Zak Penn & Josh Schwartz were initially attached...
This latest addition to the X-Men saga first arrived on our radar when X-Men: The Last Stand scribbler Zak Penn claimed to have been offered a spin-off series back in 2007, saying, “the idea was to have me do a young X-Men spin-off, a spin-off of the young X-Men characters.”
Sure enough, Fox officially announced the project the following year, under the name of X-Men: First Class . The direction the film would take remained veiled in secrecy, although the title alone had fanboys foaming at the mouth.
You see, X-Men: First Class is also the name of a 2006 comic-book series focusing on the original X-Men team, comprising Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Angel and Iceman. So would Fox really be whipping up a kind of kiddie X-Men, as Penn suggested, or an alternate backstory for some of the characters from the original films?
In either case, Josh Schwartz (of The O.C . fame) had got as far as completing a first draft of the script, only for an old face to throw a rather significant spanner in the works…
Bryan Singer agreed to return...
That’s right, having previously dropped the franchise in the ham-hands of Brett Ratner after 2003’s X2 , Bryan Singer had apparently been making noises about a return. And with Fox bigwigs hearing the potential “ching” of cash registers in the air, they swiftly announced Singer as the project’s new director in December 2009.
So how did Fox manage to get their grubby mits on the man who made the series great? “It started with a conversation between (Fox co-chairman) Tom Rothman and I some time ago,” Singer told HeatVision . “We not only concluded a deal, but I’ve written a pretty concise treatment. There’s a story that I really want to tell.”
Great news for the fans then, but not so great for poor old Josh Schwartz. “I finished my draft,” Schwartz told ScreenRant , “and then Bryan Singer came on board and 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.
Well, quite. Except in this case, it turned out Singer wouldn’t be making it after all…
Before he dropped out again...
Gaah, so close and yet so far! The problem, in short, was this. Singer was already committed to directing New Line fairy tale Jack The Giant Killer , with work on First Class set to start after that had finished. However, once the suits at Fox had read Singer’s X-Men script, they weren’t so keen to wait any more.
Infuriatingly, it seems they were so chuffed with Singer’s re-write that they wanted to get things rolling straight away, with or without the main man at the helm. Whether or not they expected Singer to fall in line is anyone’s guess, but in early 2010 it was announced that he had vacated the director’s chair and the search was on for his replacement.
Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the fans. For Fox to let the series’ star man slip through their fingers once could be excused as an accident (albeit one that resulted in the horrendous sight of Vinnie Jones as the Juggernaut) but to do it twice? An adamantium-assisted mauling would be richly deserved…
Matthew Vaughn will replace Singer as director...
All is not lost however, as the man replacing Singer is none-other than Matthew Vaughn, fresh from his success with another comic-book smash in the shape of Kick-Ass . Not a bad pick at all, we reckon, but more importantly he also gets the thumbs up from Singer.
"I've been a fan of Matthew's since Layer Cake ,” said Singer in Fox’s official press release. “He has a deft hand with multiple characters and storylines, and a great love of the X-Men universe. I feel the combination of this story and his vision will make for an exciting and original X-Men film."
Even Brett Ratner was gushing at the appointment. "I think he's brilliant," he told MTV recently. "I thought his last movie was fantastic. I'm a fan. I think this one is probably even more right for him because it's the younger X-Men, the beginning, and he's great, obviously, with kids. He has an incredible visual style and he's a great filmmaker."
It’s certainly an exciting appointment, and one that raised more than a few eyebrows given that Vaughn was originally slated to direct X-Men: The Last Stand before walking away from the project just nine weeks before filming began. Let’s hope Fox can hang on to him a bit longer this time around.
Jane Goldman is rewriting the script...
Unsurprisingly, frequent Vaughn collaborator Jane Goldman has also been brought on board to do a bit of tinkering with a script that has now had more writers than your average issue of Total Film .
The news had originally been kept on the down low until Goldman’s blabbermouth hubby Jonathan Ross blurted it out on his Twitter page. “The wife is away writing X-Men 4 ” he announced, setting message boards aflutter with his choice of words. You do realise people read these things, right Jonathan?
Anyhow, for the sake of clarity, Goldman will be writing First Class , undoubtedly good news after her sterling work bringing Mark Millar’s scribblings off the page for Kick-Ass , as well as her earlier adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust novel . As for X-Men 4 …well, we’ll come on to that shortly…
It will be an origin story...
With all the production toing and froing (hopefully) sorted out, what will the film actually be about then? Well, from the sounds of the official press release, it will certainly be an origin story, setting up the rivalry between Professor X and Magneto that occupied the original trilogy.
The film will apparently, “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.”
The synopsis elaborates further: “Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.”
Yep, sounds like an origin story to us and Singer himself has confirmed that, “it’s basically about the formation of the X-Men.” However, Singer knows the X-Men universe inside out, so expect plenty of character depth, and gleeful references to the comic books. With a bit of luck this should be a far cry from the usual “how they got their powers” plod…
Jean Grey, Cyclops and Beast will likely feature...
So, in terms of mutants, if we can expect “some familiar, some new”, who are they most likely to be? Well if the First Class comic-book is anything to go by, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Beast should be certainties.
