Twentieth Century Fox is gearing up to continue its "X-Men" franchise with a younger set of mutants.
Studio has tapped "Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz to write "X-Men: First Class."
Schwartz, the creator and exec producer of CW's teen sudser hit as well as Fox's youth-centric "The OC" and NBC's "Chuck," is expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series, which has earned $1.2 billion worldwide.
Writing assignment has also included the possibility of directing the pic, but so far Schwartz has opted not to take the helm.
Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced all three "X-Men" pics, as well as next summer's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," is producing "First Class" alongside "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" scribe Simon Kinberg.
Fox is keeping quiet on plans and declined to confirm details of the project. The studio has been considering ways to continue its successful series of "X-Men" movies after the third installment, the Brett Ratner-helmed "X-Men: The Last Stand," collected $459 million in 2006.
Fox has been leaning toward using the younger characters introduced in the previous pics in future installments -- teenagers with powers taught at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.
Resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel comic of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics.
Given Hollywood's penchant for reboots with new actors playing familiar roles, pic could also reintroduce characters. Comicbook revolves around the Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Professor X.
Naturally, "First Class" could also result in its own series of sequel.Okay, I have been harsh on Josh. Chuck ain't that bad and Gossip Girl...well I still hate that. Still, I can't feel him working on the merry mutants. After Brett Rat-man destroyed X-Men 3, I was done. And now, I can't...I don't know... Josh is responsible for the train wrecks, OC and Gossip Hag.
I need to see more from him; I need to know that I can trust him with my favorite comic series. I'm sure he is a good writer, but this is a serious issue. The X-Men are not for play, the stories have shaped the way some of us read comics. Josh, please do this right! Please!
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3 comments:
Noooooo...we don't need to see more from Josh, or ANYTHING from ANYONE who does teen-centered programming. Buddha, take the wheel!
The movie will be weak; I can guarantee that and Donner is thinking she can capitalize on bored Teens who'd want to see this just because some people got all dewy-eyed over that atrocious skating scene in X3. It doesn't matter. The X-men franchise is in the toilet thanks to Brett "Mommy-will-start-your-career" Ratner.
This should be a reboot/origin story called X-Men:First Class featuring early X-Men stories, but it should be focused on the past. Instead of a "New Mutants" type story with Colossus and Shadowcat etc.
I can't see them moving forward from the trainwreck that was X-men 3.
I'd like to see a teen reboot featuring Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Havok, Morph and Polaris. But in no way should it resemble the OC, god that would suck.
this could be interesting - but i'm not holding my breath. i don't know that i want my mutants all angsty (unless ben mckenzie from the oc is one of 'em)
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