June, 30. 2010.

Fox enrolled two mutants in Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class this week. Yesterday, we learned Emma Frost will indeed be part of the "mutants old and new", though it looks like Rosamund Pike lost the job to Alice Eve. (I'm actually disappointed. As much as I dislike that character and am perplexed by her appearing in First Class, Pike was the perfect Emma.) Now, Latino Review reported that Caleb Landry might be playing Sean Cassidy, also known as the mutant Banshee.

Landry is a big unknown to the majority of moviegoers. You Friday Night Lights fans might recognize him (that show is becoming a go-to for mutants) but he's probably best known as being "that kid on a bike" from the end of No Country for Old Men. That probably qualifies him to fight anything mutant haters can throw at someone. If you talk to Anton Chigurh and survive, then what else is there?

So, that's the actor. What about the character? Well, Banshee was an Irish mutant who possesses the power of a sonic scream that can cripple enemies. (I'm guessing the Irish angle will be dropped since Landry is a Texan.) He joined the X-Men the same time as Wolverine. Despite a lilting accent and a similar pair of muttonchops, he didn't go on to appear on multiple superhero teams or land his own Hugh Jackman-led franchise. Perhaps his luck will change with First Class. But wouldn't it have been cool to see Cillian Murphy play this back in the early heady days of X-Men?

Source - cinematical.com

June, 28. 2010.


British actress Alice Eve nearly won the role of love interest Peggy Carter in The First Avenger: Captain America before fellow Brit Hayley Atwell landed the part. Eve will still get her chance to take part in a comic book movie, only instead of landing in Marvel's ongoing Avengers timeline, she will instead play one of the young mutants of Matthew Vaughn's upcoming X-Men: First Class.

THR reports Eve is in negotiations to play Emma Frost, the blonde telepath, who is able to transform her skin into diamond material and, in the comics, first appeared as the X-Men villain known as the White Queen before turning and joining the team.

Rosamund Pike was initially rumored for the role, before a second rumor broke that Pike was up for the part of Dr. Moira MacTaggert, the Scottish geneticist and love interest of Professor X (Olivia Williams played the character in X-Men: The Last Stand). With James McAvoy already cast as Professor X, Pike could still end up in the role.

Fans should expect more casting details over the next couple months. Michael Fassbender'a casting as Magneto was officially announced, while Benjamin Walker has been cast as Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast.

Source - reelzchannel.com

June, 24. 2010.


A couple of weeks ago, we reported that Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Bastards) was destined to enter the Marvel universe one way or another: either as a young Magneto in Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, or as an unnamed villain in Marc Webb’s upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Quite a stretch from my day-to-day decisions which normally center around debating the age-old question of Subway or Chipotle. In spite of my bitterness, however, Showbiz 411 is reporting that Fassbender has made his choice and will play Magneto in X-Men: First Class.

Hit the jump for a refresher on who else is confirmed to join Fassbender in the film which is tentatively set for a June 3, 2011 release.

As of now, confirmed to star alongside Fassbender in X-Men: First Class is James McAvoy (Wanted) as Professor Charles Xavier, Benjamin Walker (Flags of our Fathers) in the dual-role of Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast, and Rosamund Pike (An Education) as Emma Frost. Currently, rumors are swirling around Amber Heard (Pineapple Express) reprising Rebecca Romijn’s turn as the shapeshifting, yet sexy (aren’t the two synonymous?), Mystique. Stay tuned for an official word on that role and many others as the cast for First Class is sure to fill up in the near future.

Source - collider.com

June, 21. 2010.

Want to visit the U.K. set of X-Men: First Class? How much would you be willing to pay? First Class producer Bryan Singer is hoping a lot, as he has offered a set visit to an online auction (posted at CharityBuzz via MTV). The description of the set visit includes the first descriptions of the movie, a prequel of the original X-Men trilogy.

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.

While this unofficial synopsis may not be a surprise to some, it offers a reason why only James McAvoy (Professor X) was the first cast member announced, and why Fox has been fighting to sign Michael Fassbender as Magneto. The Inglourious Basterds actor finally began early negotiations for the role.

Meanwhile, casting rumors for the movie are ongoing. Kick-Ass actor Aaron Johnson has been rumored for the role of Cyclops, Rosamund Pike is rumored for either Emma Frost or Moira MacTaggert, and Amber Heard is reportedly Fox's favorite for the part of Mystique. Benjamin Walker has been signed for the role of Beast.

Source - reelzchannel.com

June, 14. 2010.

FOLLOWING speculation last week that Rosamund Pike was in talks to play Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class, there have been some further developments.

It's now being reported that 31-year-old Pike - who did seem too old to play Emma Frost as a student - is in fact being considered for the role of Moira MacTaggert.

MacTaggert is Professor Xavier's associate and former lover who was played by Olivia Williams in X-Men: The Last Stand.

In First Class, Xavier is being played by James McAvoy in the only confirmed piece of casting so far.

In addition, 20th Century Fox apparently has a "strong interest" in Amber Heard (pictured right) for the role of a young Mystique, the blue-skinned shapeshifter previously played by Rebecca Romijn.

Read the rest of the article at - blogs.coventrytelegraph.net

June, 6. 2010.

