Mark Millar Reveals Why Matthew Vaughn Chose To Not Direct ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’

A short while ago it was revealed that Matthew Vaughn had decided to step down as the director for X-Men: Days Of Future Past to work on the big screen adaptation of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons The Secret Service. This one was definitely a surprise and left some fans a little disappointed. Now, a rumor is spreading around that the director has left the project was to work on Star Wars: Episode VII. So, what is the real reason Vaughn stepped down? In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Mark Millar revealed that there was a very good reason for the decision.

“We thought Matthew was going to do X-Men first, but we found out there were actually a few imitators of ‘Secret Service’ in the works. People think you’re lying when you say you’re not trying to get your comics made into movies so quickly, but the two reasons it happens like that is first because it’s the best ad for the comic you’ll ever have. And for me, selling the book is the most important thing. The second reason is because people are always trying to rip you off. Somebody will start to work on a spec screenplay about your idea. There are three other projects I know of now about a James Bond kind of guy taking a street kid and turning him into a spy. Three screenplays were already going through Hollywood about this! So Matthew and I said, ‘[frick] this. We’re not letting anyone steal our ideas.'”