First Class era."

• Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask; a military scientist and the head of Trask Industries who creates a range of robots called Sentinels, designed to find and destroy mutants. Dinklage said Trask "sees what he’s doing as a good thing—[his ambition is] definitely blind and he’s quite arrogant. He’s strove all his life for a certain respect and attention." He also said Trask is opposed by Richard Nixon. Singer said he is a fan of Dinklage and of the television program Game of Thrones, which inspired him to cast Dinklage.

• Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman; a mutant who can create and manipulate ice. Ashmore said about his role, "In the first X-Men I had to make a rose for Rogue but that was the extent of the character, so it's cool to see over these four movies going from that to X2—where you sort of see him do an ice wall—and in X3 he finally gets to battle, and in Days of Future Past we're soldiers."

• Omar Sy as Bishop; a mutant who can absorb energy and redirect it in kinetic blasts. Sy described Bishop as the guy from the future and that he fights for survival. Singer said Bishop, along with Warpath, Sunspot and Blink, are not fresh recruits. He said, "they're more refugees that are living day to day in this hideously ruined world. They don’t have much hope in the future. They’re on the run and they join forces with the remaining X-Men to try to do this one last attempt at fixing the world."

• Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver; a mutant who can move, speak and think at supersonic speeds. Peters described Quicksilver as "very fast, he talks quick, he moves quick. Everything else is very slow compared to him, it’s like he’s always at the ATM waiting for the bastard in front of him to finish."

• Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin / Colossus; a mutant who can transform his body into organic steel, which grants him superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. Cudmore was asked whether he trained for his role; he replied, "I didn't have a ton of time to get film ready for this. A trainer friend of mine from Vancouver put together a quick little workout program for me. Since the role was for Colossus, I was aiming to bulk up a bit and get stronger. I ended up eating a lot more. Because of how much I was eating, I had to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my calories up."

• Fan Bingbing as Clarice Ferguson / Blink; a mutant who can create portals to teleport. Fan said the film was the first of a five X-Men movie contract she signed with 20th Century Fox.

• Adan Canto as Sunspot; a mutant with solar-powered super-strength, near invulnerability, and the ability to create flames. To prepare for the role, Canto researched Sunspot because when he was cast, he did not know the level of involvement his character has in the film.

• Booboo Stewart as James Proudstar / Warpath; a mutant with super-strength, super agility, near invulnerability, and superhuman senses. In preparation for the role, Stewart gained 50 pounds and grew his hair much longer than its usual length.

• Josh Helman as Major William Stryker; a soldier who hates mutants. Helman was originally chosen to play a younger version of Juggernaut before that character was removed from the script. Brian Cox, who portrayed Stryker in X2, appears in archive footage.

Additionally, Famke Janssen and James Marsden reprise their roles as Jean Grey and Scott Summers / Cyclops respectively in cameo appearances. Lucas Till reprises his role as Alex Summers / Havok. Evan Jonigkeit portrays Toad. X-Men comic-book writers Len Wein and Chris Claremont appear as United States congressmen. Michael Lerner plays Senator Brickman. Gregg Lowe plays Ink. Mark Camacho portrays U.S. President Richard Nixon. Singer cameos as a cinematographer during Mystique's escape in Paris. In a post-credit scene, Brendan Pedder portrays En Sabah Nur.

Production

Development

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner stated in August 2006 that a continuation of the X-Men main film series would require a renegotiation. New cast members of X-Men: The Last Stand were signed, while the older cast members were not. Donner said, "There is forty years worth of stories. I’ve always wanted to do 'Days of Future Past' and there are just really a lot of stories yet to be told." She later pitched the idea of a fourth installment of the X-Men franchise to director Bryan Singer, following the completion of the 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class. In March 2011, Donner said the film was in "active development at Fox"; she said, "We took the treatment to Fox and they love it... And X4 leads into X5".

