A 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

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

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

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

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?

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If on May 26th 2006 you walked out after seeing X-Men: The Last Stand and thought “well that was disappointing, I wonder what the film would have been like if Bryan Singer directed” then you’re in luck! As 3 years on, your question has finally been answered. Sort of.

Michael Dougherty, writer of X2 and director of Trick r’ Treat, recently appeared on the /Filmcast and spoke about a few ideas he and Bryan Singer had been thinking of before Singer left to direct Superman Returns.

Transcript from Geek Files:

“The idea was that you open up with Alkali Lake but it’s completely barren and dried up and there are these odd reports of strange phenomena going on around the world accompanied by bright lights in the sky.

“The idea would be that both the X-Men and the Brotherhood realise that essentially a very god-like force had entered their reality and that it was causing disruptions around the world, you know mutant prisons being decimated, I had pitched an idea about a fleet of cargo ships getting torn apart in the Atlantic and you found out that they were shuttling mutants as slave labour.

“You found out was that Phoenix was going round the world taking things into her own hands and that she had basically returned as a god, which they did in X3. She had viewed herself as above the conflict, that she was here to end things on her terms, she was sick of the fighting and she was going to take things into her own hands and she did not give a s**t what the X-Men or the Brotherhood had to say about it.

“And ultimately the way it was going to end, at least the version I was pushing for, would be that Phoenix was kind of like the Starchild at the end of 2001, she didn’t just get stabbed and die again, but she kind of chose to leave.

“The one idea that I loved, that I really wanted to do, was that Cyclops would build the Danger Room. He felt guilty that because the X-Men were too weak, they weren’t strong enough or fast enough, that was the reason Jean died. If they were a little bit better at fighting, then she might still be alive. It was all about this guilt he had about her death and he built the Danger Room to train them to be better. In the end it really was about him not being able to let go of her and that causes the chaos and disruption in the movie and in the end it’s about him letting her go.

“Ultimately she kind of becomes that cosmic force that Phoenix is known to be, she leaves Earth and becomes a god or at least a higher level of intelligence and she goes into the cosmos possibly to kick-start life somewhere else. The final scene for me would have been her telling Cyclops or her telling the X-Men ‘I’ll be watching.’”

Part of me wishes I never read that. That’s what X-Men 3 should have been. It should have focused on Jean/Phoenix and Cyclops and not have her stand around like a lemon for 20 minutes during a battle. Dougherty also mentioned that it would have set things up for more sequels, and there was talk way back about possibly filming X3 and X4 back-to-back.

I’d like to take this time to blame a few people. Firstly, I blame 20th Century Fox for not signing Bryan Singer up straight after X2. Secondly, I blame Warner Bros. for offering Singer Superman Returns. You don’t steal directors who are mid-way through a franchise. It’s not cool! Thirdly, I blame Singer himself for abandoning the franchise. Singer apparently wanted to make X3 after Superman, but Fox didn’t want to wait and I can understand why. One man can’t and shouldn’t hold up a franchise.

I’d also like to blame 20th Century Fox again for getting too involved with the creative process, hiring writers who can only write your typical popcorn fluff, and for hiring Brett Ratner as director. The guy directs Mariah Carey music videos for Christ sake!

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Last month we heard that Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat would finally be available to the masses after 2 years of release date limbo. The film will be going straight to DVD and Blu-Ray on October 6th, 2 years and 1 day after it was originally intended to be released. To promote the release Warner Bros. have revealed a new trailer, which can be seen below.

The film stars Brian Cox, Anna Paquin and Dylan Baker and revolves around four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween. You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon by clicking here!

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Two years ago Michael Dougherty, writer of X2 and Superman Returns, made his directorial debut with Trick ‘r Treat which revolves around four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween. It had a release date of October 5th 2007, however Warner Bros. decided to push it back. As the film’s ideal release date would be around Halloween time it was expected they would release it the following year, but that never happened. This has left Trick ‘r Treat sitting around for nearly two years with only an odd screening here and there. However, according to ShockTillYouDrop Warner Bros. have finally decided to release the film, but it will be going straight to DVD and Blu-Ray.

This is a shame as it looks like might actually be a good film, and it is probably better than all of these Saw movies we have been getting over the years. Trick ‘r Treat, which stars Brian Cox, Anna Paquin and Dylan Baker, will be available to purchase on October 6th, 2 years and 1 day after it was originally intended to be released. Here’s the trailer below:

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