Matthew Vaughn Sets Up Mark Millar's THE SECRET SERVICE
The mysterious comic that Matt Vaughn, Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons will release in stores next February likely to be his next film rather than the X-Men: First Class sequel.
During the press duties for X-Men: First Class and certainly when he spoke to us over the summer, director Matthew Vaughn's only future film on his mind was how he was going to go about approaching the sequel. But despite making a four star film that setup many possibilities for future movies, X-Men: First Class grossed less money than any previous X-Men film to date and that got Fox brass a little nervous and confused about what to do next. Had X-Men: First Class grossed anywhere near the amount of money X-Men 3: The Last Stand had then Matthew Vaughn would be prepping X-Men: Second Class now to shoot next summer. But because it didn't and Fox aren't calling him back for the sequel, he's not. So he is therefore having to look elsewhere for his next job. The Hollywood Reporter claim Vaughn is looking to shack up again with Scot comic book writer Mark Millar to adapt The Secret Service potentially as his next feature. This is the top secret comic that was unveiled this week by Millar and Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons and that has a Feb 2012 date for release. No plot details have been revealed yet but Vaughn has the film rights to the comic (he co-created it with Millar) and is likely to set his frequent co-writer Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) onto scripting duties along with himself. This seems to be the alternative project for Vaughn to making a Kick-Ass 2 which Mark Millar certainly wants to happen (and we wouldn't say no either) but what the director has himself called 'a crass idea', theorising that if Tarantino shouldn't sequelize Pulp Fiction neither should he to his baby. Meanwhile, Vaughn also looks to be setting himself up as a producer on Millar's other superhero original Superior that revolves around a young comics nut who is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is given the chance to become a superhero. Vaughn again owns the rights to the comic but is only interested in supervising it for someone else. So we have no word yet on when The Secret Service will film but as long as the script comes together, I imagine it will be next summer. Although we don't have story details yet, if you have the money, your real name could actually become the name of the lead character in the comic and the future film as Millar is auctioning the character name today for fans. This is something we did with Kick-Ass where Dave Lizewski won the auction and is now immortalised in print, merchandise and on film.