20th Century Fox saw X-Men: First Class as the first film of a new X-Men trilogy. Donner compared the franchise plans to the darker, more mature content of the Harry Potter film series. Early reports said Matthew Vaughn and Singer were returning to direct and produce the sequel, respectively. While still attached to the project as a director, Vaughn said, "First Class is similar to Batman Begins, where you have the fun of introducing the characters and getting to know them, but that takes time. But with the second one, you can just get on with it and have a rollicking good time. That's the main difference between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight." Describing the possible beginning of the film, Vaughn said, "I thought it would be fun to open with the Kennedy assassination, and we reveal that the magic bullet was controlled by Magneto." Singer said the film could be set around the civil rights movement or the Vietnam War, and that Wolverine could once again be featured. Singer also talked about "changing history" in an interview with Empire magazine. He said he does not want people to panic about them erasing the movies, and he believes in multiverses, explaining the possibility of certain events in the histories of alternate universes.

Pre-production

In November 2011, Simon Kinberg—co-writer of X-Men: The Last Stand and co-producer of X-Men: First Class—was hired to write the film's screenplay. In May 2012, 20th Century Fox announced the film would be released on July 18, 2014. The release was later moved forward to May 23, 2014. In August 2012, the title for the film was confirmed to be X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film is inspired by Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men comic book storyline, "Days of Future Past", which introduced the idea of an alternate future for mutants that grew from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants' killing of a senator, leading to a future in which mutants are hunted by Sentinels.

In October 2012, Vaughn left the role of director to focus on Mark Millar's Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Singer was later announced as the film's director; it was his third directorial role in the X-Men film series. In preparation for the film, Singer approached James Cameron to discuss time travel, string theory and multiverses. In the same month, Richard Stammers was approached to be the visual effects supervisor, based on his work in the 2012 film Prometheus—which Singer liked.

In December 2012, John Myhre and Louise Mingenbach were hired as production designer and costume designer, respectively. According to Singer, Mingenbach—who worked on X-Men, X2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine—will not produce the black leather costumes that were worn in the original trilogy. In February 2013, John Ottman—who collaborated on all of Singer's works since the 1995 film The Usual Suspects—was confirmed to work on the music and the editing of the film.

Writing

Kinberg said the main focus of this film was the future of the X-Men film series. With the use of cast members from the original trilogy and from First Class, they needed to decide the sequels' destination. In preparation for the film, Kinberg studied films about time travel, including Back to the Future, The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Singer originated a philosophy and a set of rules for the time travel in the film so the story would be as plausible as possible.

According to Kinberg, as they were writing the script, they thought it sensible that Wolverine was traveling between time periods, because of his ageless look and ability to heal rapidly. He further stated of making Wolverine the time traveler, "We made the decision for a lot of reasons ... he's the protagonist of the franchise, and probably the most beloved character to a mass audience." Kinberg and Vaughn considered Bishop and Cable candidates for the role of time traveler. Kinberg said Rachel Summers was in the first draft of the script; she sent Wolverine back to 1973. The character was later replaced with Kitty Pryde, to whom Kinberg gave a secondary power of sending people's consciousnesses into the past. Juggernaut, Jubilee and Psylocke were also considered for the film.

Singer was asked how the film interrogates the themes of the earlier X-Men films; he said, "It establishes that some villain characters may have been right with their fears. It confronts the notions of hope and second chances. It's characters that are lost trying to find themselves. In X-Men 1 and 2, the characters had come into their own and knew who they were. In this one, they're all lost and they're trying to keep it together."

Casting

"I decided that the next time I got myself involved in a movie that had a huge amount of attention already that I would use Twitter. As a way of connecting with fans, principally. And also as a way of clearing up misunderstandings so that people know. You know, they may hear that an actor is cast or hear somebody is going to be in it, but until I say it's so, that's the confirmation."

—Bryan Singer explaining the Twitter presence of the film.

Singer used the online social networking service Twitter to announce casting of the film. In November 2012, he announced that James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult would reprise their roles from X-Men: First Class. Later the same month, he announced that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen would reprise their respective roles as the older versions of the characters played by McAvoy and Fassbender. In December, Singer announced that Hugh Jackman would reprise his role as Wolverine.

