
The film was released on May 26, 2006 in the United States and Canada. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans, the film became successful at the box office. Its opening-day gross of $45.5 million is the fourth-highest on record while its opening weekend gross of $103 million is the fifth highest ever.
Contents
• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
o 2.1 The X-Men
o 2.2 The Brotherhood of Mutants
o 2.3 The Omegas
o 2.4 Other Characters
• 3 Production
• 4 Reception
• 5 Adaptations
o 5.1 Novelization
o 5.2 Video games
• 6 Home media
• 7 Soundtrack

The film opens 20 years ago with Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier visiting a young Jean Grey where they convince her parents to let her join Xavier's School: however, the pair seem wary of her potentially great power. Back in the present, Xavier worries about Cyclops, who is still heartbroken about the loss of Jean Grey. Mystique is captured by government agents while spying on some files, leading Hank "Beast" McCoy to discover that a mutant cure has been invented from the DNA of a mutant boy called Jimmy, who is being held in a facility in Alcatraz Island.
Cyclops returns to Alkali Lake, where Jean appears to him. As they kiss, she appears to kill Cyclops. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate but when they arrive they encounter telekinetically floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Jean. Meanwhile, Magneto ambushes a military transport and frees Mystique, Juggernaut, and Multiple Man. Mystique blocks a shot of the mutant cure aimed at Magneto, losing her mutant ability and being abandoned by Magneto, who sadly states she is no longer one of them.
Back at the mansion, Xavier explains to Wolverine that when Jean was a little girl she was so powerful that he had to put telepathic blocks on her mind to help keep her powers under control. Her bottled up powers manifested themselves as an alternate personality called the Phoenix — a purely instinctual creature, ruled only by its own violent desires. Initially skeptical, Wolverine becomes more convinced when Jean reawakens and she tries to seduce him. He asks about Cyclops, but she cannot remember and fears she killed him. Jean pleads with Wolverine to kill her before she harms anybody else, but when he refuses and offers to have Xavier help her, the Phoenix resurfaces and Jean flees to her childhood home, with Xavier, Wolverine and Storm in pursuit. Magneto, also aware that Jean's powers are loose, meets Xavier at Jean's house. The two men plead for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces, unleashing her devastating power. Furious at being caged within Jean's subconscious for twenty years, she lifts and destroys her family's house and engages in a psychic battle with Xavier whom she eventually overpowers and causes to violentley explode before leaving with Magneto.

The Brotherhood's first charge is ineffective and the first group of mutants are hit with the cure cartridges and overpowered: Magneto initially tries to magnetically destroy the weapons, but fails with the words:"Plastic. They've learned". However, Magneto's minion Arclight is able to take out the cure weapons, leaving the soldiers defenseless. The X-Men arrive as another attack is about to begin, and while they confront the Brotherhood, Kitty Pryde goes inside the facility to save Jimmy, cleverly defeating Juggernaut in the process. Near the end of the battle, Iceman and Pyro have a one-on-one showdown. During that battle, Iceman finally transforms his body into organic ice, which gave him the form of his counterpart in the comics. As Pyro gains the upperhand saying, "You're in over your head Bobby. Maybe you should go back to school," Iceman stands up and headbutts him in the face, knocking him out, and replies, "You never should have left." With the help of Colossus, Wolverine distracts Magneto to enable Beast to inject him with the mutant cure. After this, Wolverine nearly coaxes Jean back to sanity; however, more soldiers arrive and fire upon Jean. The Phoenix quickly resurfaces and, in her rage, begins to destroy everything and everyone around her, channeling her abilities with such force that she can disentergrate matter at will. While the X-Men, soldiers and the remnants of the Brotherhood flee from the terrible wrath of the Phoenix, Wolverine fights his way to Jean, relying upon his healing abilities to save himself from her destructive power. When he reaches her, the Phoenix coldly sneers at Wolverine being willing to die for the others, to which he retorts that he would only die for her. Momentarily stunned at this reply, Jean regains control of herself and begs him to save her. Wolverine confesses his love for Jean, and reluctantly stabs her with his claws, killing her.

