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With X-Men: First Class, 20th Century Fox took its X-Men franchise back in time, to the early '60s, to show how and why Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) became Prof. X and Magneto, respectively, and went from being close friends to having diametrically opposed viewpoints on the role of mutants vis-à-vis the human population. With the sequel, Fox is looking to not only the future of the franchise, but to a possible future in which mutants are hunted like animals and incarcerated in internment camps.
When Fox registered the title Days of Future Past back in June, comic book fans immediately recognized it as the title of the classic story that ran in the pages of Marvel's The Uncanny X-Men #141-142 and assumed that the sequel to First Class would be adapted from this story. Well, those fans were right. Producer Bryan Singer recently confirmed the title in an interview with IGN (presumably, Fox will want "X-Men" on the marquee, making it X-Men: Days of Future Past) and spoke a bit about the future of the franchise, including the fact that he "might" one day direct another X-Men movie.
what did singer say? >> Posted 08.02.12 by BrentJS -
Sony's panel at the San Diego Comic-Con concentrated on their upcoming sci-fi projects, and one of the more highly-anticipated is Elysium, writer-director Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to his 2009 debut District 9. Blomkamp was on hand to discuss the movie, along with producer Simon Kinberg and stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley. The Comic-Con was a first for both Damon and Foster.
Seven minutes of footage from the movie were shown, though parts of it were unfinished, and a good amount of the shots were still in the pre-visualization phase. It didn't matter — the footage was still incredibly impressive and fans of District 9 will no doubt be pleased with the finished product. What the footage ultimately accomplished was to explain the movie's mysterious plot, which has been kept under wraps until a synopsis was leaked out last month that confirmed Blomkamp's previous description of Elysium as a movie with "sociopolitical ideas" inside a "Hollywood action film."
damon and copley breathed fecal matter for the shoot >> Posted 07.15.12 by Ryan -
Twentieth Century Fox didn't have a panel at this year's Comic-Con, but Simon Kinberg, who wrote the ill-fated 2006 sequel X-Men: The Last Stand and produced last year's X-Men: First Class, was on hand to discuss Fox's X-Men franchise. While ostensibly there to help promote Sony's upcoming sci-fi movie Elysium, Kinberg also spoke to ComingSoon about the X-Men: First Class sequel, which Kinberg is writing for First Class director Matthew Vaughn, whose return for the sequel was in question until he was confirmed to return in January. During the interview, Kinberg discussed his relationship with Vaughn and the X-Men franchise.
what will happen in the sequel? >> Posted 07.15.12 by Ryan -
Twentieth Century Fox likely surprised itself last summer by creating not one but two prequel franchises. Considering the popularity of the X-Men franchise, the studio probably expected that X-Men: First Class would perform well enough to illicit a sequel (the studio backed a pretty extensive marketing campaign in hopes). However, the studio probably didn't expect Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes to earn $481 million worldwide. Unsurprisingly, Fox CEO Tom Rothman announced sequels last November and the studio is pressing forward, scheduling both sequels for summer 2014.
There's still little known about the Rise sequel, other than it will continue seeing humanity fall as the apes, well, rise. Director Rupert Wyatt, who is returning, said last December that the sequel will show "why humanity is going to be vulnerable enough for this ever growing army of intelligent apes and their offspring to be able to take us on." According to Box Office Mojo, the sequel will be titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (don't worry, we're pretty sure it won't feature zombie-apes) and will open on May 23, 2014.
more about Thor 2 and the First Class sequel >> Posted 06.01.12 by Ryan -
Now that Twentieth Century Fox has officially hired back director Matthew Vaughn to helm a sequel to his comic book adaptation of X-Men: First Class, all speculation rests with the script, which First Class producer Simon Kinberg is reportedly writing. Kinberg, who also wrote 2006's fanboy-maligned X-Men: The Last Stand, was reportedly hired to script the sequel last November and confirmed his involvement in a recent interview with MTV.
I don’t know what the title is going to be but certainly I’m working on the sequel to X-Men: First Class right now. I’m going to be writing and producing it, I’m starting now, with Matthew Vaughn directing.
what will magneto be up to in the sequel? >> Posted 02.17.12 by Ryan -
After a long period of silence, 20th Century Fox is moving quickly on the expected sequel to X-Men: First Class. First Class producer and 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand screenwriter Simon Kinberg was hired to write the sequel in November, and earlier this week, Fox officially hired back director Matthew Vaughn. THR reports that the rest of the cast is confirmed to return as well, including James McAvoy, who played Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X, and Michael Fassbender, who played Erik Lensherr, a.k.a. Magneto. Of course, this comes as little surprise since McAvoy has already revealed in November that he was contractually obligated to return, stating "if Fox decides we're doing it, then I don't have a choice," while Fassbender revealed earlier this month that he is actually signed "for two options," meaning two sequels.
The question remains whether First Class screenwriter Jane Goldman will be back as well. A frequent collaborator with Vaughn, including 2010's Kick-Ass and 2007's Stardust, Goldman recently revealed that she would be "100% there" if Vaughn decided to return, but was less confident about a return during an interview with Bleeding Cool.
more from goldman >> Posted 02.02.12 by Ryan -
Chris Evans has made a career out of portraying comic book characters like Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies and Captain America in Captain America: First Avenger and the upcoming The Avengers, but his next role will see him play a decidedly darker role in The Iceman.
No, the movie is not a solo spin-off for the X-Men character, but instead follows convicted murderer Richard Kuklinski, a.k.a. the Iceman, who claims to have killed more than 250 people as a contract killer for the mob. According to Deadline, Evans will play Kuklinski's mentor, Robert Pronge, a role originally cast with James Franco. Michael Shannon, who will play General Zod in the upcoming comic book movie Man of Steel, is set to play Kuklinski.
The Rock to hunt down monsters >> Posted 11.22.11 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.
who is writing the sequel? >> Posted 11.04.11 by Ryan -
We recently got the opporunity to see how prosthetics and blue paint were used to transform a naked Jennifer Lawrence into the blue-scaled mutant shapeshifter known as Mystique in a video preview of the "Children of the Atom" extra that will be included on the X-Men: First Class DVD and Blu-ray home video releases. Now, the entire "Children of the Atom" extra, totaling more than one hour of video interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the movie, is available for viewing online as a series of eight featurettes.
watch the featurettes >> Posted 09.08.11 by BrentJS -
Simon Kinberg is best known as a screenwriter, having written the scripts for 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2009's Sherlock Holmes, but Kinberg also works as a producer, with several projects in the works, including X-Men: First Class, the upcoming adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and secret, sci-fi movie Elysium.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was adapted by Seth Grahame-Smith from his novel and is currently being directed by Timur Bekmambetov. The story posits the former U.S. President as a master vampire slayer who lost his own mother to the undead. The story is an amusingly dark one, and Kinberg told io9 that the movie version will be a "dark and gory" one.
It's hacking people's heads off and killing vampires left and right. The main character has an axe, with which he kills countless amounts of vampires. It's a dark, cool, edgy, twisted movie. I don't know what the rating will be, but I suspect that the rating would be an R. I suspect it will be an R just because there's a lot of murder and decapitation.
more about the mysterious Elysium >> Posted 06.03.11 by Ryan