In January 2013, Singer announced that Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, and Ellen Page would reprise their roles of Rogue, Iceman, and Kitty Pryde. In February, Singer announced that Peter Dinklage would star in the film as the main antagonist. In March, Singer announced that French actor Omar Sy had joined the cast. Halle Berry said in an interview that she would reprise her role as Storm, which was followed by an announcement from Singer that Berry would be in the film. Singer tweeted a picture of the cast, which confirmed that Daniel Cudmore would return as Colossus and that Fan Bingbing and Booboo Stewart had joined the cast.

In April, Singer announced that American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga had joined the cast as Dazzler, but it was later revealed as an April Fools' Day prank. Singer retweeted a photograph of himself, Adan Canto, and confirmed cast members Patrick Stewart, McKellen, and Ashmore, which was followed by a confirmation from Canto that he had joined the cast. In May, Singer announced that Evan Peters had been cast as Quicksilver. In June, Australian actor Josh Helman was cast in a role. In July, Singer tweeted a picture of actor Lucas Till on the set of the film, which confirmed that he was returning as Havok. In January 2014, Evan Jonigkeit had been cast as the younger version of Toad.

Costumes

Louise Mingenbach designed costumes inspired by 1970s styles for the characters in the 1973 scenes. Hoult wore corduroys. Jackman wore a 1970s wooden-paneled buckle and a peacock-print shirt. McAvoy wore a brown leather jacket. Peters wore 1981-inspired clothing; this was Mingenbach's way of showing Quicksilver's irreverence for the exact time and place, and to show that he did not really fit in.

In the previous X-Men films, Patrick Stewart wore suits; Singer thought that because the world is falling apart around him in Days of Future Past, it would be distracting to see Xavier wearing a suit; thus Mingenbach costumed him in battle fatigues. In one of his scenes, Mingenbach gave Fassbender as the younger Magneto a fedora as a nod to the one Magneto wore in the first X-Men film. The costume department made Lawrence's Mystique a body suit with prosthetic scales attached to it. A zipper at the back was removed in post-production. For the future period of the film, Mingenbach wanted a darker, slightly futuristic and tactical look for the characters. Oakley, Inc. designed an eyewear for Cyclops.

Filming

X-Men: Days of Future Past had a production budget of $200 million. Principal photography began on April 15, 2013 at Mel's Cité du Cinema in Montreal, Canada, and ended on August 17, 2013. Filming had to begin in April 2013 to accommodate the cast’s individual schedules. Olympic Stadium, Montreal City Hall, and McGill University were also used as filming locations. An aerial plate unit was sent to film in Washington D.C. Additional filming took place in Montreal in November 2013 and February 2014. According to the Calgary Herald, the film is the second most expensive produced by 20th Century Fox after Avatar (2009). Comic book writer Chris Claremont said in an interview that he was consulted for the film.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the first X-Men film to be filmed in native 3D; it was shot using Arri Alexa-M cameras with Leica Prime lenses and Fujinon Zoom lenses, along with 3ality Technica TS-35 camera rigs and Stereo Image Processor (SIP) technology systems. Director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel was asked about using Arri Alexa-M cameras; he said, "For Bryan and myself, the Alexa has been almost the gateway to getting the look we like in film". Sigel added that the Arri Alexa-M camera's small size was a big advantage to the film's main unit, which carried three 3D rigs. The film also used the Alexa XTs for the production's 2D work.

John Myhre, who worked on the first X-Men film, rebuilt the blue underground hallways and Cerebro sets from the first film. He also added Xs to the film sets, including the staircase of the X-Mansion. He said he wanted to embrace the 1970s setting in the same way First Class embraced its 1960s setting.

Singer said of the Sentinels in this film, "we tried to make the [Sentinels] from 1973, the Sentinels of the past, a little fun and stylish but also a little retro, and the key is they're not made of metal. That’s very important to our story because we’ve got a very powerful mutant. So that was a challenge." Myhre used styles from molded plastics from the 1970s to design Sentinels from that period. Myhre said, "you really want to be faithful for the fans in the books so there a lot of elements that needed to be a humanoid shape to have a head and arms and needed to be purple. There were a lot of things we had to do to give them a different look. But it really was the idea of being inspired by 70′s product design that helps out."

