Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

Did you hear that sound just now? I think that was the other shoe finally dropping...

In talking to people in and around the X-MEN camp over the last month or so, it became obvious that Matthew Vaughn was really excited about making an X-MEN movie, but that he was also feeling a lot of pressure regarding this particular X-MEN movie’s production schedule. As with any film of this size, there were a lot of people exerting control over the film, and Matthew dug in for a series of important fights. He managed to convince the studio to cast Kelsey Grammer as The Beast, something that he was very proud of, and together with Zak Penn and Simon Kinsberg, he worked on the script that has evidently had the actors all excited about what they’re going to get to do. It looked like Matthew had finally reached a point where he was confident that the film could be made the right way in the time they had to make it, and he sounded ready to go. Now, nine weeks out, we’ve got word that Vaughn is off the film and on his way back to England. As soon as I heard this, I called Marvel Studios to get their reaction, and I ended up talking with Avi Arad, who confirmed that Vaughn has indeed left the film.

”This is not a case of creative differences,” Avi said. “This is a personal decision by Matthew, and I can tell you that he is heartbroken. He loved this material, and he wanted to make this film.” Vaughn has evidently already left to deal with whatever personal issue requires his attention, and Marvel and Fox are expected to make an announcement in the next few days regarding both the casting of Angel (who plays “a major role” in the film, according to Avi) and the new director, who may actually be someone who had circled the film earlier but who wasn’t available at that point.

Hey... didn’t Joss Whedon just finish SERENITY?

Excuse me. Just thinking out loud. Whoever steps in, they’re going to have to hit the ground running. Avi says that they’re still committed to starting work on the film in nine weeks in Vancouver, and they’re still planning to have the film in release on Memorial Day 2006. “We think this is better than either part 1 or 2,” Avi said. “This is the most controversial, classic X-MEN story we may ever tell, and I can’t wait until people hear the big idea that holds this all together.” At the rate these guys are moving, we’re not going to have to wait long at all. More as the story develops...