Roughly a year ago when Bryan Singer was still attached to direct X-Men: First Class he took part in an interview with X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner. It was revealed that Donner had pitched the idea of making X-Men 4 to Singer, with him telling her to “hold that one off for just a little, I’m fixated on the other one right now”.

A week later Singer had to pull out of directing First Class due to his commitments on Jack the Giant Killer, but in various interviews since Singer has stated he still wants to direct another X-Men film in the future, and it looks like X-Men 4 may be it.

Obsessed With Film noticed a quote from Lauren Shuler Donner in the latest issue of Empire magazine regarding another X-Men outing, and she revealed:

“We took the treatment to Fox and they love it… And X4 leads into X5″.

Given Bryan Singer’s renewed involvement in the X-Men franchise, and what he’s had to say in various interviews, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that Singer may end up directing X-Men 4 (and possibly 5) after he’s finished work on Jack the Giant Killer. An X-Men 4 could potentially see the return of original cast members Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore and X3 additions Ellen Page and Kelsey Grammar. As Cyclops and Jean Grey died it is unlikely James Marsden and Famke Janssen would be back, but the final scene of X3 suggested Xavier was alive so we could see Patrick Stewart and possibly Ian McKellen return.

Plans for X4 and X5 obviously raise questions as to how it would fit with Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class. If it is a success Fox would likely green-light sequels, and all the cast are signed for more. Would audiences accept two strands of the same franchise (with possibly a few of the same characters) running at the same time?

With First Class only 2 months away hopefully Singer, Donner or someone else involved with the X-Men franchise clears things up during the promotional rounds.

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Last week we heard that James McAvoy had landed the role of Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class, and we can no doubt expect further casting over the upcoming weeks. The roles of Magneto, the X-Men (full line-up not yet known) and the villain (whoever that will be) will be the main ones to look out for.

Well The Examiner came across a casting call today which mentioned casting auditions are taking place in Los Angeles, and there will also be some casting taking place in London where X-Men: First Class will be filmed. They also mention that filming will begin in September.

If Fox and Vaughn are indeed aiming to begin filming in September that means they have just 10 months to shoot the thing and get it through post-production ready for its June 3rd release date. That is a very tight schedule, however if anyone can do it its Vaughn. This is the guy who left X-Men 3 because of the rushed production, so he must be confident he can get First Class completed on time. Vaughn filmed Stardust in less than 3 months so if they are efficient they can wrap up filming by December/January, leaving 5 months for post.

X-Men: The Last Stand began shooting in August 2005 and ended in January 2006 for a May release, so First Class will have a similar schedule. X2 also had around 6 months of post-production time and that turned out well.

If you want to be in X-Men: First Class click here for audition details!

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Over the weekend we heard that 20th Century Fox had approached Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn to direct X-Men: First Class, however it was reported by various outlets that Vaughn had passed and Fox were now talking with directors such as Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) and David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), among others.

Well now it seems negotiations have resumed, and Vaughn may end up directing X-Men: First Class after all.

From Deadline:

Things are back on with Matthew Vaughn and 20th Century Fox on X-Men: First Class. A deal is being negotiated right now. That’s where I told you this was headed last week, until both sides confirmed that the deal hit the rocks last Thursday. Fox, having gone far down the road with the Kick-Ass director on X-Men: Last Stand, had put together a killer list of alternative directors for the job. Several were interviewed, but then others were cancelled after Vaughn came back into the picture this morning. Now, I hear the studio is working with his WME reps to close the deal.

This is great news in my opinion. The fact that the two side are re-negotiating could mean that Vaughn will be given more creative control. He’s just come off Kick-Ass which he made without any studio involvement, and he said he loved the freedom it gave him. Vaughn wouldn’t sign up if he was just going to be Fox’s puppet.

Deadline say that Fox aim to start production on First Class late summer, with Bryan Singer producing alongside Lauren Shuler Donner and X3 writer Simon Kinberg. A Singer/Vaughn combo gives me great hope that this won’t suck like previous X-Men efforts. The franchise hit a low with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and I believe with this creative team we can get something at least as good as X2.

What are your thoughts on Matthew Vaughn possibly directing First Class?

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Deadline has some good news and some bad news for X-Men fans. The bad news is that, as was speculated last week, Bryan Singer will not be directing X-Men: First Class and will instead produce alongside Lauren Shulder Donner and X3 writer Simon Kinberg.

Singer is deep into pre-production on Jack the Giant Killer and 20th Century Fox don’t want to wait until 2012 for him to start on First Class. It’s a shame as X-Men 2, in my opinion, is still up there as one of the great comicbook movies of the past decade and I was looking forward to seeing Singer’s take on the formation of the X-Men.