In a scene following the credits, Dr. Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient who greets her with Xavier's voice. This is a reference to a statement Xavier made earlier on in the film while teaching a class, saying that it would be possible to transfer one's consciousness into the body of another, who, in this case, had no consciousness to speak of, although all organs and circulation were functioning normally. Shock is displayed on Moira's face as she whispers, "Charles?"

[edit] The X-Men
The X-Men are a special ops team from The Xavier Institute, charged with protecting both humans and mutants and trying to prevent a war between the two.
• Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine: Logan can regenerate spontaneously, a talent which allowed the painful implantation of a adamantium metal coating on his bones and metal claws that emerge from each hand.
• Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm: One of Xavier's original students, Storm can influence the weather around her with her mind. Halle Berry stated during interviews for X2 that she would not return as Storm in the third film unless the character had a significant presence comparable to the comic-book version. Brett Ratner also felt Storm required a larger role and there was little difficulty reaching an agreement.[3]
• Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier: The founder of The Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters who has uncharted telepathic powers and uses a wheelchair. He is an authority on genetic mutation as well as an advocate of peaceful relations between human and mutant kind. He is destroyed by Phoenix. After the credits of the movie commence, Dr. Moira MacTaggert is shown with a body whose face you cannot see. The body speaks, and Dr. MacTaggert says "Charles" indicating that there is a slight possibility that Professor Charles Xavier may somehow still be alive, though they do not show his face, it is his voice. His grave is seen next to Cyclops's and Jean's.
• James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops: The X-Men's field leader. He emits powerful energy blasts from his eyes, and has to keep them in check with a ruby-quartz visor or sunglasses. He is killed by Phoenix, though his body is never shown. His grave can be seen, next to Jean's and Xavier's. Despite appearing in his X-Men leather uniform and battle visor in the film's promotional posters, Cyclops is never seen wearing it in the actual film.

• Anna Paquin as Marie D'Ancanto / Rogue: A teenage runaway mutant who has found a home at Xavier's school and falls in love with Bobby Drake. When she touches someone she absorbs their life force, their powers (if they are a mutant) and, if she holds on too long, she ends their life. She only uses her powers one time in the film, when she absorbs Colossus' power to protect herself from the Sentinel.
• Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman: He can control the temperature of the moisture in the air around him to create constructs of ice or blasts of cold. Under extreme conditions his body may take on many of the characteristics of ice in addition to those of a human.
• Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde: She can "phase" through matter which allows her to walk through solid objects.
• Ben Foster as Warren Worthington III / Angel: He has feathered wings which allow him to fly. Cayden Boyd plays Warren as a child. Although seen in the leather X-Men uniform in promotional posters, Warren does not wear it and is seen in civilian clothes most of the time.
• Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin / Colossus: He can transform his skin into an organic steel, granting superhuman strength and a resistance to damage and temperature. He has only one line in the movie.

The Brotherhood is Magneto's personal strike force, whose goal is to ensure mutant supremacy.
• Sir Ian McKellen as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto: Leader and founder of The Brotherhood, this incredibly powerful mutant can manipulate any form of metal. He is a Holocaust survivor who wages war against humanity in the name of mutant superiority, a goal that often pits him against his old friend Charles Xavier. Has very little interest in or regard for non-mutant human life. He has sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation and engineering and has used radiation to mutate humans.
• Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Phoenix: A former member of The X-Men who sacrificed herself to save her comrades, her former self, Jean Grey, died when she did this. She is resurrected as the Phoenix, a Class 5 mutant and possesses limitless telepathic powers as well as limitless telekinetic powers (that even surpasses of Magneto's and Xavier's) that can be used at a sub-atomic level, making her the most powerful and most dangerous mutant in the film. It is revealed that when she was young Xavier locked away a large portion of her power, which created two personalities within her, and that after the incident at the end of X2: X-Men United, the dark side of Jean's persona known as The Phoenix is unleashed, and combined with her lack of control over her powers means she can disintegrate people and objects at will.

• Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce / Pyro: Former Xavier Institute student Pyro can manipulate fire, although he cannot start it (he carries a lighter — attached to a cuff on his wrist — with him at all times). He holds a grudge against his former friend Bobby Drake.
• Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko / Juggernaut: The Juggernaut is a new recruit to The Brotherhood. He is incredibly strong, fast, and once he gains momentum, he becomes next to unstoppable. Despite being the stepbrother of Xavier in the comics, there is no mention of his relation in the film. Also in the comics he is an enchanted human as opposed to a mutant. He is responsible for what was perhaps the most well known line in the film, "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!", which was actually inspired by an internet meme which came to fruition prior to the films release.
• Eric Dane as James Madrox / Multiple Man: Multiple Man can split himself into multiple copies. He is a criminal who joins The Brotherhood upon their releasing him.

A group of mutant outcasts which exists as part of an underground network that stretches across the nation[4].
• Dania Ramirez as Callisto: Callisto is the leader of The Omegas, a group of mutant outcasts. In the comics and 90's cartoon, she led a similar group called The Morlocks. She possesses superhuman speed, strength, reflexes, agility and senses. She can detect electrical energy spikes from miles away, and can sense the presence, locations, and powers of other mutants. Throughout the film she is constantly battling Storm. In the comic book storyline Storm and Callisto had to battle to see who was the true leader of The Morlocks, where Storm was victorious.
• Ken Leung as Kid Omega: This character resembles the comic books' character Quill; however, the official cast credits read "Kid Omega".
• Omahyra Mota as Arclight: Arclight has the power to create and generate seismic energies that cause shockwaves and earth tremors of concussive force by clapping her super-strong hands at once and use them for different frequencies to locate and target specific materials.
• Meiling Melançon as Psylocke: Psylocke has the ability to teleport herself through shadows at will. Her primary ability of creating psionic blades was oddly left out in the film.

• Cameron Bright as Jimmy / Leech: A mutant boy whose power neutralizes the powers of nearby mutants. His DNA is the basis for the "cure". After being rescued, he is admitted to The Xavier Institute.
• Michael Murphy as Warren Worthington II: The head of Worthington Labs, the corporation developing the "cure". He is Archangel's father, and wants to rid his son of his mutant abilities.
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Kavita Rao: Rao is a scientist working at Worthington Labs on the mutant cure, which was created with the DNA of Leech. She is killed by Quill in the film's climax.
• Josef Sommer as The President: The mutant-tolerating President of the United States.
• Bill Duke as Bolivar Trask: The Head Of The Department Of Homeland Security, he aids The President during The Mutant War. Unlike his counterpart in the comics he has no connections with the creation of The Sentinels.
[edit] Production
Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films, left the project during preproduction in order to direct the film Superman Returns. He was joined by X2 screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty and composer / editor John Ottman. Though Singer, Harris and Dougherty had yet to complete a script, the director has revealed that at the time of his departure they had partially completed a story treatment for the film which would have focused exclusively on Jean Grey's resurrection[5] with the new villain Emma Frost, a role intended for Sigourney Weaver.[6] Frost was an empath manipulating Jean's emotions in the treatment, and like the finished film Magneto desires to control her. Overwhelmed by her powers, Jean kills herself, but Jean's spirit survives and becomes a god-like creature, which Dougherty compared to the star child in A Space Odyssey.[7]
Simon Kinberg was hired as writer soon after Singer's departure, and speculation arose to Joss Whedon directing the film.[8] Whedon turned down the offer because he was working on a Wonder Woman film.[9] Rob Bowman[10] and Alex Proyas[11] were also rumored, though Proyas personally turned it down.[12] Zack Snyder was also approached, though he turned it down due to his commitment to 300.[13] Despite the controversy over Singer's departure, the cast and producers were still clearly keen to return.[14] Matthew Vaughn was hired as the new director for the project. He cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, but family issues reportedly led Vaughn to withdraw before shooting began.[15] Vaughn was replaced by Singer's friend Brett Ratner.[16] Ratner had coincidentally been set to direct Superman: Flyby.

