We were shocked when we learned that Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn got himself hired to direct the third movie in the X-Men series. I mean, the man is talented. Not that Bryan Singer isn't, but we just thought that was a fluke - a good director who happens to be a comic book geek who was attracted to the material. Vaughn took the studio to task in a series of fights. Now, with less than nine weeks before production, word behind the scenes is that Vaughn is off the film and on his way back to England.

”This is not a case of creative differences,” Marvel head Avi Arad told AICN. “This is a personal decision by Matthew, and I can tell you that he is heartbroken. He loved this material, and he wanted to make this film.”

Marvel and Fox are expected to make an announcement in the next few days regarding both the casting of the character Angel, who plays “a major role” in the film, and the new director. AICN speculates that the newbie in the directors chair "may actually be someone who had circled the film earlier but who wasn’t available at that point."

Who could it be?
::cough:: Buffy's Joss Whedon ::cough::

I really hope not. Okay, maybe I'm the only geek who doesn't get it. I think Whedon makes horrible television, with bad special effects, and video-game level plot. I'll give him credit in the character department -he creates a level of deepth that most writers will never achieve. But that isn't enough to save him, in my opinion. For some reason all the geeks out there think everything he touches turns to gold, so they should be happy.

Fox is still committed to starting work on the film in nine weeks in Vancouver. Also, there are no plans to move the film from its announced Memorial Day 2006 release.

“We think this is better than either part 1 or 2,” Avi said. “This is the most controversial, classic X-Men story we may ever tell, and I can’t wait until people hear the big idea that holds this all together.”