Again, this is why writing offer stories sucks for you, the reader, and us, the writers. Mostly because we have to do everything twice.
Things change minute to minute in Hollywood, they do, and that’s just the way it is. Reporting about deals in advance can be a losing proposition until all the I’s are dotted and all the T’s are crossed, but this is the new game now and everyone must compete for better or worse.
Case in point. Last week it was reported that “Layer Cake” and “Kick-Ass” director Matthew Vaughn was in line to direct “X-Men: First Class,” which had been vacated by Bryan Singer because he would be shooting this summer’s “Jack the Giant Killer” (he’ll remain an executive producer and he’s surely keeping his eye on other “X-Men” installments for the future now that any issues with he, Fox, and the producers have been resolved).
But just minutes after that report hit, most people were doing an about face, saying Vaughn had officially passed on the project.
Maybe the English filmmaker who used to be Guy Ritchie’s producer before he struck out on his own got envious when he heard folks like Samuel Bayer (“A Nightmare On Elm Street”), Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”), Louis Leterrier (“Clash Of The Titans”), David Slade (“Twilight: Eclipse”), and Carl Erick Rinsch (one time “Alien” prequel director) were all evidently in talks with 20th Century Fox to take the reigns?
Who knows, but Deadline — the same people who said Vaughn might be passing on the project, mind you — are now saying he’s in negotiations and it’s likely going to happen (evidently there was some tussling in the initial negotiations and these aforementioned directors might have been the impetus for Vaughn getting back on board, though EW says creative control issues were part of the problem as well).
Either way, we’re happy with this decision. While lacking a great script, having momentum issues and a little bit of a juvenile celebration of irreverence for the sake of it, “Kick-Ass” did demonstrate that Vaughn does have the chops to make a great superhero film (maybe we just didn’t care for the source material that much). He should be more than able to create a visually exciting and extremely dynamic rebooting of the “X-Men” tale.
Ok, “X-Men: First Class” is more of a prequel than a reboot. It essentially tracks the story of the original “X-Men” — Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel and the Beast — when they first arrive at Professor Xavier’s school for gifted mutants in their teenage years. So it will be a chance for the studio to tell the X-Men tale with younger, hotter teen actors and presumably give them some kind of “Twilight”-y edge.
So yes, don’t expect to see James Marsden, Famke Janssen, or Patrick Stewart in these films, but presumably they’ll cast actors who look somewhat like them. “X-Men: First Class” was written by Jamie Moss who penned “Street Kings” and 2006 Black List favorite “Last Man Home,” and is based on a treatment by Singer as he was originally scheduled to direct before Fox decided they needed a 2011 or 2012 tentpole sooner than his schedule would offer.
All and all, it’s great news and we believe that Vaughn, with a good script and a good advisor in Singer, can finally knock a comic book film out of the park (he was also scheduled to direct “Thor” and “X-Men: The Last Stand,” but got cold feet each time). However, if negotiations fall apart one more time, we’re never going to write about movies again. You’ve been forewarned, Hollywood and trigger happy publications.