Jane Goldman Talks X-Men First Class Sequel

The wheels are in motion for the sequel to X-Men First Class. Fox's Tom Rothman has confirmed the progress and screenwriter Simon Kenberg (Sherlock Holmes) has been hired to write a draft for the second film. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are expected to return as the conflicted best friends along with other supporting cast members. Writer/director Matthew Vaughn's involvement has been mentioned but hasn't been announced by the studio. However, Vaughn has shared ideas of an opening scene featuring Magneto for the sequel.

First Class co-writer Jane Goldman told MTV that she would be 100% on board for the sequel. That's of course if Matthew Vaughn returns and asks for her help. The story goes Vaughn and Goldman completely re-wrote the previous drafts of the first installment. It would make sense that if Vaughn returns to direct he'd rely on his writing partner to help put together another solid script. It's unknown when we could see First Class 2 hit theaters but I assume Fox is eager to move quickly. Fox currently has The Wolverine and Deadpool currently in development as well.

"James and Michael brought so much to them that I think it's entirely natural to be talking about where those characters would go next. It was inherent in their stories and their arcs. There are so many interesting places to go."


 "In terms of what's going on with that, again from my point of view, it's down to what Matthew [Vaughn] decides to do. If he decides he wants to direct the next one and if he wants me on board, I'm 100 percent there."

Jane Goldman And Matthew Vaughn Won't Be Making Kick-Ass 2

Jane Goldman spoke to MTV about the possibility of returning for Kick-Ass 2. Goldman states that she more than likely won't be involved as a writer but as a producer. Matthew Vaughn could end up as a producer too and is currently talking with someone who could end up writing/directing the sequel.

“I think the only thing that is fairly sure is that right now, Matthew doesn’t have any plans to direct it. He and I are not currently talking about writing it either. It may well be that Matthew oversees ['Kick-Ass 2'] in a producer role, and I may also be involved in that capacity. I know that there is somebody that Matthew has been talking to who would be interested in writing and directing that. That would be cool.”

Turf Picked Up By Production Company Benderspink

We've heard from co-creator Jonathan Ross that his comic book Turf was going to be turned into a film. There had also been talk of involvement from Matthew Vaughn as a possible producer for the project. Now Deadline reports Benderspink has optioned the comic to turn it into a movie. The production company helped put together The Ring, A History of Violence, The Butterfly Effect and Red Eye. Along with upcoming projects like the comedy Burt Wonderstone and The Last Voyage of The Demeter. There has yet to be either a director or a writer set for Turf.

Jane Goldman And Tim Burton Could Make Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children

Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox is in talks with screenwriter Jane Goldman (Stardust, Woman In Black, Kick-Ass) to pen an adaptation of the novel Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Jane is the writing partner of director Matthew Vaughn and helped put together the script for X-Men First Class. She is also expected to work the First Class sequel for studio as well. Interesting enough is that they say Tim Burton could end up directing. One thing that's been holding Burton back over the years is being plagued by sketchy/rushed scripts so hopefully this project along with Dark Shadows (co-written by Seth Grahame-Smith) will bring him back to his former glory.

Jacob is a 16-year-old whose childhood was filled with stories his grandfather told him about an orphanage for unusual children. Among the residents: a girl who could hold fire in her hands, another whose feet never touched the ground, and twins who communicated without speaking. When his beloved grandfather dies unexpectedly but leaves a message behind for his grandson, the teen heads off to his grandfather’s home on an isolated island off Wales. There he discovers the abandoned remains of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It is in great disrepair and as Jacob explores its bedrooms and hallways, he can see the children were more than peculiar, they might have been there because they were dangerous. And he can’t shake the feeling they are still lurking around.

