‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel to Film in January, Avoiding ‘Hunger Games’ Conflict

She was relatively unknown to mainstream audiences when she donned the blue body paint as Mystique in last summer’s X-Men: First Class, but after The Hunger Games took the moviegoing world by storm last month, Jennifer Lawrence is in high demand.

Because the Oscar-nominated actress will be shooting Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire in the fall, 20th Century Fox – the studio behind the X-Men movie franchise – has agreed to hold off on shooting the next X-Men film until next January. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate originally wanted to “hold” all Catching Fire actors for seven months, however critics of that demand – including Fox – convinced the studio to change its mind.

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Wow, September Already?

Greetings, Wortmaniacs! I know, I know. You’ve missed me. My updates have been fairly sporadic since July and I’m not posting nearly enough to sustain anything resembling interest in this blog. But the fact is I’ve been incredibly busy at work tackling new responsibilities—which will include a great deal of travel—and I’m trying to enjoy something resembling a personal life when I don’t have my nose to the grindstone. To steal a line from Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.”

This might seem like something resembling a “final post,” but it’s the furthest thing from that. I plan on continuing to update The Wort Report as much as possible, with the caveat being that “as much as possible” might mean I’m going week or two without new content. That’s the reality I’m trying to adapt to.

So instead of an abundance of smaller, time-sensitive posts about the latest nerd news, I might publish more long-form updates about things I’m doing, comics I’m reading, games I’m playing, movies I’ve seen and what TV shows I don’t have time to keep up with.

With that being said, it’s time for me to start wrapping this up so I can dig into the four No. 1 comics DC put out today as part of their “New 52” relaunch. I skipped last week’s Justice League, but I’m looking forward to checking out the new Action Comics, Detective Comics, Swamp Thing and Batgirl. Yeah, that’s right. I’m reading Batgirl. Screw you and your judgment.

Anyhow, I hope everyone’s having a great week. Speaking of this week don’t forget that X-Men: First Class hits DVD and Blu-ray on Friday! This film is definitely worth a first-day purchase, but if you’ve been reading my gushing posts about it all summer, you already knew that.

‘Deadpool’ Has a Director

It looks like Fox is finally getting the ball rolling on Deadpool, its X-Men spin-off featuring everyone’s favorite Merc with a Mouth. Deadline.com reports that visual effects guru Tim Miller will direct, and Ryan Reynolds—who had a bit part as the wisecracking antihero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine—is expected to star. Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are working on the script.

Although the character has fallen out of favor with many Marvel Comics readers due to sheer oversaturation (I mean, how many Deadpool series do we really need?), it’s cool that Reynolds is willing to commit to two superhero franchises from different sides of the comic book universe at the same time. He’s already starring in Warner Bros./DC Entertainment’s Green Lantern, opening June 17, and if that film rakes in the green (snort!), sequels won’t be far behind. Furthermore, since this summer’s X-Men: First Class marks the fifth film in the franchise (with more on the way), it’s unlikely that the character’s first solo outing on the big screen will be a one-off. So, yeah, Mr. Reynolds might be busy for a few years.

As for Miller, my first reaction was … who? Deadline notes that he created and owns Blur Studios, and he’s directed “numerous cutting-edge video game trailers.” Upon further inspection, he’s done visual effects work for geek-friendly fare such as Daredevil, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Bryan Singer’s X-Men and X2: X-Men United. This might be his directorial debut, but at least he’s played in this sandbox before. I’m curious to see how this turns out.

'X-Men: First Class' Trailer Hits the Web

I’ll come right out and say it: I haven’t been paying all that much attention to Fox’s X-Men: First Class, set to debut in theaters on June 3. After the disastrous X-Men: The Last Stand and the downright idiotic X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I doubt this franchise can be salvaged at this point, but director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) is nevertheless making an attempt to do just that. If he fails, the number of bad X-Men movies will officially outweigh the good ones.

Set in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis, X-Men: First Class recounts the formation of the legendary mutant superhero team. Of course, central to the story is the burgeoning rivalry between Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender). Other characters appearing in the prequel include Beast, Mystique, Havok and Emma Frost (played ever-so-seductively by Mad Men’s January Jones).

Marvel.com posted the first trailer for the film earlier this week, and I have to say that it looks somewhat promising. The shattered relationship between Xavier and Magneto has always been the cornerstone of the X-Men mythos in any of its incarnations, and as long as the film is semi-coherent, it’ll be a step up from Wolverine.

Watch the trailer below.