The good news, however, is that he is still on-board as producer. He hasn’t left the franchise like he did in 2005, and 20th Century Fox will still be going ahead with the script he wrote with Jamie Moss. I suppose we could say he will be ‘godfather’ to the X-Men like what Christopher Nolan is to Batman/Superman. The other good news is that now 20th Century Fox can move ahead with the project (they are currently talking to other directors) and we could be seeing the X-Men back on our screens as early next year.

What I don’t want to happen now is for Fox to rush it out for next summer. Thor has been filming for months now, and Captain America is gearing up for shooting in June after being in pre-production since the beginning of the year. Both will be released next summer (Thor in May, Captain America in July) so ideally Fox should be aiming for an August/September/October release. The only major competition in those months currently is The Smurfs in August and Underworld 4 in September. October is empty (although probably for good reason).

Deadline suggests that filming could begin towards the end of the summer, so over the upcoming months and weeks we should be hearing who’ll be replacing Bryan Singer as director (crucial) and there will also be the issue of finding a bunch of fresh faced actors to play the X-Men.

Anyone have any suggestions for director?

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The X-Men franchise has had its fair share of drama in the past, and it looks like the behind the scenes drama will continue with X-Men: First Class. Mere days ago in an interview with Hero Complex Bryan Singer and producer Lauren Shuler Donner were talking about the film, saying how it would focus on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto and the formation of the X-Men. There were also hints that Singer was interested in directing X-Men 4, although that would be a few years away yet.

Also mentioned in the interview was that Singer has a fairly ‘large problem’ before he can head back to Xavier Mansion: Jack the Giant Killer. The fantasy film is already in pre-production and it is unlikely Singer could simply drop out, which means the earliest he could begin work on X-Men: First Class would be late 2011/2012. And just like with X-Men 3, it appears 20th Century Fox may not be willing to wait for him.

From HitFix:

HitFix has exclusively learned, from multiple sources, that Bryan Singer may not be directing “X-Men: First Class” despite recent press reports to the contrary, and that 20th Century Fox is actively searching for directors to step in and helm the film, with discussions with at least two other filmmakers as recently as last week.

The filmmakers that they’re approaching now about directing “X-Men: First Class” are good names, guys who either have real experience in the comic book movie medium or who have heavy credibility with fan audiences. Names that would make fanboys happy from the first moment they’re announced. I’m curious to see who else they meet with in the next few weeks now that their first few choices have passed. Those meetings, exclusively reported by HitFix, make it seem like no matter what public face they’re putting on things, Fox is making plans as if Singer will not be free.

Oh dear. I was looking forward to Bryan Singer returning to the X-Men franchise, considering how great X-Men 2 was (and still is). I suppose 2 years is a long time for Fox to wait, especially if they could begin filming late 2010/2011 with another director on-board. I guess we’ll be able to get a better idea of the situation if/when Fox hire a new director. Singer isn’t the only guy would could potentially create a great film with First Class, so if they get a capable director on-board I won’t have that big of an issue. Just keep the Brett Ratner types away please.

What would you like to see happen? Should Fox wait till 2012 for Singer, or should they get another director on-board so we can actually see X-Men: First Class in 2012?

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It’s been just over 3 months since Bryan Singer announced he would be returning to the X-Men franchise to direct X-Men: First Class, which he said will focus on the friendship between Xavier and Magneto and the formation of the X-Men. Before things can gear up Singer has to direct Jack the Giant Killer for Warner Bros, which is expected to go into production later this year.

Singer still has the X-Men in his conscious though, as he is working on the First Class script with Jamie Moss, and in a recent interview with Hero Complex both he and producer Lauren Shuler Donner spoke about the past and future of the X-Men franchise.

The article begins by looking back at the release of X-Men in 2000, commenting on how it has spawned the current superhero genre we have today and how during production they weren’t sure if it would be a success or failure. It then goes over the trilogy trivia, Singer leaving to direct Superman Returns, X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine being disappointments etc. Then the interviewer turns the attention back to the present, and what Singer and Donner have in-store for the future.

First they addressed why Singer chose to return to the franchise:

“I genuinely like the people, and my personality meshes more with this universe than it does with other universes, I think; I see that now at this point,” Singer said. “I feel a connection to the X-Men characters and also the ensemble nature of the films. If you look at ‘Usual Suspects” or my last film, ‘Valkyrie,’ I feel especially comfortable with ensemble juggling. In the space between all the characters you can disguise a central thought that’s hidden in all the discourse. I missed that with the singular relationship story of Superman. And, well, it always gives you something to cut to…”

Singer then briefly discussed the story for First Class:

The premise has compelling elements to it, Singer said. “Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends — to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies.”

Now that Singer is back with the X-Men it seems people are keen to have him make as many X-Men movies as humanly possible:

Shuler Donner also has pitched Singer on doing a fourth instalment of the previously established “X-Men” franchise and Jackman had that lunch with Singer to coax him into a project as well, which may or may not be a “Wolverine” film, which Jackman has said will be set in Japan and released in 2011. “I wish I could be four people,” the director said with a moan. “I could make everybody happy.”

