14 DAY TRIAL // 20th Century Fox has hired director Matthew Vaughn to helm “X-Men: First Class” and has put the film on accelerated development, eyeing a release date for next summer, which means work on it must begin shortly. As a step forward in the right direction, the role of Professor Charles Xavier has already been cast: it’s Scottish actor James McAvoy and, as the first photo of him in character shows, he’s in top shape.
Confirmation that McAvoy would be taking on Professor X came a couple of days ago from The Hollywood Reporter, followed shortly after by the first pic of the star in character. Though he’s not exactly known for his buffed bod, it would seem that James has been hitting the gym more regularly for this part, as he’s rocking some serious abs and pecs in the photo made available online. Aside from this, fans of the “X-Men” franchise are extremely happy with the choice – and are making no secret of it on dedicated forums.
“James McAvoy has signed on to play a young Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, in ‘X-Men: First Class,’ which Matthew Vaughn is directing for Fox. According to Fox, ‘First Class’ will ‘chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men’,” THR reports.
“Patrick Stewart played the character, a bald-headed, wheelchair-bound telepath, in the original ‘X-Men’ trilogy. Fox did not reveal if McAvoy will sport a follicle-free pate. Fox is moving fast on the production, hiring Vaughn in early May and planning a summer start in London. The movie is being planned for a June 3, 2011, release. Bryan Singer, who conceived the story for ‘First Class,’ is producing along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg,” the same movie-oriented publication goes on to say.
McAvoy is also signed to appear in “Wanted 2,” the sequel to the film that put him on the map in terms of potential for action movies, also starring Angelina Jolie. As of now, it is not yet known how Fox’s plans to speed up things with “First Class” will be affecting his schedule with “Wanted.”
*Update (May 31, 2010): As user Jenny points out below, the picture attached to this article is not a first still for “X-Men: First Class” but one taken from “Wanted.” Several media outlets picked it up and erroneously believed it was from “X-Men,” and we made the same mistake. Therefore, parts of this article are not correct – though news that James McAvoy will star in “X-Men” is.