Jason Flemyng Confirms Script For First Class Sequel In Development

While Jason Flemyng might be just one of the many cast members of X-Men First Class he is also a very good friend of writer/director Matthew Vaughn. Jason has starred in every single film that Vaughn has made [Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass] including films he's produced [Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch]. The actor who plays Russian mutant Azazel [father of Nightcrawler] gave an update to DigitalSpy. Jason states the box office success of First Class is the main reason the studio is moving forward with a script. Adding that it's DVD/BluRay sales will ultimately decide if the sequel will be made. It ended up making $353 million worldwide and another $30 million during the first week of the DVD/BluRay being released.

"There was a benchmark that they had to hit box office-wise before they could start writing the next one, which they've started. We'll just see how the DVD goes and then fingers crossed I'll be bright red again by next summer."

Actors James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have stated they're on board for more films. There have been ideas tossed around for the sequel like Magneto guiding the magic bullet that killed JFK for an intro sequence. It's expected Azazel (Flemyng) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) could explore their characters' relation that leads to Nightcrawler being born. Along with the formation of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Jason also threw out the statement of production possibly starting in the summer.

"Me and Jen Lawrence have a kid, don't we? The world is a wide place and if my son turns out to be Alan Cumming then good for him, that's great. I love Alan Cumming."

"I am so in his gang [for the sequel]. There's one shot at the end of the film [with Magneto] and I was like, 'Please let me be in the shot!' And there I was. If there is a sequel, I have to be there." 

Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn Writing Script For The Secret Service

HeatVision reports that Matthew Vaughn is indeed developing Mark Millar/Dave Gibbon's future comic release The Secret Service into a film. They also mention that Vaughn along with longtime writing partner Jane Goldman (Woman In Black, The Debt) will be working on the film's script. However, they do say that Vaughn is only supervising the scripwriting on Superior. Goldman and Vaughn have previously worked together on Stardust, Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class. Knowing they'll be writing together again on this project makes me believe that Secret Service could be Vaughn's next film. There has also been talk of Matthew developing Jonathan Ross' comics Golden Age and Turf into films as well, Ross of course is Jane's husband.

Matthew Vaughn Making Mark Millar's Superior Into Movie

CBM has a press release that confirms writer/director Matthew Vaughn (X-Men First Class) has obtained the film rights to Mark Millar's (Wanted, Kick-Ass) comic Superior. Millar had mentioned that he had been in talks with directors and studios but nothing was ever announced. Superior focuses on a young boy multiple sclerosis who is granted his wish to become his favorite superhero by aliens.

It's assumed that Vaughn would direct the film but unknown when it would start production. Matthew is likely getting pressure from 20th Century Fox to deliver a First Class sequel by summer 2013. I would expect that Jane Goldman will also be involved with the script process. Jon Hamm (The Town, Mad Men) has been rumored as the ideal actor for the role of the hero. There had been an online campaign to get Hamm cast as the new Superman in Man of Steel. Hamm opted out stating he was too old for the part. It would make sense to cast Jon in Superior since the hero is a Superman archetype and could be any age.

Hugh Jackman Talks Wolverine, First Class 2 & X-Men 4

Jackman still has a lot of love for Wolverine even though he's been playing him for ten plus years and soon to be five films. While talking to ThePlaylist he gives the impression he has a couple more films in him and wants to finally get the character right in The Wolverine. Unsurprisingly he states he doesn't believe we'll be seeing an X-Men 4 but doesn't count out showing up in X-Men First Class 2.

“I don’t see it. I can only see one movie ahead,” he said deflating hopes of a 4th “X-Men” film, despite talk in recent years by the producers of making one more. “I’m pretty sure I’m well into the second half of this match. I don’t know exactly when the end is, but I only go one at a time. If this is the last one, fingers crossed, man, I just hope we finally get that hole in one.” 

 So might Jackman pop up in a ‘First Class’ sequel? “If they come up with as good of an idea as last time,” Jackman says with a big smile, “Yeah, I could see it.”

