Kick-Ass Director Bows out of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS; Search Continues

Back in March, it was revealed that Bryan Singer would not be directing X-men: First Class as 20th Century Fox had been planning for quite some time. Due to scheduling conflicts, he was unable to helm the project but instead would be producing the film, which highlights a tale of the early days of Professor Xavier's school for gifted mutants. At the time, we were promised that comic book fans would be very pleased with Fox's back-up plan for director, and I speculated that Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn would be one of those choices. Well, I was right, but over the weekend Vaughn officially passed on the job, leaving Fox once again up a creek.

Deadline is reporting that Fox has cobbled together a list of potential directors for the project, including such notable names as Timur Bekmambetov(Wanted, 9), Samuel Bayer(A Nightmare on Elm Street), Louis Letterier(Clash of the Titans), David Slade(The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and Carl Erick Rinsch.

A motley group if you ask me. The only ones who have anything remotely interesting to bring to the table or Bekmambetov and Rinsch. Bekmambetov is a special effects wiz, which is a must for a franchise as superpower heavy as X-men. All one needs to do is look at his Daywatch and Nightwatch films, which have a very comic book vibe to them. Rinsch, if you recall, was originally tapped to helm the Alien prequels before original director Ridley Scott took over. I'm dying to see what the guy brings to the table that made him such a popular choice before, and a movie like this could be just the vehicle.

Somewhere, fanboys are openly cheering the fact that Brett Ratner's name is nowhere near this story, as his X-men: The Final Stand was so bad it threatened to ruin not only comic book movies but comic book adaptations and drive nerds the world over back into their mother's basements.