Monday, January 30, 2012

"X-Men: First Class" Sequel Confirmed, Vaughn Returns as Director



Andrew: Hello readers! Today marks a first for our 8-day-old blog in that this will be the first posting we do where we will be talking about movie news. (And, to an extent I suppose, reporting on movie news. Even though we didn't really do any of the legwork. Hence the credit we'll give out!)

Earlier today, Deadline.com reported that 20th Century Fox has signed Production President Emma Watts to an extension that will keep her in that position until 2015. But you don't really care about that, and neither do we. What we DO care about is that Deadline buried a more interesting tidbit later in their article stating that "X-Men: First Class" director Matthew Vaughn has signed on to helm a sequel to last summer's installment of Fox's "X-Men" franchise!

Sarah, are you as excited about the news that there's going to be a sequel to "X-Men: First Class" as I am?

Sarah: I am! It's going to continue to be a really great way to jump-start the "X-Men" franchise and take a different look at the whole series. Kind of like what they did with the new Star Trek series (due out next summer *yay*), which was to grab a new audience to introduce to the same great stories. The last couple of times they have made "X-Men" movies (“X-2,” “X-Men: The Last Stand” and "X-Men Origins - Wolverine") they have not been very good in my opinion. So I like that they are changing the way people look at the franchise.

A: Ooooo...I don't mean to slow your roll there, hun, but if you didn't like “The Last Stand" then you might not like what else was in the story. Namely that Simon Kinberg will be the screenwriter for the next "X-Men" movie - and he was the screenwriter for "The Last Stand." That said, he was also the screenwriter for two of our favorite action movies of the last decade in "Sherlock Holmes" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," plus he was a producer on "First Class."

S: Hmm, I wouldn't say that those two were two of our favorites, but they’re good. And I wasn't aware that he didn't write the first "First Class." Maybe I will be a little nervous about the new one. I enjoyed "First Class" so much that I will be bummed if he doesn't keep the same standards as that last one. Now that I know what movies Kinberg has written, I believe that he carries an element of cheesiness in his films. There is always an undertone of silliness. Although the action in his films tend to be very good, there is a comedic element that I find hard to believe.

A: I wouldn't say that there's cheesiness in the movies he writes, but I'll say there's silliness in there. Comic relief, if you will. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I share your hope that he maintains the standard of the last film. "First Class" is by far the best of the series and he WAS a producer on it. But I also think Matthew Vaughn’s return as director will have more of an impact on the quality of the film.

More than anything though, I'm excited for a sequel because it means we get to see Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as Magneto and Professor Xavier again. I'm also excited because up until today there had been absolutely no noise about a sequel, considering "First Class" made $146 million domestically, which is about how much it cost to make. I'm thinking the $207 million it made internationally earned it a green light.

S: Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the movie turns out. I will be excited to see the continuation of the rivalry between Xavier and Magneto and how they technically left on sad terms, not "I'm going to get you" terms. So it will be interesting to see what the catalyst is that finally drives them to good vs. evil.

A: I like the way you put that. I just like that we'll actually get to see Fassbender and McAvoy continue to grow those characters, not just the rivalry between them.

Ok readers! Have you seen "X-Men: First Class?" If so, let us know how you feel about a sequel; if you haven't, see it as soon as you can. We own it, so you know it gets our highest marks.

Tomorrow's Post: A day late, but we will do a little analysis on this past Sunday's Screen Actor's Guild Awards and what they mean for the Academy Awards race.

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