I'm a bit skeptical about how the The Wolverine will turn out without Darren Aronofsky. It's odd that both Lauren Shuler Donner and Hugh Jackman producers on the last film have said they were unhappy with it's outcome. Odd since they made the creative decisions and allowed Fox executives to mettle with the production. I'll wait for the trailer before I start condemning but they have a lot making up to do for Wolverine fans. I'm all for more Wolverine but if they mess up Frank Miller's story they really will have lost me. On the other hand I'd rather see Jackman show up in First Class 2 as a pre-Weapon X Wolverine than watch a mess that X-Men 4 would certainly be. They could erase that magic bullet nonsense with Xavier just wiping his mind. Since the studio has established that First Class has it's own X-Men canon.

Bryan Singer Talks Possible Details Of X-Men First Class Sequel

Another film set in the world of First Class is very likely considering all the praise the first film has received. We've heard from writer/director Matthew Vaughn that we could see Magneto control the magic bullet that kills JFK in an intro for the sequel. Now there is word from producer Bryan Singer (via LATimes) how he'd like to go even further to ground the franchise. Singer made a lot of the creative choices for First Class choosing the mutants and working on the story with writers. It's likely he'll be involved the same way with the sequels since there has been talk of a trilogy if not more. Bryan wants to include the Civil Rights Movement along with the Vietnam War.

With this new information I've come up with my own theories for the sequel. The Civil Rights angle might give us anti-mutant groups like Friends of Humanity which violently targeted mutants and mutant supporters. The assassinations of JFK and MLK could also bring up the aspect of Bishop trying to kill Xavier. The only thing is that it's expected mutants existence might be kept from the public for a little longer.

The Vietnam inclusion might give hope to fans who were disappointed by X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It's possible that a young William Styker Jr. could make a solid appearance along with a bone-clawed James Howlett (Logan). Cain Marko is another service man who could also appear in the conflict. Marko's origin involves him as a solider discovering his powers during the Korean War and becoming the Juggernaut. The only issue is that they took the aspect of Cain being Charles' stepbrother and used it for Raven (Mystique). Cable, a very popular character that producers have been vocal about including in future X-Men films is a strong possibility. Stephen Lang (Avatar), who fans wanted cast in the role revealed he'd be up for it. He could fit nicely in here as a gruff new X-Men team leader along with the father of both Alex (Havoc) and Scott Summers (Cyclops).

When it comes to the newly formed Brotherhood of Mutants we could see Magneto finally make the transition to mutant terrorist. Organizing the group to better serve mutant kind throughout their actions. Along with the relationship between Mystique and Azazel which will eventually lead to the birth of Nightcrawler. I'm not sure if Emma Frost and Magneto will develop one as well but there has been talk of love interest for Erik in future films. It would be nice to explore the origins of the Russian mutant Azazel.

I would think after the events of the first film the allied governments might try to work together to develop a non-mutant tactic to combat the Brotherhood and other dangerous mutant threats. Perhaps leading to the development of the Sentinel program which has been teased in previous films. Having the large robots identifying/rounding up threatening mutants and taking them to the isolated African island of Genosha. Where the mutants would have their powers repressed with technology and imprisoned. It would be an interesting way to raise the bar from First Class.

Matthew Vaughn Gives An Update On Bloodshot & A Rundown Of His Other Projects

During an interview with SuperHeroHype director Matthew Vaughn gave a small update on a project he had been linked to with writer Jane Goldman. He told the site that Bloodshot has at least a first draft completed but hasn't decided if it will be his next film.

I'm getting a new draft of it next week. Yeah, there are not many things. I'm so exhausted I'm going to take at least a couple months off now and then… it's very weird but if I have to make a movie, it's 'cause I see the whole thing in my head and I know it's going to be effortless in a sense of engaging my mind. That hasn't happened yet on what my next project is going to be.

FIRST CLASS 2 & KICK-ASS 2: While Vaughn seems unlikely to make Kick-Ass 2 as he's stated previously he loved the first film so much he didn't want to make a sequel just for a "cash grab".  Yet doesn't say it's out of the question. On the other hand he's been very vocal on returning to the First Class world he's created with more films. There has been talk of an exciting intro for the sequel involving Mangeto and JFK.


