Matthew Vaughn, director of the slick British gangster flick
Layer Cake (2004)—which helped launch the careers of then little-known actors
Sienna Miller and
Daniel “Bond” Craig—and the writer and director of this fall’s
Stardust, starring
Robert De Niro and
Michelle Pfeiffer, almost burned his bridge to Hollywood when he backed out of directing the third installment of Fox’s lucrative X-Men franchise.
Hollywood insiders said that Vaughn caved under the pressure of making a blockbuster film—Layer Cake was made for under $10M, while the budget for X-Men 3 topped $200M—but Vaughn cited time constraints as the major issue behind his decision.
Vaughn told John Hiscock of the Telegraph:
"
It was a tough decision because it was a hell of an opportunity. But I was trying to make a career as a director, and I didn't want to be the guy accused of making a bad X-Men movie. As it happens, I could have made something a hundred times better than the film that was eventually made. It sounds arrogant, but I could have done something with far more emotion and heart.”
Vaughn went on to say that his decision to drop the Fox film, “
…could have been a death knell.” While Vaughn may be on the “outs” with Fox, Hollywood is clamoring for more. Vaughn is slated to direct Marvel Comics’
Thor, which is currently in pre-production; it is expected to be released in 2009, though no official date has been set.
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