X-Men: The Last Stand began shooting in August 2005 and ended in January 2006. Much of X-Men: The Last Stand was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be X2, now it's X3."[20]
The visual effects crew started working on April 2005, before the director had even been announced.[1] Special effects supervisor John Bruno estimates one sixth of the effects budget was spent on the Golden Gate Bridge scene, which employed both computer-generated imagery and a miniature of the bridge.[1] Other notable effect was "digital skin-grafting", which "de-aged" the faces of senior actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen by complex keyframing, though CGI was not used.[21]
The film has extensive wirework, where many of the actors performed some of their own stunts. The whirlwind wire-stunt performed by Halle Berry during one fight scene reportedly caused Berry to become so nauseated that she vomited, with the crew bringing in buckets for her before shooting her scenes. Angel's wings were initially too heavy for Ben Foster, and were remade from foam.[22] Despite his fear of heights, Foster performed a single second-unit stunt where he escapes Worthington's facility by jumping from the tall building.[23] The shot was completed by flying a stuntman swooping from the window using a crane rig, with the harness and wires removed and wings added digitally.

X-Men: The Last Stand grossed $45.1 million domestically for the seventh-highest opening day after The Dark Knight ($68.7 million), Spider-Man 3 ($59 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($55.8 million), and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ($50 million).[2] (All figures here not adjusted for inflation.) It is ranked fourth among film debuts having generated an estimated $122.9 million domestically during its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend and the number one Memorial Day movie of all time until the record was broken by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which earned $142 million during its four-day Memorial Day opening. The website The Numbers notes that the film's weekend gross "equals the record for the fewest number of days taken to earn $100 million, joining four other movies that achieved the feat in three days."[24] However, the film suffered a significant drop of 66.9% in its second weekend, when its box office take fell to $34.0 million.[25] Nevertheless, the film has grossed over $234 million in North America (fourth-highest of 2006) and over $459 million globally (fifth-highest of 2006).[2] It is the fifth-highest-grossing comic book adaptation, and the highest grossing of the X-Men series.[2] It became the first film of 2006, and the 67th film on record, to pass the $200 million mark at the North American box office, which it accomplished on the weekend of June 9, 2006. It is the first X-Men movie to surpass $200 million outside the United States. X-Men: The Last Stand is one of the few third installments in a series to outgross its predecessors, Spider-Man 3 and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King being examples.


[edit] Novelization
The novelization of the film, written by comic book writer Chris Claremont, was released on May 16, 2006.[35]
The novelization of the movie differs in some areas from the film. In the novel, young Jean Grey discovers her powers after an accident that takes her best friend's life (taken directly from the comic book incarnation's origin). Angel officially joins the X-Men and travels with them to Alcatraz Island instead of going on his own. Storm spares Callisto's life, and Rogue decides to keep her powers in the end, and Beast stays at the school as a teacher, the latter two of which were alternate versions of the film. Iceman takes an unconscious Pyro away from Alcatraz. The attack on Alcatraz is referred to as M-Day, a reference to the "Decimation of mutantkind" storyline in the comic books. Moira MacTaggert visits Magneto in the park, presumably offering an antidote to the "cure", which he refuses because as the book says: "He couldn't go back. That path had brought nothing but grief, to those he cared for, those who trusted him, to himself." Unlike the film, the novel does not allude to Xavier's resurrection. In the end of the novel Wolverine is in the basement of the Institute training the new X-Men, which includes Gambit, Sage, Danielle Moonstar and Cannonball.

The book also briefly references Kitty Pryde's political ambitions when she is shown hanging up a homemade "Pryde for President" poster. In a few possible futures seen in the comics, Pryde has ended up President (X-Men: The End) and her plans to run for office were a sub-plot during the X-Treme X-Men series.
[edit] Video games
Main article: X-Men: The Official Game
Games publisher Activision released X-Men: The Official Game, the official video game tie-in to the film across all major video game platforms on May 16, 2006. The various editions of the game bridge the events of the films X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand and feature many of both films' prominent characters. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane, Shawn Ashmore and Tyler Mane reprise their film roles in this game. Sentinels, Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth and Silver Samurai also appear in the game. It also provides an explanation of Nightcrawler's absence from the film. An X-Men: The Last Stand game was also released for mobile phones.

