Matthew Vaughn Going After Retired Superheroes with THE GOLDEN AGE

Director Matthew Vaughn seems to be enjoying the world of superheroes.  After directing Kick-Ass and now at work on X-Men: First Class, Vaughn tells Deadline that he’s circling yet another superhero project with The Golden Age.  The film is based on a yet-to-be-published comic by Jonathan Ross, husband of frequent Vaughn co-write Jane Goldman.  The story centers on a group of “retired superheroes who help out their grandchildren when their middle-aged parent screw up the world.”

Vaughn’s dream-casting is to get Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, and Warren Beatty to play the superheroes, but that may be difficult since Eastwood announced Gran Torino would be his last performance and Beatty hasn’t done a film in about a decade.  Vaughn says the success of The Expendables and Red proves there’s a market for older lead actors: “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.”  Hit the jump for more on the project.

There’s no indication that Vaughn or Goldman will write the project, and Vaughn may not direct, opting to produce instead.  Vaughn says he wants to get actors on board before the script is written and that he may hire other writers.

After Vaughn wraps on X-Men: First Class, there are several projects he could choose.  He may direct a film based on the comic series Turf (also written by Ross) or an adaptation of the comic book Bloodshot.

Oddly, last August Vaughn said the superhero genre was almost dead and that’s why he wanted to get X-Men: First Class done before audiences were (according to him) tired of watching people with amazing powers.