Matthew Vaughn doesn’t tend to be the sort of director to get attached to a zillion projects. The director behind “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class” found his schedule wide open when he dropped out of helming “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” last fall, and while he was briefly rumored as a contender for “Star Wars: Episode 7” and signed up to produce Josh Trank‘s “Fantastic Four,” his next gig is actually one that has been brewing for a long time now, and it will reunite him with an old pal.
Deadline reports that Fox has snapped up the distribution rights for “The Secret Service,” an adaptation of Mark Millar‘s comic book (he’s also some kind nerd consultant for the studio) that will be directed by Vaughn. The helmer was looking at the gig as far back as a couple of years ago along with another Millar property, “Superior,” but this is the one that’s now moving fast. It’s a pretty ambitious concept, that starts as a father/son protegé tale but expands into a variety of pretty wild storylines. Here’s the Amazon synopsis from the upcoming comic, set to be published this summer.
The world’s greatest secret agent is on the most exciting case of his career. But will the end of the world as know it take a back seat to training his street-punk nephew to be the next James Bond? meanwhile, what’s the secret link between a series of kidnapped sci-fi stars, the murder of an entire town, and a dark secret from inside Mount Everest? Under Uncle Jack’s supervision, Gary’s spy skills and confidence blossom–but when the duo learn what’s behind the celebrity kidnappings, the knowledge comes at a price. The conspiracy begins to unravel, but who can be trusted when so many prominent figures seem to be involved?
It sounds, for better or worse, Millar-esque, but lots of people have faith and production is gearing up to start in August with a November 14, 2014 release date planned by Fox. So it seems Vaughn isn’t straying from the comic book gravy train, and we’ll be interested to see how he can assemble for this one.
