Singer offered X-MEN 4 and WOLVERINE 2?

A snippet from another A* interview conducted by Hero Complex's Geoff Boucher, this time with Bryan Singer and his X-Men: First Class producer Lauren Shuler Donner;

Shuler Donner also has pitched Singer on doing a fourth installment of the previously established "X-Men" franchise and Jackman had that lunch with Singer to coax him into a project as well, which may or may not be a "Wolverine" film, which Jackman has said will be set in Japan and released in 2011. "I wish I could be four people," the director said with a moan. "I could make everybody happy." Singer turned to Shuler Donner and said of "X-Men 4": "Hold that one off for just a little, I'm fixated on the other one right now." She nodded and answered, "I will, I will ... I'm holding it open with high hopes. It's totally different and it will be so interesting for you."

Singer's back into the X-Men groove to stay, and the way he is talking, you can probably forget about his Battlestar Galactica big-screen reboot or his Excalibur movie, although the latter looks like it has been over-taken by several other King Arthur projects anyway. The in-depth interview, which does more to stir up affection for the franchise than the last X-Men movie ever came close to achieving, has Singer confirm what we said in December; that his X-Men: First Class basically replaces the long-gestatedMagneto stand-alone prequel and uses much of what would have been that film. Jamie Moss's (Street Kings) screenplay will blend those elements with Prof X's origin and the start-up of the Xavier School for the Gifted. So you can expect castings of young Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Beast, Storm etc. As I've said before it's a pretty negative move for a continuing franchise and it brings back bad Star Wars prequels memories. Two best friends who become bitter enemies, cameo's from familiar faces just younger, etc. Who needs it? (more after the jump)... Everyone knows the universe that was left after the events of X-Men 3: The Last Stand is where Singer should be heading to, and well; it looks like he'll get there, but not until he has further damaged the weight of the series. Aren't well all in agreement that X-Men 4 is a way more appealing movie than another damned franchise prequel, no matter which character they focus on? I'll give you two reasons why; A) Origin movies 99% of the time are retched and take away any mystery and weaken the back-bone of what came before. B) You know how the story ends and the characters fate, so where's the interest? The talk of Singer possibly being offered the reigns on Wolverine 2 is interesting, especially how Boucher claims Singer's mentioning of the franchise put a brief "off the record" end to the interview as Donner quietly talked the director out of saying anything more. Has there been a late in the day offer for Singer to direct Wolverine 2 whilst the screenplays for First Class and X-Men 4 are scribed? Obviously, star Hugh Jackman wants him in and of course Singer has some interest (Chris McQuarrie is writing the screenplay, he wrote The Usual Suspects,Valkyrie & was uncredited on X-Men for the director) but as Singer says, he can't be in four places at once. He's got his eyes set on X-Men First Class, and then there's the small matter of his horror fantasy Jack and the Giant Beanstalk to film in between for Warner Bros. So something has to give. I will end this piece then on a quote from Singer which I think does a fantastic job in explaining the current mindset of Singer, how his time on Superman Returns has taught him some career lessons about himself, and just why he has become attached to so many big ensemble movies (new X-Men movies, Battlestar Galactica, Excalibur, etc)...

"I genuinely like the people, and my personality meshes more with universe than it does with other universes, I think; I see that now at this point...I feel a connection to the X-Men characters and also the ensemble nature of the films. If you look at 'Usual Suspects'' or my last film, 'Valkyrie,' I feel especially comfortable with ensemble juggling. In the space between all the characters you can disguise a central thought that's hidden in all the discourse. I missed that with the singular relationship story of Superman. And, well, it always gives you something to cut to..."