Jonathan Ross pretty much confirmed on his radio show yesterday that X Men: First Class will be shooting at Pinewood this summer. Now there is a small chance he might have been talking about another project but all the signs point to the new X Men film shooting at Pinewood this summer.

The film is set to be directed by Matthew Vaughn and is being written by Ross’ wife Jane Goldman (pictured left). The pair previously worked together on Stardust and Kick-Ass (both filmed at Pinewood) and they will hopefully have some success in re-igniting the X Men franchise following the mess that was X Men: The Last Stand and the somewhat weak X Men Origins: Wolverine.

Things appear to be moving very quickly on this project with the news that James McAvoy is playing Professor X and the recent casting rumours surrounding Aaron Johnson. The film is set to be released on the 3rd of June 2011 and be sure to check back here as we will have all the latest news on the film between now and then.You can read the press release on the film below in case you need a reminder on the set up.

Source - www.heyuguys.co.uk

May, 27. 2010.


Matthew Vaughn is moving ahead quickly on putting together his X-Men: First Class, and has secured his first major casting coup-- THR reports that James McAvoy has signed on to play Professor Charles Xavier, the character played by Patrick Stewart in the first three X-Men films.

The new film will serve as a prequel that documents Xavier's founding of the Academy where he brought together young mutants to train them, as well as his falling out with Erik Lensherr, the mutant who would eventually become the archvillain Magneto. Production is set to start this summerin London, which means that we should expect casting for young Magneto very, very soon. Xavier has almost always been depicted in the comics as both hairless and wheelchair bound, though if that character and Magneto are going to be the focus of this new movie, I'd expect a more mobile and youthful version to come out in McAvoy's performance.

McAvoy has been straddling the line between big-budget films and thoughtful indies ever since he appeared in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as Mr. Tumnus, and the X-Men role will be his second major comic book film after starring in Wanted (a movie that still has a sequel in the works, incidentally). Though he doesn't have the typical action star physique and looks, McAvoy is a fantastic and magnetic actor, and seems pretty perfect as the cerebral do-gooder Xavier. If they cast someone equally as intriguing as Magneto, Vaughn will be well on his way to reversing the string of bad X-Men related movies that have come out since X-Men 2.

Source - cinemablend.com

May, 4. 2010.


20th Century Fox has officially announced that Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn will helm the X-Men series prequel/reboot X-Men: First Class. When it was reported that they were fast-tracking this project into production, they weren’t kidding. The film is set to go into production this Summer, and the studio has set a June 3rd 2011 release date. The same weekend as DreamWork Animation’s Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, a week after The Hangover 2, and two weeks before Green Lantern.

Read the rest of the article at- slashfilm.com

March, 27. 2010.

Deadline has some good news and some bad news for X-Men fans. The bad news is that, as was speculated last week, Bryan Singer will not be directing X-Men: First Class and will instead produce alongside Lauren Shulder Donner and X3 writer Simon Kinberg.

Singer is deep into pre-production on Jack the Giant Killer and 20th Century Fox don’t want to wait until 2012 for him to start on First Class. It’s a shame as X-Men 2, in my opinion, is still up there as one of the great comicbook movies of the past decade and I was looking forward to seeing Singer’s take on the formation of the X-Men.

The good news, however, is that he is still on-board as producer. He hasn’t left the franchise like he did in 2005, and 20th Century Fox will still be going ahead with the script he wrote with Jamie Moss. I suppose we could say he will be ‘godfather’ to the X-Men like what Christopher Nolan is to Batman/Superman. The other good news is that now 20th Century Fox can move ahead with the project (they are currently talking to other directors) and we could be seeing the X-Men back on our screens as early next year.

What I don’t want to happen now is for Fox to rush it out for next summer. Thor has been filming for months now, and Captain America is gearing up for shooting in June after being in pre-production since the beginning of the year. Both will be released next summer (Thor in May, Captain America in July) so ideally Fox should be aiming for an August/September/October release. The only major competition in those months currently is The Smurfs in August and Underworld 4 in September. October is empty (although probably for good reason).

Deadline suggests that filming could begin towards the end of the summer, so over the upcoming months and weeks we should be hearing who’ll be replacing Bryan Singer as director (crucial) and there will also be the issue of finding a bunch of fresh faced actors to play the X-Men.

Source - filmonic.com

February, 3. 2010.

Bryan Singer is set to make his return to the X-Men universe soon by directing the upcoming prequel X-Men: First Class. The film tells the story of how Professor Xavier first formed his school for mutants, and examines the earlier days of his relationship with Magneto. So you’d think to do that, they might need Professor Xavier himself. There’s only ever been one, and he’s always been played by (in one form or another) Patrick Stewart. But not this time.

TrekMovie caught up with Stewart at an Australian Trek convention where he revealed that he doesn’t expect to be involved in Singer’s franchise prequel. It doesn’t sound like he isn’t interested since he adds that “working with Ian again would be wonderful”, rather it’s that he doesn’t expect to be needed.

That actually makes a certain amount of sense. While Stewart himself never actually seems to age, he’s also incapable of de-agingin. Since this is a prequel Professor Xavier will have to be considerably younger and, let’s face it, the franchise’s past attempts to digitally de-age Stewart have been something less than a rip-roaring success. It makes sense that they’ll have to recast him, even if it’s hard to imagine anyone else ever capturing the character as perfectly as Patrick Stewart did.

Source - cinemablend.com