UPDATE, 4:35 PM: Fox has just confirmed Deadline’s earlier scoop and set a November 14, 2014 wide release date for The Secret Service.
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE, 11:43 AM: After scrapping with Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox has just closed a deal for worldwide distribution rights to The Secret Service, the next directorial outing by Matthew Vaughn, who most recently helmed X-Men: First Class for Fox, and Kick-Ass.
Vaughn has already completed the script for this film with his writing partner Jane Goldman, and his Marv Films will finance and produce the film, based on the comic series by Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. Fox is going to date it quickly for next year, and production will begin in August.
The drama closely follows the comic, about a veteran secret agent who leads a young protege into the shadowy business. Back when Deadline broke news that Vaughn was handing the directing reins of X-Men: Days Of Future Past to Bryan Singer, I noted that he was eyeing The Secret Service as his next film.
This is important one for Fox, which has made an effort to have the studio be considered a good place for accomplished directors to work. Keeping Vaughn in the fold after launching what has become an important franchise is a good indication that the efforts of Emma Watts and Jim Gianopulos are paying off.
Vaughn is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment, UK’s Independent Talent Group, and Ziffren.
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