Home media
X-Men: The Last Stand was released in the United States and Canada on DVD in both standard and collector's edition formats on October 3, 2006. The single-disc standard DVD, in either widescreen or fullscreen, features two menu settings: "Join The Brotherhood" and "Take A Stand". These choices change the menu's design and the deleted scenes available. The DVD also features commentaries featuring the director, writers, and producers; 10 deleted scenes; three alternate endings; and two easter eggs. On the first day of its release, errors were reported with the DVD. About 60% of the DVDs currently in circulation have errors in them. Some DVDs come with only 10 deleted scenes while others come with 21, amongst other errors.[36]
The "Stan Lee Collector's Edition" DVD is a widescreen standard DVD that was packaged in a slipcase with a 100-page booklet featuring a completely new X-Men comic by Stan Lee. The Hollywood Reporter announced that 20th Century Fox will make films available to buy online the same day as the DVD, through Direct2Drive, with X-Men: The Last Stand among the first such available. Also, Wal-Mart stores included a special exclusive DVD titled "X-Men Revealed" with 50 minutes of behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the X-Men franchise. The Wal-Mart exclusive DVD disc is not what it seems however. From the information of the exclusive DVD front and back cover, it is supposed to be a behind-the-scenes look of the X-Men movie franchise but instead it is a brief history of the X-Men comics. Target also has an exclusive that comes in a tin case with the single-disc DVD plus a reprint of Giant-Size X-Men #1 and four collectible cards from the movie. There are also other versions.
The DVD sold 5 million copies in its first week in stores.[37] In other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the DVD package is a 2-Disc Special Edition and has a bonus disc containing three documentaries (Brett Ratner's Production Diary, X-Men: Evolution Of A Trilogy, and X-Men: The Excitement Continues) as well as various featurettes, character guides and pre-visualization sequences. This version is not planned for a Region 1 release.
X-Men: The Last Stand has also been released on Blu-ray Disc. The video was encoded in 1080p with 6.1 DTS ES HD Master Audio. The film was released on Universal Media Disc as well.
[edit] Soundtrack
X-Men: The Last Stand Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Film score by John PowellReleased May 23, 2006
Genre
Soundtracks
Film scoresLength 60:26
Label
Varese SarabandeProducer
John Powell
Professional reviews
• Allmusic
• Score Reviews
• Tracksounds Marvel Comics film series soundtrack chronology
Fantastic 4: The Album
(2005) X-Men: The Last Stand Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2006) Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man 3
(2007)
X-Men: The Last Stand Soundtrack has received generally positive reviews.
1. "20 Years Ago" (1:10)
2. "Bathroom Titles" (1:09)
3. "The Church of Magneto, Raven is My Slave Name" (2:40)
4. "Meet Leech, Then off to the Lake" (2:37)
5. "Whirlpool of Love" (2:04)
6. "Examining Jean" (1:12)
7. "Dark Phoenix" (1:28)
8. "Angel's Cure" (2:34)
9. "Jean and Logan" (1:39)
10. "Dark Phoenix Awakes" (1:45)
11. "Rejection is Never Easy" (1:09)
12. "Magneto Plots" (2:05)
13. "Entering the House" (1:18)
14. "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy" (3:18)
15. "Farewell to X" (0:30)
16. "The Funeral" (2:52)
17. "Skating on the Pond" (1:12)
18. "Cure Wars" (2:57)
19. "Fight in the Woods" (3:06)
20. "St. Lupus Day" (3:03)
21. "Building Bridges" (1:16)
22. "Shock and No Oars" (1:15)
23. "Attack on Alcatraz" (4:36)
24. "Massacre" (0:31)
25. "The Battle of the Cure" (4:21)
26. "Phoenix Rises" (4:21)
27. "The Last Stand" (5:29)
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