Singer turned to Shuler Donner and said of “X-Men 4″: “Hold that one off for just a little, I’m fixated on the other one right now.” She nodded and answered, “I will, I will … I’m holding it open with high hopes. It’s totally different [from 'First Class'] and it will be so interesting for you.”

With Singer’s commitments to both Jack the Giant Killer and X-Men: First Class he won’t be able to direct Wolverine 2, which he would be quite suited too considering X1 and X2 were when Wolverine was at his best. 20th Century Fox are aiming to shoot the Wolverine sequel in January, and it looks like they are still looking for a director.

While I would be interested in seeing an X-Men 4, I think they should stick with First Class and make a trilogy of it rather than hopping from prequels to distant sequels within the space of a few years. Fox won’t be letting go of the X-Men rights anytime soon, so heading back into the future after all these prequels and spin-offs may be their best move.

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Back in November 2008 Gossip Girl and The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz was hired by 20th Century Fox to write the script for X-Men: First Class. As the film would focus on the X-Men as teenagers it seemed Schwartz was the right guy for the job, as he’s written and produced a few different teen-orientated TV shows.

However a few months ago it was announced that Bryan Singer would be returning to the franchise to direct the film, and as a result Schwartz’s script was pushed aside and Singer hired Jamie Moss to write the screenplay for his vision. We haven’t heard anything from Schwartz on the matter for a while, but MTV managed to ask him about it recently.

“I finished my draft,” Schwartz told MTV News. “Bryan Singer came onboard the movie, who’s the best possible guy to direct the ‘X-Men’ movies, and he wanted to make a very different kind of movie.”

“He’s Bryan Singer. If he wants to make an X-Men movie, they make his X-Men movie,” said Schwartz. “But it was a great experience and it was an honor to work on it.”

Pressed for more information about the “First Class” script that almost made it to the screen, Schwartz said he’d be endangering his life if he let any details slip. “I cannot. It’s on lockdown,” he said. “Sworn to secrecy. I swear to god, there’s a sniper with a gun pointed at me from that building.”

I guess there will forever be a ‘what if’ now with First Class, adding to the ‘what if’ Singer directed X-Men 3.

From the small bits of info we’ve received over the past year or so it seemed Schwartz was heading in an interesting direction. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said they “want it to be like the recent, darker Potters. It should not be a kiddie movie – we’re in the X-Men world so you can’t suddenly change the tone.” She also mentioned Schwartz reviewed his script following the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so the actors who played Cyclops and Emma Frost could have appeared in First Class also.

Singer’s version will focus more attention on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto (who probably wasn’t in Schwartz’ script) which I’m looking forward too. We will also see the formation of the X-Men, so they will probably be looking for some young kids/teens to play Cyclops, Storm and Jean. Beast will be slightly older if his appearance in The Last Stand is anything to go by.

It looks like Singer will be directing Jack the Giant Killer for New Line sometime this year, so X-Men: First Class will likely go into production in 2011, depending on Singer’s schedule.

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Last month Ryan Reynolds said that they were having meetings with a number of potential Deadpool writers, “all of which had amazing and slightly disparate takes from one another”. Now 20th Century Fox and the producers have decided that Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will be the guys to write the script.

From Variety:

20th Century Fox is making progress with its “X-Men” spinoff, “Deadpool,” and has tapped “Zombieland” scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to pen the screenplay.

There is no timetable on the Marvel property, though Reynolds has a window after wrapping the “Green Lantern” this summer.

Reese and Wernick, who wrote “Zombieland,” will stay true to the mythology of “Deadpool” given that Reynolds is a huge fan and protector of the property.

The tone of “Deadpool,” which features an antihero as opposed to the more traditional heroic comicbook protagonist, is very similar in tone to “Zombieland.”

Reese and Wernick also wrote the script for Venom before Gary Ross came on-board to make it his own, so they are no strangers to comic book territory. However Deadpool will be a bit different to the films we have seen so far as it will be breaking the 4th wall. Deadpool will be talking directly too the audience, so Reese and Wernick will have to make sure it works without it coming across as cheesy or laughable.

One positive aspect, though, is that they won’t have to take into account any events that took place in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which would have been kinda difficult considering the character was decapitated).

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK next week, and UK magazine Empire flew out to the US to have a one-one-one with producer Lauren Shuler Donner. As expected, they asked her for updates on Wolverine 2, X-Men: First Class, Deadpool and X-Men Origins: Magneto and she had a lot to say.

