X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class (stylized on-screen as X: First Class) is a 2011 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the X-Men. It is the fifth installment in the X-Men film series. Directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman and Vaughn, the film stars an ensemble cast led by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon. It is both a prequel and soft reboot to X-Men (2000), the fifth installment in the X-Men film series, and the first film in the X-Men prequel quadrilogy. X-Men: First Class is set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, and the origin of their groups—the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, respectively, as they deal with the Hellfire Club led by Sebastian Shaw, a mutant supremacist bent on starting a nuclear war.

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner first thought of a prequel based on the young X-Men during the production of X2; producer Simon Kinberg later suggested to 20th Century Fox an adaptation of the comic series X-Men: First Class, although the film does not follow the comic closely. Singer, who had directed both X-Men and X2, became involved with the project in 2009, but he could only produce and co-write X-Men: First Class due to his work on other projects. Vaughn became the director and also wrote the final script with his writing partner Jane Goldman. Principal photography began in August 2010 and concluded in December, with additional filming completed in April 2011. Locations included Oxford, the Mojave Desert and Georgia, with soundstage work done in both Pinewood Studios and the 20th Century Fox stages in Los Angeles. The depiction of the 1960s drew inspiration from the James Bond films of the period.

X-Men: First Class premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre on May 25, 2011, and was released in the United States on June 3. The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving positive reviews from critics, and grossing $353 million worldwide. A sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, was released in May 2014.