Matthew Vaughn has decided against directing the sequel to X-Men: First Class, instead opting to helm another 20th Century Fox film, the comic-book drama Secret Service, according to Deadline.com.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is likely to be another huge money-spinner for Fox - with Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence confirmed to return - so it's refreshing to see Vaughn opting to try something new instead of taking the riches that will inevitably come attached to a huge sequel such as Future Past. Vaughn, 41, appears to be a filmmaker who knows what he wants: he quickly passed on directing the sequel to the Kick-Ass movie, entrusting the job instead to Jeff Wadlow. Anyway, Fox has moved pretty quickly in replacing Vaughan, with Bryan Singer likely to be confirmed for the project in the near future. You may remember Singer directed the X-Men (2000) and X-2 in (2003) though he's best known for the superb Usual Suspects (1994). He was already signed on as a producer on the new film, and the move will see Singer and Vaughn switch roles with the latter stepping back to a producing role.

Singer, 47, has a pretty open schedule having completed shooting on his modern day fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer, starring Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor.