Director Matthew Vaughn was set to direct 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand but quit just two weeks before filming started. The director has now revealed the true reason why he abruptly left the project.
In a special panel during this year's New York Comic Con, Vaughn recalled his departure from X-Men 3. He claims one of the film's executives attempted to lure Halle Berry to return for the third installment with a fake script. Vaughn revealed that scenes were added to what he called "the Halle Berry script" to entice the actor to sign up for The Last Stand. The director previously cited family matters and tight deadlines were the reason for his departure, saying that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make."
"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," Vaughn said (via Comicbook.com). "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. 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."