Wolverine 2

Donner says that Wolverine 2 is the furthest along out of all the projects and will focus on the relationship between Wolverine and Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord, and what happens to him in Japan. She says they wanted an “A+ writer” so they got Chris McQuarrie (Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects) who has tightened up the story and has “got really immersed in the whole thing”. 20th Century Fox will also be working with the Japanese Fox executives as they “don’t want to portray the way [Japanese people] speak, dress and act in an inaccurate way.” Although it is “likely the characters will speak English rather than Japanese with subtitles”.

Donner finishes by saying “there’ll be samurai, ninja, katana blades, different forms of martial arts – mano-a-mano, extreme fighting. We’re going to come up with a new style of fighting. It’s going to be awesome.”

X-Men: First Class

According to Donner the script is not finished and they aren’t where they want to be yet. They are trying hard not to make it too similar to the previous trilogy and want to make it different. Donner also admits that the Harry Potter movies are “role models” for them but they “want it to be like the recent, darker Potters. It should not be a kiddie movie – we’re in the X-Men world so you can’t suddenly change the tone.”

She says that there’s still friction between mutants and the outside world, but First Class will be set before anyone knows mutants exist so it will probably have a more secretive edge. Regarding the characters Donner says they will be in Xavier’s School but they will also be off on adventures and some will be “naughty children”. She gives Cyclops as an example who is “a tough kid that bobbed from foster home to foster home, until he ends up at the school and becomes the leader.” None of the characters have been cast yet, but they plan on turning First Class into a whole new franchise so “the casting of the child actors will be all-important.” I’m not sure how young the actors will be but they’ll probably be young enough so we see them grow up on-screen.

Deadpool

Deadpool will be a complete reboot as they want to “ignore the version of Deadpool that we saw in Wolverine and just start over again”. Donner says it will be a “dark, snarky, very funny movie” and they are just working out which villain(s) to incorporate. They hope to have a writer on-board by next month and are currently talking to a few. “We need someone really imaginative because we want to do some really innovative, ambitious stuff. Ryan’s mentioned this in an interview already but there are parts where he’s going to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience in the cinema. We have to work out how to do that. I don’t know that Fox will agree with all our decisions, but we’ll see!”

X-Men Origins: Magneto

…won’t be seen for a while, if ever. Donner says the film is “at the back of the queue” out of all the films and she isn’t sure if the script David Goyer wrote is ever going to be made. “Maybe it’ll get made in five years – who knows? I can tell you that Ian McKellen won’t be playing the character the whole way through. We used Lola technology in X-Men 3 to de-age Ian and Patrick for one scene, but it’s very expensive. To do that for a two-hour movie would be prohibitive financially. And to find a younger actor to fill Ian’s shoes, that’s pretty daunting. It’s not easy.”

Summary

The X-Men franchise peaked in 2003. 20th Century Fox have since been too involved with the creative process and we have ended up with disappointments. Although, they have hired Chris McQuarrie to write Wolverine 2 and there is a chance Bryan Singer could return to direct. If that happens Wolverine 2 may actually be a good movie.

If Fox don’t screw things up they could have a new franchise with X-Men: First Class. The films won’t be as good as the Potter ones, but that franchise ends in 2011 and there will be a gap in the market. They need to get an “A+ director” involved.

I’m not that much of a Deadpool fan but from what we’ve heard they want to stay close to the source material. When we find out who they hire to write and direct it will give us an indication whether it’s a potential new superhero franchise or just doomed.

I’ve been wanting to see a Magneto movie ever since it was announced they were making one. Over the years I’ve questioned whether David Goyer is actually the right man for the job, but I don’t think he is. I’d rather get a great Magneto movie in 5+ years than have a sub-par movie start filming next year.

Which movie are you looking forward too (if any)? Can 20th Century Fox bring the X-Men franchise back up to the level it once was?

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A meeting took place today to discuss the Deadpool movie that 20th Century Fox announced they were making a few months ago. Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool, attended the meeting and Twittered his reaction afterwards. Here’s what he had to say:

Walking into Deadpool movie meeting!!! Yowza!

Great Deadpool movie meeting! Lauren Schuler Donner and her team are headed in the right direction!

Deadpool movie checklist- DP in costume-check! Breaking 4th wall-check! Loads of killing-double check!

Deadpool movie- YES! Ryan Reynolds is on board!!!

Also excited to discuss possibilities of Cable in future X-films!!!

Clarification, Cable definitely NOT in Deadpool movie, but possible role in future X-films….not First Class.

Donner Company is on top of making the Deadpool movie that fans want. They get it. He’s funny, tortured, clever, a bastard and mucho action!

I guess if the creator of the character is happy then that’s a good sign for the fans. Even though Deadpool/Wade Wilson appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine they are planning on giving him a mini-reboot instead of trying to work the ending of Wolverine into the movie. While this probably won’t make sense timeline-wise, I think it’s better in the long run and will allow Deadpool to have an origin movie all superheroes seem to need.

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