Fox confirms sequels for X-Men: First Class and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Good news for fans of genetically-advanced protagonists, as Fox has officially confirmed sequels are in the works for summer blockbusters X-Men: First Class and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes .

Speaking to Comingsoon.net at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, Tom Rothman (co-chairman and chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment) revealed that the studio were keen to bring back directors Matthew Vaughn and Rupert Wyatt to continue work on their respective franchises.

“Both of them were really great scripts and so we have to be sure to get great scripts again,” explained Rothman. “We're working hard on the scripts for both of them, but we have every hope of moving forward with them.”

Rothman’s comments come hot on the heels of an interview given to i09 by James McAvoy, in which the First Class star discussed his thoughts on a potential sequel.

“I don't know where we find Erik,” he says of Michael Fassbender’s character. “It's kind of defined at the end of the film that he's a bad guy. I can't really speak for him, but I know that with Charles, you either have to write him out of the movie or give him an interesting story. He's lost his best friend, essentially, and he's just been paralyzed from the waist down, which is just a huge, huge blow to his considerable ego. So he's got to deal with that.”

“I don't think we can just brush over that and go, ‘yeah I'm in a wheelchair now,’” said McAvoy. “I don't care if he's a superhero and has brain powers or not, he's just had a huge part of his physical life taken away from him, by someone he cares about more than anyone else. So he's got to deal with that. That's part of the interesting ideas that we're talking about with Matthew [ Vaughn ], but I can't really get into them with you because they may form the spine of the story.”