Singer had been flirting with the project since last summer (Daily Variety, Aug. 13). Deal was made after the studio sparked to a detailed treatment he wrote for the film. Jamie Moss was hired to write the script, and the studio will move aggressively.

Singer told Daily Variety that he thought long and hard about returning to the franchise he launched until he found a storyline that would stand on its own.

"This is the formative years of Xavier and Magneto, and the formation of the school and where there relationship took a wrong turn," Singer said. "There is a romantic element, and some of the mutants from 'X-Men' will figure into the plot, though I don't want to say which ones. There will be a lot of new mutants and a great villain."

...Singer and 20th Century Fox have formalized his move from director to producer on X-Men: First Class. That is the bad news for X-Men die-hards who love the first two films Singer directed. Here's the good part: he is leaving because Fox liked the script that Jamie Moss wrote from Singer's treatment so much that the studio wants the film right away, envisioning it as the first leg of a trilogy. The hope is to have it ready for 2011 release.

Singer will join Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg as producers. He's not available because Warner Bros and Legendary are locked into a summer production start on Jack the Giant Killer. They’ll begin casting shortly. It is a big CG project, and they are likely to either shoot 3D or convert it later.