X-Men: First Class' Jason Flemyng Hints at Sequel; Screenwriter Hired?
Posted 11.04.11 by Ryan
One of the most critically-acclaimed comic book movies of the summer (and in our view, one of the best) was X-Men: First Class, but, despite earning $335 million in worldwide box office, Twentieth Century Fox has yet to officially announce a sequel. In July, we reported that the studio was "discussing sequels internally," and, in September, First Class producer Lauren Shuler Donner revealed a sequel has been in discussion. Finally, the first signs that a sequel is in the works with Fox has been revealed.
In a conversation with Digital Spy, British actor Jason Flemyng, who played the character of Azazel in First Class, revealed that a script is underway for a potential X-Men: First Class 2.
There was a benchmark that they had to hit box office-wise before they could start writing the next one, which they've started. We'll just see how the DVD goes and then fingers crossed I'll be bright red again by next summer.
Adding confirmation to Flemyng's claim is SuperHeroHype, which reported that First Class producer Simon Kinberg is writing the sequel. Fans will also note that Kinberg wrote the screenplay for 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, which disappointed most fans but Kinberg is also responsible for 2009's Sherlock Holmes.
Whether director Matthew Vaughn will return is unknown. Shuler Donner expressed that she would like to have Vaughn back for a sequel, which should suit Vaughn just fine since he admitted in May that he would "definitely" like to be back for a sequel. However, Vaughn's participation is not confirmed.
Flemyng, meanwhile, sounds like a lock for the sequel. "I am so in [Vaughn]'s gang [for the sequel]. There's one shot at the end of the film [with Magneto] and I was like, "Please let me be in the shot!" And there I was. If there is a sequel, I have to be there.