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Story by: Jack Foley
JUST when it seemed as though all was going well with Fox's X-Men
franchise, it has been announced that the film's director, Matthew
Vaughn, has quit.
Citing personal reasons, the Layer Cake director has decided
to step down nine weeks before cameras were due to start rolling.
The news will come as a blow to Fox and Marvel executives, who
had high hopes for the new direction the franchise may have been
taking.
Aside from enlisting Vaughn and keeping most (if not all) of
the original cast members, the film had also recently employed
the services of Frasier star, Kelsey Grammer, as the blue-skinned
bouncing Beast, and a certain Vinne Jones (!) as Juggernaut.
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But a statement issued on behalf
of Fox read: "As the shooting schedule evolved, he realised
he would have to move to Los Angeles and Vancouver for at least
a year. Not wishing to uproot his family for an extended period,
Vaughn opted to depart the production."
Vaughn is, of course, married to Claudia Schiffer and has two
children, Caspar and Clementine.
As yet, no further announcement has been made in regards to finding
a replacement, while the future also remains unclear for Vaughn.
Having shown such potential with Layer Cake, he was seized upon
by Marvel as an exciting new director who could bring his own
distinct vision to the franchise, following the devastating departure
of Bryan Singer.
Empire Online speculates that he may now seek to revamp the spy
genre.
As for X-Men 3, there is little doubt that Fox and Marvel will
act quickly, given that the cast is in place, shooting is due
to begin, and a release date has already been pencilled in for
May 26, 2006.
X-pect an announcement to follow soon!
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