After directing the first 2 amazing X-Men films (and taking a break from directing the 3rd film in order to direct Superman Returns), Bryan Singer has announced that he has signed on to direct X-Men: First Class … a prequel film to the X-Men films franchise:

During the Los Angeles premiere of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, Bryan Singer let it slip that he has recently signed on to direct “X-men: First Class.” While being interviewed on the red carpet by a film crew from Myspace, Singer said “I’m ramping up to do a movie called ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ at Warner Bros, and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an ‘X-Men: First Class Origins’ picture, which is kind of cool. I’m very excited.” MTV News first raised the possibility of Singer’s return to the “X-men” franchise back in August when his “Usual Suspects” collaborator Christopher McQuarrie signed on to write the sequel to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Back in October, Singer confirmed that he was in talks to return to the series, but didn’t state which movie he was interested in. At the time, speculation centered on the “Wolverine” sequel due to the director’s stated desire to work with Hugh Jackman again. “X-men: First Class” takes its title from a comic that follows the adventures of the original five X-men: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel. Given the continuity changes made for the “X-men” films, Angel and Iceman would likely not appear in the movie if they follow the timeline that was previously established. However, Storm could very easily be added to the lineup of Jean Grey, Cyclops and Beast without disrupting any of the events shown in the previous movies. It is currently unknown when “X-men: First Class” will start production. Singer’s “Battlestar Galactica” remake has been fastracked by Universal and could conceivably be filmed before “X-men: First Class.”

This is great news … Singer does this sort of film very well. I’m a big fan of his previous 2 X-Men films. I’m confident that he will be the perfect person to bring X-Men: First Class to life on the big screen. I’m very curious about his Battlestar Galactica remake as well … considering how amazing the TV series was, he’s got some big shoes to fill in order to satisfy BG fans. He better not frak it up. But, I digress … Singer + X-Men = World of Yes!!

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More great movie news to pass along today … just because Battlestar Galactica ended its series run this year doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the show. As some of you may be well aware, a BSG TV movie titled The Plan is scheduled to air on SyFy later on this year and a prequel series called Caprica will air on the network next year. BUT, the big news is that Battlestar Galactica is coming to the big screen … and it’s going to be directed by Bryan Singer. Meh. That may not be the best news ever but a BSG movie is sure to rule!

Universal Pictures has set Bryan Singer to direct and produce a feature version of “Battlestar Galactica.” It’s not clear whether Ronald Moore, exec producer of the recent series, will be invited to write the screenplay, but Singer will clearly put his own creative stamp on the project, as the studio indicates that the film will be “a complete reimagination.” Glen Larson is aboard to produce. The original version of the series ran for two seasons on ABC beginning in 1978. Singer had long been intrigued with “Galactica” and flirted with relaunching it into a TV series right after he directed the original “X-Men” (Daily Variety, Feb. 22, 2001). At the time, he was teamed to exec produce the series with Tom DeSanto and to direct the pilot of the new version. The director got busy on other projects, but he was prescient, at the time calling the Galactica brand “a sleeping giant.” Moore became the executive producer of the 73-episode series, which had a successful run on the then-Sci Fi Channel starting in 2004.

Woot! This is frakkin’ amazing news. To be honest, I’m surprised that a BSG movie hasn’t been made before now. The series was such a huge hit and it is RIPE for the big screen. It was rumored that Singer was planning to return to the X-Men fold to direct another movie (a spin-off that was to be focused on the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning titled X-Men: First Class) but it looks like he’s decided to take on Battlestar instead. I suppose Bryan Singer is a good director but he’s not my fave. I’d love someone like David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) to make a BSG movie but … I’ll take what I can get. You know, in a movie … there can be more incidents of nudity than a TV show allows. I’m just puttin’ that out there ;)

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