We just reported on TG that Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two X-Men, was first in line to direct the next X-Men flick, Days of Future Past.
Matthew Vaughn, who directed X-Men First Class, recently dropped out of directing the sequel, much like Rupert Wyatt bailed out of the next Planet of the Apes movie at Fox, and the studio had to fill the director’s chair fast.
Now it has been confirmed that Singer is back in charge of the X-Men, which is frankly great news for the franchise. After Singer got the boot from Fox for directing Superman Returns, the franchise was still successful, but nowhere near as good as the first two flicks Singer helmed.
Not only did Singer’s example raise comic movies a whole new level when the major studios didn’t take them seriously, but during the same era, fans were insisting the sequels had to be as good, if not better, than the first installment, and Singer delivered with X2: X-Men United. (Christopher Nolan followed this example nicely with The Dark Knight).
X-Men: Day of Future Past is based on issues #141 and #142 of the comic. Rotten Tomatoes reported that those issues, which were released in 1981, were “an influential (and often imitated) storyline that featured time travel and visions of a future of an alternate reality that was caused when the X-Men failed to prevent the assassination of Senator Kelly.”
Before Singer was officially back as director, he told Entertainment Weekly, “I think there’s a strong desire to broaden out the universe. The X-Men universe on its own is every bit as big as the Marvel universe and I think it’s time to reach out and explore it and perhaps even bring some connectivity between the films, as Marvel’s done so well.”
According to The Wrap, the film should begin shooting next spring in London, with a slated release date of July 18, 2014.
