For whatever reason, 20th Century Fox were in a rush to get X-Men: First Class into theaters (rumour has it they were worried about the rights reverting to Marvel Studios). As a result, when Matthew Vaughn was hired to direct the reboot, there was a gap of only fourteen months between the release of Kick-Ass and his 1960s-set X-Men movie.
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Jane Goldman explained just how under pressure they actually were to get the script finished in time.
"They wanted to get the script written in three weeks while going straight into preproduction," Goldman recalls, adding that she and Vaughn even had to discuss the film in a hospital room, because the director's wife, model Claudia Schiffer, had just had a baby.
"I remember he and I meeting up in her hospital room. That was very tolerant of her. I'd go home and write for 16 hours a day. I do remember it being a very, very frantic time and Matthew was already starting to look at sets and actors. I remember it being a huge scramble."
First Class went on to be a hit, and while some fans didn't appreciate the lack of mutants like Cyclops and Jean Grey, it was the breath of fresh air the franchise needed at the time. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender's portrayals of Professor X and Magneto were also fantastic, and while Days of Future Past was enjoyable, it didn't quite capture the magic of Vaughn's film.
What did you guys think about X-Men: First Class when it was released back in 2011?