Matthew Vaughn opts out 'X Men' sequel; 'The Hobbit' is short, yet long; 'S.H.I.E.L.D. casting
In a surprise move that may not be that huge of a surprise, Matthew Vaughn has decided not to helm X Men: Days of Future Past, the sequel to his X Men: First Class. No word was given for his departure –though he may still stay with the project as a producer- but Vaughn has been known to be very picky on the projects he does do. He was close to dropping out of Kick-Ass before changing his mind and then opted out of the sequel, which is currently filming under the helm of Jeff Wadlow.
According to Deadline, his replacement might be Bryan Singer, who launched the movie franchise back in 2000 and has remained with the property through the years. Vaughn, who wrote the treatment for the sequel that is scripted by Simon Kinberg, would now step back as producer, along with Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner.
The film is scheduled to go before the cameras in January, which means Fox will need to work fast to either sign Singer or get someone else. The film has a release date of July, 18 2014, and each of the returning actors, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence, all have tight schedules with very little room for hiccups, so the odds are Fox will not delay the production.
So if I was a betting man, I expect Bryan Singer to return.
Meanwhile, Vaughn will do another film for Fox, most likely a project adapting a Mark Miller comic book series about the Secret Service.
Director Peter Jackson confirms the running time for the theatrical version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is around 160 minutes (that’s 2 hours and 40 minutes for some folks). And while there will be an extended edition, now that the once two picture film has become three, will those editions be as long as the ones for his The Lord of the Rings films?
Actress Ming-Na Wen has joined the cast of ABC’s The Avengers spin-off series S.H.I.E.L.D. as Agent Melinda May, a kick-ass pilot and weapons expert
The CW announced its picked-up Arrow for a full season. They’ve also ordered three additional episodes of their Beauty and the Beast series, though it looks promising the show will get a full season pick-up due to the fact they’ve kept a good portion of their lead-in audience from The Vampire Diaries.
One of later Star Trek TV series most prolific directors, Winrich Kolbe has died. However, his death, at age 71, happened sometime in September, and the only press release came in memoriam column of the November issue of DGA Monthly. Once this became public, when reached for comment, family members confirmed his passing, though gave no word of actually when or what caused his death. He had retired from directing in 2003 and had left his teaching job in 2007 due to some illness. The Classic TV History Blog has the details of Kolbe’s career in Hollywood in the early 80′s helming many popular shows of the time before he began his long association with Star Trek franchise, directing episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.
