February 22, 2017 - 10:50 AMT
Simon Kinberg “to write, direct the next “X-Men” movie”

Simon Kinberg is reportedly in talks with 20th Century Fox to direct the next "X-Men" movie, which is allegedly titled "X-Men: Supernova". The prolific producer/writer is also rumored to pen the screenplay of the film, which is a follow-up to "X-Men: Apocalypse", AceShowbiz reports citing Collider.

The site has also confirmed that the upcoming "X-Men" movie is indeed based on a classic "X-Men" comic book "The Dark Phoenix Saga". The comic was one of the several stories used as inspiration for "X-Men: The Last Stand", in which the character Jean Grey was portrayed by Famke Janssen.

Kinberg himself has previously teased that the next "X-Men" sequel will follow the pattern of recent films. He has also said that the new movie will skip ahead another decade and have a 1990s setting. Although Kinberg has been involved in the prooduction of "X-Men: The Last Stand", "X-Men: First Class", "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "X-Men: Apocalypse", the new "X-Men"movie will mark Kinberg's first directorial debut.

News of Kinberg's potential involvement comes on the heels of a report last week in which Sophie Turner, the actress who starred as Jean Grey in "X-Men: Apocalypse", claimed that the new movie would begin filming sometime this year. "We're about to start shooting the next 'X-Men'," Turner told HeyUGuys. "We've just finished shooting 7 of ['Game of Thrones'] and I've got a couple of movies to do before 'X-Men' starts. And then we go on to season 8."

Photo: EW