Matthew Vaughn Adapting 'The Golden Age'

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Originally Posted by Slashfilm

Matthew Vaughn Adapting 'The Golden Age'; Wants Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, & Warren Beatty to Star

We’ve heard that Matthew Vaughn might do another superhero film after he finishes the race to get X-Men: First Class in theaters this June. We also know that that new film isn’t likely to be a sequel to Kick-Ass.

Instead of making another film about emerging young heroes, it looks like he’ll dive into a story about retired crusaders. Mr. Vaughn says that “a major Hollywood studio is very keen to fully fund” a film based on the forthcoming Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards comic The Golden Age, which Mr. Vaughn will produce and possibly direct.

Deadline has the story, with Mike Fleming saying the news comes directly from Matthew Vaughn. The comic is partially about “a retirement home where superheroes end up,” and it is from the same guys that did the gangsters-versus-vampires comic Turf.

Several comics have done the ‘retired heroes’ thing, most notably Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. And with The Expendables and Red both making money, it seems like the time is right to do another film in that vein. Mr. Vaughn says,



You have these great star names and they’re mainly playing supporting roles now. I want to give them the lead again and let them have some fun.

The retired heroes thing is OK, but that quote points to what I find really attractive about a film like this: it’s a chance for older actors to have some fun in roles that are outside their normal gigs. (Red was attractive, and occasionally successful, for the same reason.)

The idea is to get actors attached to The Golden Age before he writes the script, which is a task that may be undertaken with Kick-Ass and First Class co-writer Jane Goldman, or may involve a different writer. He’d love to bag Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty “to play the retired superheroes who help out their grandchildren when their middle-aged parent screw up the world.” But Clint Eastwood says he has retired from acting to concentrate on directing. Getting him in the film would be a major coup.

Regardless, that’s a big cast, and several generations of actors — three generations of heroes, to be exact. A big cast, but if most of Matthew Vaughn’s work is any indication, a story that is more character-oriented than effects-driven.

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