Matthew Vaughn, the writer and director of X-Men: First Class, has revealed why he chose not direct its sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, despite helping to pen the screenplay.

As it turns out, the filmmaker chose instead to make another film, the upcoming spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service.

In speaking with IGN, the acclaimed director had this to say about his decision:

“It started in a pub with Mark (Millar), and we were drunk. We sort of were complaining about how spy movies had become really quite serious. We said, ‘Let’s do a fun (one).’ … Mark went off and wrote a version, and I read it. I was like, ‘F#@k, maybe we should do this for real.’ Then he went ahead, finished the comic off. Then I was working on Days of Future Past, and I’d finished the treatment. Then the script fell out of me — just one of those things. I remember Fox going, ‘What are you talking about?’ because the two scripts came in at the same time. I was like, ‘Aw, s@#t.’ It was a really tough decision whether to do Days of Future Past or do this. But then I was like, ‘F*&k, somebody else is going to wake up and do a fun spy movie. Then I will have written a bloody screenplay that no one will want to make.’ So I probably made the craziest decision of my life to turn down an $800 million gorilla to do Kingsman. But Kingsman’s more me anyway.”

Kingsman: The Secret Service is set to hit theaters in the UK on February 12, 2015, and on February 13 in the US. It stars Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson and Mark Strong. Newcomer Taron Egerton will be taking on the lead role, and the film will also introduce audiences to actress Sophie Cookson.

Watch the trailer for Kingsman below. Do you think Vaughn made the right decision?

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