EXCLUSIVE: Here is a fun scoop for X-Men fans. Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two superb installments that launched the franchise at Fox and whom Deadline was first to reveal will helm X-Men: Days Of Future Past, has just tweeted the following news: “I’d like to officially welcome back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult to X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Also thrilled to announce Sir Ian Mckellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.”

How is that going to work with the actors playing both Magneto and Professor Xavier, in the same movie with Fassbender and McAvoy, who played those characters as young men in X-Men: First Class? “The movie is called X-Men: Days Of Future Past, use your imagination,” Singer tells me. “More to come,” adds Singer, who happens to be in New Zealand for meetings — just in time to attend the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. He’s hanging with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and James Cameron is there, as is the whole Hobbit gang, including McKellen, who’s reprising as Gandalf in the new trilogy. What a lucky guy!