For the future setting of the film, a set featuring a hillside monastery was built. Myhre was inspired by Chinese temples built on the sides of cliffs. The future set also featured a mixture of architectural styles from China, India, and Indonesia. Part of the set was a big wall, which was inspired by the Great Wall of China.

Visual effects

X-Men: Days of Future Past used 1,311 visual effects shots produced by twelve studios. Moving Picture Company was responsible for the full-CG future Sentinels and worked on the sequences involving the X-Jet, Cerebro’s red, virtual world, and a major sequence that was cut. Digital Domain created the 1973 Sentinels and all of the environment work based in Washington D.C., including the destruction of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium and the White House. They also worked on Mystique's transformations and eyes. Rhythm and Hues Studios worked on Beast's transformations, the creation of Xavier's plane, and speed effects for Quicksilver. They also worked with Digital Domain on the sequence featuring the inside of the 1973 Sentinel. Rising Sun Pictures created visual effects relating to Quicksilver’s action sequence, which takes place at the Pentagon. Mokko Studio worked on Mystique's eyes and costume fixes. Cinesite worked on the future New York City in the opening prologue along with clean-ups, wire removals, and production fixes. Fuel VFX worked on holographic effects and Havok's mutant powers. Vision Globale worked on visual effects relating to a dream and flashback sequence. Hydraulx, Lola and Method Studios handled a number of compositions and production fixes. The Third Floor worked on extensive story-boarding and visualisation.

Music

Director Bryan Singer's regular collaborator John Ottman worked on the score of the film, in addition to being its editor. Ottman is the first composer to score more than one film in the X-Men film series, having previously scored X2 (2003). This also marked the first time a theme from a previous X-Men film has been retained; Ottman re-used some of his themes from X2, most notably the main title theme. The film score was released on digital download on May 16, 2014, on CD on May 26, 2014 and on vinyl on August 4, 2014.

Untitled

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Future - Main Titles"	2:44
2.	"Time's Up"	4:18
3.	"Hope (Xavier's Theme)"	4:48
4.	"I Found Them"	2:52
5.	"Saigon/Logan Arrives"	4:36
6.	"Pentagon Plan/Sneaky Mystique"	3:25
7.	"He Lost Everything"	1:51
8.	"Springing Erik"	3:33
9.	"How Was She"	1:47
10.	"All Those Voices"	3:19
11.	"Paris Pandemonium"	7:45
12.	"Contacting Raven"	1:48
13.	"Rules of Time"	3:07
14.	"Hat Rescue"	1:30
15.	"Time's Up" (Film Version)	3:34
16.	"The Attack Begins"	5:04
17.	"Join Me"	3:20
18.	"Do What You Were Made For"	2:56
19.	"I Have Faith in You/Goodbyes"	2:27
20.	"Welcome Back/End Titles"	3:58
21.	"Time in a Bottle" (Performed by Jim Croce)	2:27
22.	"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Performed by Roberta Flack)	5:20

Release

The world premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past occurred at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on May 10, 2014. It was released in international markets in 2D and 3D theaters on May 21, 2014, and in the United States on May 23, 2014. Premiere events were also held in London, Beijing, Moscow, Singapore, São Paulo, Melbourne, and Tokyo.

Marketing

The cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International.

In June 2013, 20th Century Fox presented a set tour video of X-Men: Days of Future Past at the CineEurope conference in Barcelona; director Bryan Singer acted as the tour guide. The set tour video was included with the home video release of the 2013 film The Wolverine. In July 2013, Singer, writer Simon Kinberg, producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker, together with cast members Evan Peters, Omar Sy, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and Peter Dinklage presented at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. Footage from the film was screened. In August 2013, Singer presented footage from the film at the Fantasia International Film Festival. In March 2014, 20th Century Fox presented footage from the film at CinemaCon. In April 2014, Page presented footage from the film at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards. Kinberg and Dinklage attended WonderCon to discuss the film. Singer withdrew from the publicity rounds for the film because of a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse filed against him. In July 2014, 20th Century Fox and Oculus Rift presented a "virtual reality experience" in 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International. Attendees were given a chance to sit in a replica of Professor X's wheelchair and virtually hunt Mystique in the San Diego Convention Center.