Yeah, if the film's a hit, I'd be very interested in doing a sequel. I really, really enjoyed… the team I had on it were great, and the hard thing is creating a new franchise, so if it works, it would be fun. My ideas are much bigger for the next one. I've got some really big … I'm surprised everyone is calling this a really big epic movie, and I'm thinking, "Wait until you view the next one if you think this is epic, the next one you won't believe what happens."

GOLDEN AGE: A yet unreleased comic book concept from Jonathan Ross the husband of Jane Goldman. Features retired superheroes who team up with their grandchildren after the parents screw things up threatening the destruction of the world. Matthew has said that he'd like to see Clint Eastwood in the lead along with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. With the success of RED it doesn't sound of the question to see older actors cast in a superhero film.

TURF: Another exciting comic book from Jonathan Ross this time features prohibition era bootlegging gangster vampires and aliens. I personally think this project is different enough from all the other things in development it could be ripe for the screen. Even more so considering how popular Boardwalk Empire and vampires are at the moment.

Goldman Says Kick-Ass 2 Not Next For Vaughn, Could It Be Turf?

It looks like the DailyMail was a little premature. Jane Goldman (X-Men First Class, Stardust) has spoken out the rumor that her next writing project is Kick-Ass 2 via Twitter.

"Saw a few erroneous reports today that I’m currently writing Kick Ass 2 script – sorry if anyone’s disappointed, but not true. Currently writing for 2 other projects, then on to lovely Matthew V’s next thing (right now, looks unlikely to be KA2) when X-Men post-prod’ ends."

While she doesn't mention the possible projects they very well could be comic book related. TheGuardian mentioned that Jonathan Ross was hopeful his prohibition era vampire gangster comic Turf could be made into a film by Vaughn. Ross is a famous comedian in the UK and it doesn't hurt that his wife is Goldman. The project seems different enough that it could be very appealing to both Goldman and Vaughn. I could see it ending up a mix between Boardwalk Empire meets the original Blade film.

LatinoReview reported a few months back that Bloodshot was a project that Matthew and Jane were working on together with intentions of making it into a film. It was later stated by Mark Millar that they had turned it down but it's unknown if Millar is reliable anymore. Speaking of Millar's reliability the comic book writer had stated that a big announcement concerning a live-action adaption of his comic Superior which was to be made this month. It would reveal the film's director and possible lead actor. Millar previously tweeted that he gave Vaughn a first pass at the film.

"I've promised Matthew Vaughn a first pass at Superior though. We're going to talk next week whether it's this, KA2 or something else next."

Jane Goldman Currently Writing Kick-Ass 2?

TheDailyMail points out that screenwriter Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass) is currently working on the script to Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall. I'm not sure how reliable the Mail is but Goldman is finished writing duties on both X-Men First Class and The Woman In Black. It's also the first source outside of Mark Millar stating there is development on the sequel.

Ciarán Hinds Joins The Woman In Black

Based on the novel by Susan Hill and adapted by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, X-Men First Class, Stardust) the The Women In Black follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote corner of the UK and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in an old and isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover its tragic secrets, and his unease grows when he discovers that the local village is held hostage by the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.


Deadline reports Ciarán Hinds (Munich, Rome) and Janet Mcteer have joined Daniel Radcliffe in the film.


Hammer Films who is making the film is best known for the renaissance of horror film making back in the 60's-70's. They're coming back with cool looking films like The Resident and Let Me In.

Kick-Ass 2 Starts Production Next Year?

Creator Mark Millar believes Kick-Ass 2 will start production in nine months. There are teases of a superhero group lead by Hit Girl and Kick-Ass which fights Motherfucker's (Red Mist) group of super villains. The comics haven't been released but this is enough to fuel anyone's demand for the sequel. Matthew Vaughn will be finished with X-Men First Class in June, so that could lead to second film starting production sometime late next year. I wouldn't be surprised if the script is currently being worked on by Vaughn and Jane Goldman.