X-Men: First Class already casting?

Yesterday it was announced that X-Men: First Class would be released on June 3rd 2011 under the direction of Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn, with filming set to begin towards the end of the summer. The schedule appeared a bit tight, giving Vaughn just over a year to prep, shoot and edit the film, although AICN points out that Iron Man 2 had a similar schedule, so its definitely doable.

With time ticking we can expect to hear casting announcements over the upcoming months. Fox need new actors to play Xavier and Magneto, as well as fresh faces to play young versions of Cyclops, Jean, Storm and Beast. Although according to a new report, casting may have been underway for a while.

From HeatVision:

There is reason to believe that preliminary casting may have already begun.

Bryan Singer was to have directed “First Class” but is instead focusing on “Jack the Giant Killer.” But he stayed on “First Class” as a producer and is committed to being very involved in steering the movie. Singer has been meeting with young actors to star in “Giant Killer,” which needs its young farmer Jack and princess, among others.

Word among the Hollywood community is that Singer has been using “Giant Killer’s” casting process as an opportunity to look for potential X-Men, vetting actors who may be qualified to play a young Cyclops or young Jean Grey.

In a way, he is casting two movies simultaneously and earning the title of multitasker of the month.

I was disappointed when it was announced Singer wouldn’t be directing X-Men: First Class, but from what we’ve been hearing he is still very much involved. When talks with Vaughn broke down last week it was Singer who apparently got the deal sorted, so we will have him to thank if Vaughn delivers a kick-ass X-Men movie next summer.

Singer will begin filming Jack the Giant Killer in July, which means he’ll be more focused on that than First Class, but due to modern technology he can still be involved in the production. Vaughn’s got this covered anyway, that is, unless he doesn’t walk 9 weeks before filming like with X3. If he’s still on board as director in July we’re good.