The comic series focuses upon Professor Xavier’s early X-students, including the three just mentioned, as well as Iceman and Angel. However, if First Class is to fit with Singer’s original films, the latter two would have to be cut, as Iceman is shown in X2 as a later recruit than Jean and Scott, whilst Angel only arrives on the scene as a virtual footnote in The Last Stand .
Whilst Vaughn is presumably under no compulsion to slavishly adhere to the original trilogy, producer Lauren Shuler Donner dropped a fairly sizeable hint that this is what will happen while speaking to the Fox Movie Channel .
“It is the first class of Xavier’s school, way back when,” she said, “so it’s young Scott, young Jean, young Beast and that’ll be really fun.”
Of course, that was said back when Singer was in the director’s chair, so much could change with Goldman’s rewrite. However, given that Beast and Cyclops were two fan-favourites with fairly minimal screen-time in the first three films, we’d put money on them getting a thorough airing here.
James McAvoy is Professor Charles Xavier...
One mutant that is confirmed of course is Professor Charles Xavier, but Patrick Stewart won’t be easing himself back into the chair this time around. Instead, the master telepath will be played by the rather more sprightly James McAvoy.
No news as yet regarding who will play Magneto, but Singer has stressed that the relationship between the two will be key to the film’s story.
“Just doing younger mutants is not enough,” said Singer in an interview with the LA Times . “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.”
With a Magneto spin-off also in the offing, will somebody be cast for both movies? And is there a risk that the two films will cover similar ground? Singer remains confident that there is plenty of room for manoeuvre.
“This story would probably utilize some of the Magneto story," he told HeatVision , “but no, I don’t see an exhaustion. The X-Men universe is boundless. These are great characters. And as young characters, they are quite different than the characters we have seen in the contemporary movies.”
Aaron Johnson is tipped to appear...
McAvoy remains the only cast member to be confirmed, but there is one particularly juicy rumour currently doing the rounds in Hollywood, that has Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson set to re-team with director Matthew Vaughn.
The theory stems from a picture that emerged of Johnson and McAvoy heading to the hospital where Vaughn’s wife (supermodel Claudia Schiffer) had just given birth to the couple’s third child. It might look tenuous at first, but consider also that Johnson recently auditioned for Jack The Giant Killer . That’s right, the same Jack The Giant Killer that Brian Singer is directing.
Still not convinced? Well the word amongst Hollywood tittle-tattle types is that Singer remains heavily involved in First Class through his role as producer, and has been using his Jack The Giant Killer auditions as an opportunity to run the rule over potential candidates for the role of Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops.
Plenty of ifs and buts to this one then, but we reckon there’s a strong chance that Johnson could be cast. As a 19 year-old, he certainly fits the age profile, and would be a believable apprentice to McAvoy’s professor. Watch this space…
Vaughn has gathered a familiar team together...
As well as recruiting Jane Goldman, Vaughn has also been on the phone to a number of former collaborators from his earlier films.
Composer Ilan Eshkeri is on board to concoct a memorable score for the series, having previously worked his magic on Layer Cake , Stardust and Kick-Ass . The X-Men films have never had much in the way of memorable music, so Eshkeri will have carte blanche to stamp a recognisable sound on the series’ new direction.
Meanwhile there is plenty of superhero experience lined-up to take care of the film’s look, with concept art coming from Matthew Savage ( Kick-Ass , Batman Begins , The Dark Knight ) and the exotically named Rpin Suwannath ( X-Men 1& 2 ) in charge of pre-visualisation.
None of which might sound terribly important now, but when it comes to creating a suitably authentic mood, will likely be invaluable. The Last Stand and the Wolverine spin-off were perfectly serviceable action flicks, but didn’t manage to capture the comic-book spirit of Singer’s originals. Hopefully, Vaughn’s attention to detail should put this right.
Filming will begin in September...
Now that all the production faffing is seemingly over and done, Fox are keen to get the ball rolling, with filming set to kick off as soon as September. This is so that Vaughn will have enough time to meet the fairly brisk schedule that culminates in a projected release date of June 3 2011.
And it appears that at least some of the film will be shot in London, at Pinewood studios no less. How do we know this? Well we’ve got old motormouth Jonathan Ross to thank again here, with the broadcaster recently announcing the news on his Radio 2 show.
Meanwhile, a release from the West Michigan Film Office has sent out a location request for, “areas with a 1960’s, South-American or Central American island feel for the next X-Men movie, X-Men: First Class ," as well as, “a Miami-styled harbour for yachts.”
Sounds like we can expect the young X-Men to do a fair bit of globetrotting then…
Singer may return to direct X-Men 4...
Yep, you read that right. On top of First Class , the Wolverine sequel and the Magneto spin-off, there is also talk of a fourth instalment of the series proper, and Brian Singer might just be the man to make it.
The film was mentioned during Singer and Shuler Donner’s interview with the LA Times , suggesting it’s an idea that is very much on the former’s radar. When Shuler Donner raised the prospect, Singer responded, “hold that one off for just a little, I’m fixated on the other one right now.”
To which his fellow producer enticingly responded, “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.” Well excuse us for getting excited, but that sounds like X-Men 4 is very much a case of when, rather than if.
And as if that news wasn’t heartening enough, Brett Ratner has comprehensively ruled himself out of ever returning to the series. “I think every X-Men should be directed by a different director, just like Alien ,” he told MTV . “For me, it would just be going backwards.” A backward step for all of us Brett…
