20th Century Fox has officially announced that Matthew Vaughn [MVAUG] will direct X-Men: First Class [XMEN4], the next chapter in the franchise based on the Marvel comics. The studio also quickly set a release date for next summer on June 3rd, 2011. Vaughn was originally going to direct X-Men: The Last Stand when the director of the first two X-Men films Bryan Singer defected to Superman Returns. Now both men are back with Singer acting as producer. X-Men: First Class will be a prequel that focuses on the young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, which would cover similar ground as the now-doomed X-Men Origins: Magneto [MAGNT] spin-off film being developed by David Goyer.
Here's the official Synopsis:
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-MEN saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.