So, who should direct X-Men: First Class?

by Liam Goodwin on March 28, 2010 · 3 comments

bryan singer xmen first classA few days ago it was confirmed that Bryan Singer would not be directing, but producing, X-Men: First Class as he is deep in pre-production on Jack the Giant Killer and won’t be available until 2012. 20th Century Fox liked the script he wrote with Jamie Moss and are aiming to begin filming later this year for a possible 2011 release, and in order to do that they will need a director. Fox are busy talking to a few people now and we will probably get an announcement over the upcoming weeks, but until then let’s speculate!

(In no particular order)

Michael Dougherty

MichaelDougherty He co-wrote X-Men 2 and Superman Returns with Singer so he already has a working relationship with him and knows the X-Men well (click here to read what he planned for X-Men 3 before Singer left). Dougherty has only directed one film, Trick ‘r Treat, which took 2 years to be released and when it did it went straight to DVD. That was mainly because Warner Bros. didn’t know what to do with it (could really only be released around Halloween), however it is 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes and did relatively well on DVD.

Matthew Vaughn

matthew vaughn xmen The Layer Cake and Stardust director was hired to direct X-Men 3 after Singer left, although he too left soon after because he didn’t think he could create the movie he wanted with the time and creative restrictions 20th Century Fox had in place. Since leaving he worked on Thor for Marvel, but they bailed because of the budget. Vaughn eventually landed himself a comic book movie with Kick-Ass, which he made himself because no studio would make it. With a budget of $28 million and rave reviews it looks like Kick-Ass will be a critical and financial success, which means he’ll probably begin work on a sequel. In the unlikely event of Kick-Ass bombing I think he would be a suitable candidate for X-Men: First Class.

James McTeigue

jamesmcteigue Ninja Assassin may not have been one of the best reviewed movies of last year, but V for Vendetta still remains in IMDB’s Top 250 movies of all time (#167). McTeigue would have been a good choice to direct Magneto, and he seemed to like the idea too, but seeing as though that won’t be getting made anytime soon (if ever) he could work on X-Men: First Class instead. The only problem is The Raven which may film at some point this year with Jeremy Renner and Ewan McGregor (who would have been a great candidate to play a young Magneto).

Alfonso Cuarón

Alfonso Cuarón Children of Men remains one of my favourite movies after all these years for obvious reasons, and Prisoner of Azkaban is probably the most visually stunning Harry Potter movie made so far. It is also the best reviewed. Alfonso Cuarón can work with teenagers, which the X-Men will be, and he would be a solid choice to direct First Class. Unfortunately he will be making Gravity with Robert Downey Jr. this summer, so it is unlikely that he will be free.

Joss Whedon

The man behind Serenity, Buffy and Dollhouse has been a fan favourite ever since he wrote the Astonishing X-Men comic books. Whedon’s ‘Cure’ storyline from the comics was the main storyline in X3, and he is also responsible for the “Do you know what happens to a Toad when it gets struck by lightning” line from the first film (not exactly the best selling point). Whedon doesn’t have anything big lined up to direct in the near future, so it just depends on whether Fox are interested in getting him on-board for First Class.

20th Century Fox are planning for X-Men: First Class to be the first in a planned trilogy, so they may be looking for an up and coming (cheap and controllable) director who can stick around for all three movies. The directors above are just a few that were on my radar and have connection with the X-Men, but its unlikely Fox will be going after them.

What do you think of the suggestions above, and who do you think should direct X-Men: First Class?

  • http://DaftBot.com DaftBot

    X-Men: First Class is a dumb idea for a few reasons.

    1.) The only character in the entire film series that's been treated properly, given the lines and moments they deserve is Wolverine. Everyone else is a pale shadow of the version in the comics or has been killed off for no reason. (Cyclops and Jean Grey)

    2.) Because of Number 1, this would be a movie about three or four of the most boring characters in the series. Scott is terribly written and acts like a douche for three films, Jean would just be fawning over said douche and that'd be dumb to see, Ororo (Storm) is just obnoxious and given some of the worst dialogue in the series. And now I hear Beast is in it, which is strange since he was in 1 or 2 except for a cameo on TV, and he didn't have fur, which apparently goes against the new script

    3.) What's the point of watching a film that's a prequel with established characters anyway? We all know what happens to these people… and if it's not a reboot, then 2 of them die in 3 more films, so what's the point? It takes away all the tension.

    4.) Without Patrick Stewart as Prof X, I don't think there will be a real sense of leadership from whoever plays Prof X. Unless the plan on doing that awful CGI effect they did in X-Men 3 for the whole film, I don't see it working out too well.

    5.) If any of these characters are better than their later counterparts it will seem out of continuity because here they have a chance to shine, and in all the later films they just support the Wolverine story arch. Which is never what X-Men should be.

    I just think this is a terrible idea unless it's a reboot… and if it IS a reboot, do it right and don't bring Wolverine around for a while…

  • http://blog.deadlycomputer.com lord xeon

    I am not a fan of Alfonso Cuarón. I thuoght CoM was boring and made no sense, and Prisoner of Azkabanwas the worst film adaptation of the 6 so far.

    Joss Whedon sucks. He had one show, and now everyone thinks whatever he touches is gold, and misunderstood, which is why no one watches it and it gets canceled.

    James McTeigue has potential, but I don't see him gong because of The Raven, and, his last couple of films have been the Wachowski's.

    I like Stephen Sommers' work. But he has quite a few things in the works right now, so its doubtfull he will be able to do x-men.

    Sam Raimi has nothing on his plate right now, just throwing that out there.

    Also, i tend to agree alittle more with DaftBot, I'm not really excited about X-Men first class too much, I'd much rather see Wolverine 2, or Magneto, as there's far more relevant story in those two characters.

  • Jason P

    Can't say that I think Stephen Sommers would be the best choice.
    All the Mummy movies suuuuuucked….GI Joe was pathetic..the only movie of his that I thought was decent was Van Helsing. Not saying that he couldn't do it or shouldn't do it, I just don't think he would be the best choice.

    I don't think Joss Whedon has quite established himself as a feature film director. Not that I wouldn't love to see him direct the movie, I just don't think a studio will hire him to direct what I assume will be a big summer flick. His only feature film directing credit is Serenity and it didn't excactly rake it in at the box office. I could see him writing the screenplay…imho, very few people can rival Mr. Whedon when it comes to writing for an ensemble cast.