Why, oh lord, does big news break on Friday evenings? We kinda called this one when we said Matthew Vaughn, the director of “Kick-Ass,” had all the cinematic chops in the world to pull-off a comic-book adaptation (even if “Kick-Ass” was kind of juvenile and base).
That said, it’s a no-brainer too. After Vaughn directed the very excellent and dazzling gangster picture, “Layer Cake,” the English filmmaker (formerly Guy Ritchie’s producer on similar caper efforts and apparently a quick study) was offered “X-Men 3” and then eventually “Thor,” but dropped out of both projects (and almost burned permanent Hollywood bridges when he dropped out of “X-Men 3” rather last minute and after a deal had already been struck; sources tell us he felt overwhelmed at the time at a project that was spiraling out of his control).
Now, according to EW, he’s being offered a mutant gig again, this time in the shape of “X-Men: First Class.” Bryan Singer can’t direct “X-Men: First Class” because of his “Jack The Giant Killer” obligations so the slot is vacant, and apparently 20th Century Fox has already offered it up to Vaughn. But can it be an offer he refuses since he worked so closely on “X-Men 3” for so long?
Before geeks get too excited, it is an offer story and 20th Century Fox have been talking to other directors as well. Surely Vaughn has something different in mind after “Kick-Ass,” but who knows, maybe now’s the time for the filmmaker to make good and come full circle. (Update: or maybe not, and this is why one should always take an offer story with a grain of salt, sources are saying that Vaughn has already passed, we’ll see). Other directors who have apparently met with the studio include Daniel Espinosa, the Swedish director behind 2003’s “The Fighter” and “Outside Love,” Rupert Sanders (“The Low Dweller”) and Jonathan Mostow (eww, “Surrogates,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”).
Update 2: The aforementioned directors reported by Deadline? All gone, but Espinosa, and new names added — you can never tell with Deadline — include Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”), Louis Leterrier (“Clash Of The Titans”), David Slade (“Twilight: Eclipse”), and Carl Erick Rinsch (one time “Alien” prequel director) all apparently in talks with the studio. All pretty big names, but again, it’s just talks right now and the new transparency will basically let the world know if someone famous sneezes on a studio lot these days. Update: 3: Jesus, this is why Deadline erased their shit, half the names they reported are no longer in the mix. Looks like they were working off old intel. THR says Vaughn has already passed.
While Singer can’t direct (he’s shooting ‘Jack’ this summer, probably in 3-D), the script — written by Jamie Moss (“Street Kings,” and 2006 Black List favorite, “Last Man Home”)– is based on his treatment (Singer directed “X-Men” and “X2”) and he will serve as an executive producer on the project, his input obviously being paramount to the franchise’s tone and spirit.