In July 2013, a mid-credits scene teasing X-Men: Days of Future Past was attached to the theatrical release of The Wolverine. The scene, set two years after the events of The Wolverine, depicts Logan going through an airport security checkpoint while a commercial for Trask Industries plays in the background. Suddenly, Logan notices that all the metal objects around him start to shake and levitate. He turns around to see Magneto, who says he needs Logan's help to combat a threat to all mutants. When Logan asks Magneto why he should trust him, the people around them freeze as Xavier approaches Logan and assures him that Magneto is telling the truth. Adam Pockross of Yahoo! Movies described the mid-credits scene as the coolest part of The Wolverine and wrote, "Boom! And that's how you tease the next film: by giving us so much to chew on, yet so few answers".

The first official trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past was released in October 2013. Jason Callina of Herald News gave the trailer a positive response, saying, "it is fantastic to see characters that I grew up with in the flesh ... we still have to wait till the end of May to see if Fox succeeded, but for now they have my interest". Ben Child of The Guardian criticized the trailer for the amount of characters that will appear in the film. Child wrote, "overloading the movie with superheroes might please fans of the comic books, but the rest of us will be chewing on our own spleens when the umpteenth brightly coloured dude turns up to spout one line of dialogue, then drop off the map".

A mid-credits scene teasing X-Men: Days of Future Past was attached to the theatrical release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in April 2014. In the scene, which is set during the Vietnam War, Mystique tries to infiltrate a military camp led by William Stryker to recruit fellow mutants Havok, Ink, and Toad. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb had an existing contract with Fox Searchlight Pictures to direct another film following 500 Days of Summer (2009). After The Amazing Spider-Man, Webb’s negotiations with Sony Pictures Entertainment stalled because of his commitment to Fox. Fox eventually agreed to allow Webb to direct the sequel of The Amazing Spider-Man, and in exchange, Sony promoted the X-Men film without charge. In addition, three viral websites were launched before the release of the film—Trask-Industries.com in July 2013, TheBentBullet.com in November 2013 and 25Moments.com in April 2014. To further promote the film, Jackman made a guest appearance on the April 28, 2014 episode of WWE Raw. The segment received mixed reactions.

Promotional partners

In July 2013, CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc. and 20th Century Fox announced a promotional partnership for the theatrical release of X-Men: Days of Future Past. The promotion included advertising, in-restaurant merchandising, collectors’ cups, and a film-themed burger—The Western "X-Tra" Bacon Thickburger sold it CKE Restaurants outlets Hardee's and Carl's Jr.. Zachary Eller, senior vice president of marketing partnerships & promotions at 20th Century Fox, said, "their fun and irreverent advertising campaigns are a great fit with our film and we couldn’t be more thrilled to join together to feed mutants everywhere!".

Mountain Dew partnered with the film to promote it globally; the promotion included prizes, a television commercial, online exclusives, in-store and in-theater advertisements, and commemorative packaging featuring X-Men characters from future and past. Anna Roca, senior vice president of international promotions at 20th Century Fox, stated, "The adventurous, energetic attitude of [Mountain Dew's] fan base mirrors the franchise’s own—and their international reach helps bring our beloved mutants to more corners of the world than ever before."

In March 2014, Virgin Trains launched an 11-car Pendolino train, which featured the film characters on the carriages, at London's Euston station to promote the film. Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy attended the launch.

Home media

In June 2014, cable network FX acquired the television rights to X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on digital download on September 23, 2014 and on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on October 14, 2014. In the United Kingdom, it will be released on November 10, 2014. Three versions are set to be released; a Deluxe Edition containing the Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and digital download; a Blu-ray and digital download combo pack; and a single disc DVD.

According to Simon Kinberg, an extended version of the film, titled the Rogue Cut, would incorporate all of Anna Paquin's deleted scenes back into the film, would be released in early 2015.

Reception

File:Hugh jackman&fanbingbing.jpg

Jackman and Fan at the premiere of the film in Singapore.

Box office

Worldwide, X-Men: Days of Future Past earned $262.9 million during its opening weekend, which is the highest worldwide opening weekend for an X-Men film. As of 24 September 2014, it has grossed $233,863,515 in North America and $512,124,166 outside North America for a worldwide total of $745,987,681, making it the highest-grossing entry in the X-Men film series.

