Matthew Vaughn Lands Rights To Max Barry's Upcoming 'Lexicon'

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by Ryan Gowland
May 31, 2012 9:05 AM
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Director Matthew Vaughn has been trafficking almost exclusively in comic book adaptations over the past few years, establishing franchises with 2010's "Kick-Ass" and last year's "X-Men: First Class." While Fox has Vaughn returning to direct the 'First Class' sequel, he'll still be involved in producing "Kick-Ass 2," and has optioned the rights to a couple of 'Kick-Ass' co-creator Mark Millar's other comic book properties, namely "The Secret Service" and "Superior." But it looks like Vaughn has aspirations outside of the comic book milieu, purchasing the rights to the upcoming novel "Lexicon" from author Max Barry with his own money.

The story of "Lexicon" is an unusual one. To quote Barry himself from his own site, the story is centered around "a secret persuasion society that builds and deploys words as weapons." The protagonist is a woman who is recruited into the society's ranks, but makes the mistake of breaking the cardinal rule of falling in love. Vaughn plans to adapt the novel himself, but will likely bring frequent collaborator Jane Goldman into the process at some point.

Of course, Vaughn didn't just stumble upon "Lexicon" -- the novel won't be released until next year. Deadline reports that Barry’s agents sent a copy of the book to Vaughn, which prompted him to purchase the film rights.

Don't expect "Lexicon" any time soon. With Vaughn starting production on the 'First Class' sequel in early 2013, it's doubtful that he'll be ready to move onto another project for a while. Furthermore, should Millar get in his ear, there's a chance that one of his projects will move up on Vaughn's production slate before "Lexicon."

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