Bryan Singer eyeballing young men to star in Jack the Giant Killer

See that buff, young man in his underwear to the right? Bryan Singer wants to do something with him. JACK THE GIANT KILLER is gearing up and Singer is meeting with a collection of Hollywood’s hottest young men about the possibility of starring in his film. Pictured is Aaron Johnson who has been rumored to be at the top of Singer’s to-do list since earlier this summer.

Also in contention are Nicholas Hoult, who Singer got to know during X-MEN: FIRST CLASS where Hoult is starring as Beast, and Aneurin Barnard. The trio are up for the role of the strapping, young farmer who, after a hot and sweaty day in the fields must confront a much bigger man and take him down (and something about a princess…).

Speaking of the princess, Adelaide Kane, Lily Collins and Juno Temple are up for the role but who cares about that. Let’s get back to Singer’s young men. Johnson looks to be the lead candidate, and has been for some time, but Singer is looking to put a hold on the lead actor for a good seven or eight months, an usually long commitment for a film.

Filming on JACK THE GIANT KILLER was expected to begin this summer (which theoretically precluded Singer from directing FIRST CLASS himself) but the lengthy pre-production process pushed it back to early 2011.