8 Great Movies Saved By Ridiculously Last Minute Changes

6. Hugh Jackman Wasn't Cast As Wolverine Until Three Weeks Into Shooting - X-Men

Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. The musically-inclined Australian has played Logan a whopping seven times (with two more appearances due in the next couple years), becoming a bona fide Hollywood star in the process. From this standpoint, it's somewhat crazy to think that before the star-making turn in X-Men he was a total unknown outside of musical circles, having only starred in two Australian movies so obscure you don't even have to pretend to have seen them. And, were it not for a troubled action sequel, things could have easily stayed that way; he very nearly wasn't Wolverine at all.

It was Dougray Scott who was originally cast as Weapon X in Bryan Singer's revolutionary superhero film, but he had to pull out at the last minute to finishing shooting Mission: Impossible II, otherwise known as the worst in the series. Despite the setback, Singer was clearly holding out for Scott to get free - Jackman wasn't rushed in as a replacement until the movie had already been shooting for three weeks.

Scott probably felt OK at first - Mission: Impossible II was the highest grossing film of 2000 (it was a confused time), while X-Men barely cracked the Top 10. Fifteen years on, however, and the superhero bubble continues to grow, X-Men is bigger than ever and Jackman is a worldwide superstar whose eventual departure from the franchise will be a true end of an era. Scott, on the other hand, was the baddie in Tak-three-n.