Thanks to the Hunger Games franchise, her Academy Award nomination for American Hustle and X-Men: Days of Future Past it may seem as though Jennifer Lawrence is working non-stop, but she actually hasn’t shot a single thing since filming the final two Hunger Games movies back to back.  However, that’s going to change big time come the New Year because not only will Lawrence likely lead David O. Russell’s Joy, but it’s also being reported that the romance between Mystique and Michael Fassbender’s Magneto is a big part of X-Men: Apocalypse.

Hit the jump for more on the status of Joy and what we can expect from Lawrence in X-Men: Apocalypse.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The THR story details what’s to come for Lawrence and predominantly what’s going on with Russell’s next film.  Clearly Lawrence is one of the most in-demand stars out there right now, so it’s not surprising to hear that Joy ran into some trouble because Lawrence’s reps wanted a bigger backend and Fox 2000 wasn’t going for it.  However, negotiations didn’t break down and Lawrence is expected to seal the deal.  Should that happen, Russell must be ready to go for a February 2015 shoot in Boston with the same crew that worked on American Hustle.  THR claims folks have spotted Russell “tinkering with the script” so he better finish beefing up the role of a QVC executive for Bradley Cooper fast because if the production doesn’t stay on schedule, Joy could wind up conflicting with X-Men: Apocalypse.

Lawrence is due on X-Men’s Montreal set in April and 20th Century Fox refuses to change the date with the film’s May 27, 2016 release not all that far off.  THR also threw this bit in regarding the X-Men plot:

“Apocalypse is being crafted around Lawrence's Mystique character and Michael Fassbender's Magneto. A source who has seen the script says Fox will take full advantage of Lawrence and Fassbender's star power, placing Mystique and Magneto's romance front and center.”

Perhaps it makes sense to have the hottest stars at the center of it all and there's also no doubt that Fassbender and Lawrence could carry the film, but after X-Men: Days of Future Past, I’d be more hyped to hear something like Apocalypse would be more Quicksilver heavy rather than highlighting a romance.  What do you think?  Is there any appeal in exploring the Mystique/Magneto relationship?

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Image via 20th Century Fox