James McAvoy to play Professor X in 'X-Men: First Class'!

Via The Hollywood Reporter:

James McAvoy has signed on to play a young Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, in “X-Men: First Class,” which Matthew Vaughn is directing for Fox.

According to Fox, “First Class” will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Eric 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 the 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.”

Patrick Stewart played the character, a bald-headed, wheelchair-bound telepath, in the original "X-Men" trilogy. Fox did not reveal if McAvoy will sport a follicle-free pate.

Fox is moving fast on the production, hiring Vaughn in early May and planning a summer start in London. The movie is being planned for a June 3, 2011, release.

Bryan Singer, who conceived the story for “First Class,” is producing along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.

McAvoy, repped by UTA and Ruth Young/United Agents, already has comic book movie experience, having starred in “Wanted.” The British actor was last seen in “The Last Station.”

-Not bad casting at all...thoughts?

Apparently there's a prequel to 'Jackie Brown' being made...

...according to this in Cinematical:

For the most part, the masses seem perfectly fine with Quentin Tarantino's tendency to infuse his films with a neverending stream of cinematic references and homages. But what about other people tackling Tarantino's world and vision? Do the same rules apply?

According to JoBlo, there is a Jackie Brown prequel in the works, titled The Switch. The big catch, or switch as the case may be, is that QT has nothing to do with this. He merely gave his blessing on the project and moved on. Dan Schechter adapted Elmore Leonard's novel, and the author will be one of the film's executive producers. As Tarantino mentioned to the Telegraph back in February, this is the book that turned the filmmaker into a Leonard fan, even though that wasn't the film he ultimately made.

The Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro characters Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara lead this tale, which finds the pair becoming fast friends in prison, and then teaming up back in the real world for a big job -- kidnapping the wife of a rich developer for ransom. But in an Overboard-type twist, the guy doesn't want his "beloved" back. With a ticked off wife now in their ranks, they have to move towards Plan B.

The film will soon head out to find a director and cast. Who could fill in Tarantino's shoes, and who could play a younger Ordell and Louis?

-There are certainly worse prequels out there...thoughts?

Brad Bird's 'Mission: Impossible IV' and a 'Planet of the Apes' prequel get release dates!

Here are both stories, starting with the M:I4 one from Collider:

Paramount Pictures has set December 16, 2011 as the release date for Mission: Impossible IV. No director has been announced, but when we last reported on the film, it appeared that the studio was hammering out the final details with Oscar-winner Brad Bird (The Incredibles). There are no story details on the fourth film, but Tom Cruise will return as Agent Ethan Hunt. J.J. Abrams, who directed the third film, will return as a producer. Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are attached to write the script, from an original idea by Cruise and Abrams.

There are three films currently slated to open in December 2011 other than Mission Impossible 4: Martin Scorsese’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret on December 9th, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D on December 16th, and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn on December 23rd. Of these four films, Mission: Impossible IV is the only one that isn’t set to be in 3D. Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked if M:I-4 was infected by the 3D plague somewhere down the line.

Tom Cruise just today confirmed that it's apparently Bird in the director's chair.

-Here's the Apes story from Variety:

Twentieth Century Fox will release prequel "Rise of the Apes" on June 24, 2011, with Rupert Wyatt confirmed to direct.

Title is tentative.

Studio is partnering with Peter Jackson's visual effects company WETA Digital on the film, which relaunches the "Planet of the Apes" franchise.

Chernin Entertainment is producing.

Wyatt will direct from a script by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, who also are producing with Chernin Entertainment's Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark.

"Rise of the Apes" is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

WETA will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.

-Thoughts?

Is Matthew Vaughn directing 'X-Men: First Class' after all?

Well, yes...according to the latest from The Hollywood Reporter:

Fox has closed a deal with Matthew Vaughn to direct “X-Men: First Class” and has set a date of June 3, 2011, for the film.

Vaughn’s involvement had been on and off, with negotiations resuming yesterday thanks to the involvement of producer Bryan Singer. Another factor had been Fox’s desire of wanting to have a finished film for next summer, making the search for a director who can deliver a quality film a priority.

On top of that, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who worked on Marvel's "Thor" movie, did a rewrite on the "First Class" script that convinced execs that making a movie for next year was possible.

Singer, who conceived the story for "First Class" and was to initially direct the movie before choosing to focus on “Jack the Giant Killer” for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, is producing along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.

According to Fox, “First Class” will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. 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 the 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.”

The June 3 date sets “First Class” in a boxoffice battle with DreamWorks Animation's “Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom.” Warners’ comic book movie “Green Lantern” opens two weeks later, June 17. And the sequel to “The Hangover” opens June 5.

-I think he's a very good choice, all in all...thoughts?

Ridley Scott lets us in on a few details about his 'Alien' prequel!

Coming Soon has the details:

Now that Ridley Scott is on the press circuit to talk about Robin Hood, Alien prequel talk is resurfacing. And it's no longer just a pipe dream. Scott says it's happening - a visual palette is being designed, concept art is being hashed out and a script is being finalized. But what's it about? Here are excerpts from MTV's interview.

"It's set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley]. It's fundamentally about going out to find out 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer's chair ... Our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says "There's been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?" I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were ... [The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life."

Scott says he'll be approaching H.R. Giger to talk creature designs in an effort to create something new because he feels, "The alien in a sense, as a shape, is worn out." Very interesting.

Dark Horse Comics explored the whole "Space Jockey" story long ago.

Also, sources tell ShockTillYouDrop.com that by the time the Fox Alien Anthology Blu-Ray set comes along at the end of this year, we could very well see a "sneak peek" of Scott's Alien prequel!


-It sounds interesting, but he also said in Collider here that the film will be shot in 3D, so there's that...thoughts?

Today's News: A wrap-up for Comic-Con, Robert Downey Jr. joins Todd Phillips' follow-up to 'The Hangover', and more...

In the news:

It seems that Iron Man 2 was the big panel hit at Comic-Con, though Avatar and (sigh) New Moon were no slouches either.

The next film by Todd Phillips will star Robert Downey Jr. (in addition to another member of The Hangover).

Mila Kunis has been cast as Natalie Portman's nemesis in Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan'.

The video game Dead Space might be the next project for D.J. Caruso.

A King Kong Prequel? It might happen, if you can believe it.

The indie flick 'Flying Lessons' adds some cast members to its slate.

The long in development adaptation of the game Castlevania might finally be coming to pass, with the director of the original SAW on board to helm.

-Thoughts?

An Inglorious Basterds Prequel coming our way?

Tarantino has basically been keen to make follow ups to any film of his not named Jackie Brown, and it seems that his upcoming WWII opus is no exception. It's too early to know if this is a good idea or not, but if the flick catches on with audiences (and voters), I think Harvey Weinstein will make it happen... -Thoughts?