Earlier this month, director Matthew Vaughn officially signed on to helm "X-Men: First Class," which will be developed at an accelerated pace in order to make a 2011 release date. And it now appears that Vaughn will be working with one of his frequent collaborators on the script.
During a recent post on Twitter (via Superhero Hype), British television host Jonathan Ross wrote that his wife Jane Goldman "is away writing 'X Men 4' so I am off to bed with little Sweeney alone." Ross later clarified what he meant to say: "Also, for those who need to know, my wife IS currently writing 'X men: First Class.' It's just referred to as 'X men 4' around the house..."
"I am afraid I better not answer any more queries re 'X Men: First Class' for fear of spoilers and also possible divorce," added Ross.
Goldman has previously collaborated with Vaughn on "Stardust," "Kick-Ass" and on an upcoming remake of the Israeli thriller "The Debt."
During a recent interview, current "X-Men: First Class" screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller said that they had yet to meet with Vaughn regarding the project. However, Goldman's potential involvement doesn't necessarily mean that Stentz and Miller are no longer working on the film.
"Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz and Jamie Moss (“Ghost in The Shell”) have both previously been attached to write "X-Men: First Class" before moving on to other projects.
"X-Men: First Class" will graduate into theaters on June 3, 2011.
"I saw Inception, which I loved," Vaughn told the L.A. Times on Monday. "But my heart sank when I saw that a few of the ideas we had were up [on the screen]. So it's either leave it in and look as if you're copying or change things. We completely ripped out about 12 pages of the script and the storyboards."
According to Vaughn, the scene was going to feature a dream sequence that involved dream-space combat between mutants, as well as spinning rooms and other physics-bending imagery. The director decided that this presentation would look a little too much like Inception, a film that has now received over $360 million worldwide and some of the best critical praise of the summer.
EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century Fox has rounded out the cast of X-Men: First Class, and the big surprise is that Mad Men star January Jones has been signed to play the role of Emma Frost, the gorgeous mutant with telepathic powers. At the same time, director Matthew Vaughn has set Zoe Kravitz to play Angel; Salvadore; Jason Flemyng will play Azazel, the father of Nightcrawler; Bill Milner to play the young version of Magneto (Michael Fassbender), and Morgan Lily to play the Young Raven. They join Fassbender, James McAvoy (Xavier), Nicholas Hoult (Beast) Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee), Lucas Till (Havoc), Edi Gathegi (Darwin), who round out the mutant contingent. Kevin Bacon is playing the villain, Rose Byrne will play McAvoy's love interest Moira MacTaggert, and Oliver Platt is playing The Man in Black. Production begins August 23 in London.
UTA client Jones, who plays Mad Men's Betty Francis -- the recently divorced wife of Don Draper (Jon Hamm) -- will emerge from that 1960s setting to play Emma Frost, the mutant also known as the White Queen. While speculative reports had Alice Eve playing that role, no deal was concluded. Mad Men wraps its fourth season in early September, and she will be able to jump right into the role. Jones received her first Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama, for Mad Men.
Kravitz (the daughter of singer and Precious star Lenny Kravitz) is set to star in the upcoming George Miller-directed Mad Max: Fury Road; Flemyng most recently starred in Kick-Ass, Milner is best known from Son of Rambow and Lilly's credits include Flipped and 2012.