"Winter's Bone" star Jennifer Lawrence has been garnering rave reviews for her fearless performance in Debra Granik's Sundance-winning drama, and evidently Hollywood has been paying attention.
The striking young actress is in final negotiations to play the mutant Mystique in Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class," Lawrence's publicist has confirmed to TheWrap.
Mystique is a shapeshifter who can imitate other people, although she can't replicate their superpowers. Rebecca Romijn played the blue-hued character in the original trilogy.
Additionally, Variety reports that Kevin Bacon is now officially set to play an unknown villain in the 20th Century Fox prequel, and notes that speculation within the fanboy community has Bacon playing Mister Sinister, a character I'm not familiar with.
Last week, TheWrap reported that Bacon was in talks for the role, and while Variety claims the deal is done, Deal Central must stress that it still hasn't received confirmation from Bacon's representatives or the studio that he has officially joined the cast.
Bacon and Lawrence join James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Alice Eve (Emma Frost), Nicholas Hoult (Beast) and Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee) in the film.
Original "X-Men" director Bryan Singer conceived the origin story, and Jane Goldman ("Kick-Ass") wrote the script, which follows Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr as young men discovering their powers for the first time.
Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg are producing "First Class," which is set to open June 3, 2011.
Lawrence next stars opposite Hollywood bad boy Mel Gibson in "The Beaver." She films the thriller "The House at the End of the Street" in Ottawa in August before heading overseas to London for "X-Men," which will be her first studio feature.
Bacon next appears in James Gunn's wanna-be superhero comedy "Super," as well as the Warner Bros. comedy "Crazy, Stupid Love," which stars Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling. He also plays the lead in Prachya Pinkaew's action movie "Elephant White" opposite Djimon Hounsou.
Lawrence is represented by CAA, while WME represents Bacon.
