Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

X-Men: First Class

10/26/10 - Jennifer Lawrence is shooting her first big studio film, an X-Men prequel in which she plays shape-shifting mutant Mystique.  Last January, Lawrence had been a little-known actress, off to an impressive start with roles in small independent features such as Charlize Theron's "The Burning Plain" and Lori Petty's "The Poker House," along with TV credits that included a season on "The Bill Engvall Show."  Then "Winter's Bone" premiered at Sundance, where it won the top prize for U.S. dramas. The film earned great reviews for Lawrence as an Ozark Mountains teen on a terrifying quest through the region's criminal underbelly to discover the fate of her missing father and hold her family together.  The youngest of three children, Lawrence grew up on a farm in Kentucky with no thoughts of becoming an actor until her mid-teens, when a photographer discovered her in New York City and she decided to give it a try.  After "X-Men: First Class" wraps production in December, Lawrence is aiming for a mix of roles in studio and independent films and eventually wants to direct.

8/18/10 - January Jones is the latest name to join X-Men: First Class.  January will be playing the role of Emma Frost (aka: The White Queen), a role previously reported by several legitimate outlets that was to have been played by actress Alice Eve.

8/16/10 - Oliver Platt has reportedly joined the cast of X-Men: First Class and Aussie actress Rose Byrne might not be far behind.  Plat will play a character known only as The Man in Black in the film, Deadline reported. The Matthew Vaughn directed film begins shooting in London next month.  Additionally, Rose Bryne is said to be in negotiations to also join the cast.  If she signs on, Rose would play scientist Moira MacTaggert who has particular knowledge of "genetic mutation," and who was a central love interest for Charles Xavier throughout the original X-Men comic books.  The film, a prequel to the "X-Men" series, examines the origin story between Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (played by Michael Fassbender), two young men discovering their powers and exploring their friendship, before they became Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan).  The cast includes Alice Eve as Emma Frost, Kevin Bacon as a still-unnamed villain, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee, Lucas Till as Havoc, and Edi Gathegi as Darwin.   First Class is set to hit theaters on June 3, 2011.

7/19/10 - Kevin Bacon will be joining X-Men: First Class as an unconfirmed villain, according to Variety.  Jennifer Lawrence has been cast as Mystique in the mutant prequel, playing a younger version of the blue-skinned shapeshifter that Rebecca Romijn Stamos portrayed in the previous films.

7/9/10 - According to Variety, Banshee, an Irish mutant whose power is his sonic scream, will be portrayed by Caleb Landry Jones in X-Men: First Class.  The idea for the new installment was conceived by Bryan Singer, who helmed the first film in the series. Matthew Vaughn will direct this time around. The movie tells the story of the first pupils identified for training by Professor Charles Xavier at his school for gifted students.  James McAvoy is slated to play Professor X and Michael Fassbender will play Erik Lensherr, the man who eventually becomes the super villain Magneto.  Additionally, a new Beast was cast as well.  Nicholas Hoult will play a young Hank McCoy, a brilliant scientist who eventually, through a series of transformations, ends up furry and blue. 

6/28/10 - Alice Eve is in negotiations to play Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  In comics lore, Frost was originally a villain called the White Queen who eventually became a member of X-Men, then a teacher at Xavier’s School of Gifted Students. She has telepathic powers and as the White Queen wore scantily clad costumes.   

6/18/10 - The villainous mutant leader Magneto may have proved more irresistible than the villain in the relaunched Spider-Man movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Michael Fassbender, who was being courted for both roles from Fox and Columbia, respectively, has entered early negotiations to play Magneto in X-Men: First Class, which Matthew Vaughn is directing.  The studio is in full-blown casting mode for the movie, which is gearing up for an August start in London, and Fassbender's name surfaced last week.

5/28/10 - James McAvoy has joined the cast of X-Men: First Class, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The British actor will play a young Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X, a role originated by Patrick Stewart in the preceding films.  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 studio is moving fast on the production, hiring director Matthew Vaughn in early May and planning a summer start in London. The movie is set for a June 3, 2011, release.

5/4/10 - Twentieth Century Fox will release X-MEN: FIRST CLASS on June 3, 2011.  Matthew Vaughn will direct the Marvel film.  X-MEN: FIRST CLASS begins production this summer. Bryan Singer is producing along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.  Twentieth Century Fox president of production, Emma Watts: "X-Men: First Class presents an exciting opportunity to further explore the history and relationships of these beloved characters. Matthew's combination of talent, verve and vision is perfectly suited to the task."  X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts 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 closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known.

5/3/10 - Matthew Vaughn is in talks to direct X-Men: First Class, according to Entertainment Weekly.  The X-Men prequel, set to focus on the early days of the mutant superhero team and based on the comic book series of the same name, has gone through a number of shake-ups since development began in late 2008.

3/18/10 - Bryan Singer is returning to the X-Men franchise with the prequel X-Men: First Class, according to the Los Angeles Times.  The movie will deal with the early relationship between Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr/Magneto and the early days of the Xavier Academy.  A prequel to the 2000 film that shares its name with the eight-issue comics series that began in 2006 and was written by Jeff Parker with art by Roger Cruz.  Singer says the film will find its axis in the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the point where their friendship soured. It will also detail the beginning of the school for mutants and have younger incarnations of some characters with new actors in roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, the Beast, etc. (He only shrugged when asked if Hugh Jackman might appear as Wolverine, the one character who doesn't age at the same rate as humans.)  The premise has compelling elements to it, Singer said. "Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends -- to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies."

12/18/09 - Director Bryan Singer will return to the X-Men franchise with a new prequel. He offered up a few details about the storyline, which involves Charles Xavier/Professor X, Eric Lensherr/Magneto and the creation of the Xavier Academy. Variety reported, "This is the formative years of Xavier and Magneto, and the formation of the school and where their relationship took a wrong turn. There is a romantic element, and some of the mutants from X-Men will figure into the plot, though I don't want to say which ones. There will be a lot of new mutants and a great villain." The film is being called X-Men: First Class Origins.

4/16/09 - Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced all three X-Men movies and the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, told Fox Movie Channel's Life After Film School that she hopes to make a film franchise out of X-Men: First Class, about the early days of the Xavier school, according to a report on Comics Continuum.

11/19/08 - Twentieth Century Fox is gearing up to continue its X-Men franchise with a younger set of mutants, Variety reported.  The studio has tapped Josh Schwartz to write X-Men: First Class. He'd also been offered a chance to direct the film, but declined.  Schwartz, the creator and executive producer of The CW's teen soap hit as well as Fox's youth-centric The O.C. and NBC's Chuck, is expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series, which has collectively earned $1.2 billion worldwide.  Fox is keeping quiet on its specific plans for the new project.

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