Fox may hit “reset” button for X-Men franchise

The X-Men movie franchise may be looking at another reboot anytime soon. Citing the less than stellar outing of X-Men Apocalypse and some of its lead actors' contracts expiring, among others, may force 20^th Century Fox to restart the series.

This may be a move for Fox, who has held the rights for X-Men since the 1990's, to find its new flagship franchise. Hugh Jackman, one of the franchise's "golden boys", will be ending his stint as the Adamantium-laced berserker with 2017's Logan. Deadpool, 2016's R-rated breakout film starring Ryan Reynolds, seemed to be the next headliner for Fox, but current roadblocks (like losing director Tim Miller) may spell uncertainty for this upcoming franchise. 

Brian Singer, who worked as the director for four of the nine X-Men films, is reported not to return to the series. The Hollywood Reporter adds that Simon Kinberg, who oversees the franchise, as well as produces it, is reportedly drafting a script for the supposed reboot. The script still has James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence, which would hopefully stick with the team.

The term "hopefully" is used here, as McAvoy (who plays Charles Xavier/Professor X), Fassbender (Erik Lensherr/Magneto), Lawrence (Raven Darkholme/Mystique), as well as Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy/Beast), have ended their contracts, and there has been no word yet if they would come back to reprise their roles.

IGN also reports that a Gambit movie is being re-ignited by Fox. While the film's original August filming scheduled got moved due to director Doug Liman stepping down as director, it is said that it will be back to active development with a new director, which is still undisclosed. Channing Tatum is set to play the Remy LeBeu, the Cajun card-flinging mutant. 

X-Men: Apocalypse, the most recent film for the comic book team created Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, grossed $543 million, around $200 less than it's predecessor, Days of the Future Past, which garnered $747 million.