In North America, the film earned $8.1 million from Thursday night showings, which is the highest late night opening for an X-Men film. X-Men: Days of Future Past was also the highest-grossing film during its opening weekend, earning $90,823,660, making it the second-highest opening weekend of the series behind X-Men: The Last Stand. During the four-day Memorial Day weekend, it earned $110,576,604. The audience was 56% male and 59% were older than 25.

Outside North America, X-Men: Days of Future Past was the highest-grossing film during its opening weekend, taking $172,042,661, making it Fox International's highest opening weekend. The film's highest-grossing debuts were in China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta. It was also the highest-grossing debut for a 20th Century Fox film in 11 markets, including South Korea, Brazil, the Philippines, and India. It became the highest-grossing X-Men film in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom & Ireland, and Venezuela.

Critical response

X-Men: Days of Future Past has received acclaim from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.6/10, based on 234 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise's finest installments". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 74 based on 43 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Sean O'Connell of Cinema Blend gave the film four and a half stars out of five, and said that it was "the greatest, most complete and staggeringly entertaining [X-Men film] to date". Empire Magazine gave it a four-out-of-five-star review and said it was "The best X-Men film since the second one". Mike Avila, CEO of AviLand Productions, said it was "superb" and film critic Kevin McCarthy praised the actors' performances, the action and the emotion. Steve Rose of The Guardian rated the film three stars out of 5; he said, "Non-devotees might struggle, but director Bryan Singer whips up the action towards a symphonic climax". David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said, "While it's more dramatically diffuse than the reboot and lacks a definitive villain, the new film is shot through with a stirring reverence for the Marvel Comics characters and their universe." Justin Chang of Variety said, "If the characters’ quandaries at times feel overly circumscribed, they’re also advanced with a bracing emotional directness, devoid of either cynicism or sentimentalism, that touches genuine chords of feeling over the course of the film’s fleet 130-minute running time".

In contrast, Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph rated the film two stars out of five and called the plot "a curate's egg, thoroughly scrambled". He concluded, "The film squanders both of its casts, reeling from one fumbled set-piece to the next. It seems to have been constructed in a stupor, and you watch in a daze of future past." Simon Abrams, writing for the website of late film critic Roger Ebert, gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it a "visually driven and paint-by-numbers-plot". Abrams was critical of the undeveloped subplots that built up because the film's pacing left little time to develop each element of the story set in the 1970s.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2014	15th Golden Trailer Awards	Best Summer 2014 Blockbuster Trailer	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Nominated
	MTV's Fandom Awards	Fandom of the Year		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy		Nominated
		Choice Movie: Actress Sci-Fi/Fantasy	Halle Berry	Nominated
			Jennifer Lawrence	Won
		Choice Movie: Villain	Michael Fassbender	Nominated
		Choice Movie: Scene Stealer	Nicholas Hoult	Nominated
			Ellen Page	Nominated
	Young Hollywood Awards	Best Cast Chemistry – Film	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Nominated
		Favorite Flick		Nominated
		Fan Favorite Actor - Female	Jennifer Lawrence	Nominated
		Super Superhero	Nicholas Hoult	Nominated

Sequel

In December 2013, Singer announced X-Men: Apocalypse, an upcoming X-Men film acting as a sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Singer is attached to direct from a script by Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris, and Michael Dougherty.McAvoy, Fassbender, Hoult, Lawrence and Peters will reprise their roles, while "some of the original cast" will return. According to Singer, the next film will focus on the origin of the mutants. Kinberg said it will take place in 1983 and will complete a trilogy that began with X-Men: First Class. The young versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm are due to appear. Filming will commence in April 2015 in Montreal, Canada for a May 27, 2016 release.

See also

• List of films featuring time loops
• List of films featuring drones

External links

• Official website
• X-Men: Days of Future Past at IMDb
• X-Men: Days of Future Past at AllMovie
• X-Men: Days of Future Past at Box Office Mojo
• X-Men: Days of Future Past at Rotten Tomatoes