When it was revealed that Matthew Vaughn had decided to step down as X-Men: Days of Future Past director in order to focus on the big screen adaptation of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons' The Secret Service, many fans were left scratching their heads. Why turn down one of the most highly anticipated sequels to one of the most critically acclaimed comic book movies of 2011 to focus on a film he could have easily begun work on soon after? Well, talking to Comic Book Resources, Mark Millar revealed that there was a very good reason for this decision. His comments also put shed some doubt on those recent rumours that Vaughn is the frontrunner to helm 2015's Star Wars: Episode VII for Disney.
"We thought Matthew was going to do X-Men first, but we found out there were actually a few imitators of 'Secret Service' in the works. People think you're lying when you say you're not trying to get your comics made into movies so quickly, but the two reasons it happens like that is first because it's the best ad for the comic you'll ever have. And for me, selling the book is the most important thing. The second reason is because people are always trying to rip you off. Somebody will start to work on a spec screenplay about your idea. There are three other projects I know of now about a James Bond kind of guy taking a street kid and turning him into a spy. Three screenplays were already going through Hollywood about this! So Matthew and I said, '[frick] this. We're not letting anyone steal our ideas.'"
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