Sophie Turner Says a New ‘X-Men’ Movie Is Filming This Year

Rumors about the next chapter in the X-Men franchise have intensified in recent weeks, with reports suggesting that the sequel — allegedly titled Supernova — will take another crack at the Dark Phoenix saga, focusing on Sophie Turner’s young Jean Grey. Although Fox has yet to confirm the rumors, Turner herself claims that a new X-Men sequel is indeed filming this year, which means it may be coming a little sooner than you think.

During an interview with HeyUGuys, Turner was asked about her upcoming filming schedule, which includes the final seasons of Game of Thrones and, apparently, a new X-Men movie:

We’re about to start shooting the next X-Men, we’ve just finished shooting Season 7 of [Game of] Thrones, and I’ve got a couple of movies to do before X-Men starts. And then we go on to Season 8.

Unless Turner’s Jean Grey is making an appearance in New Mutants (which reportedly features her X-Men co-stars James McAvoy and Alexandra Shipp), then it seems like another X-Men sequel is definitely on the docket — and it may very well be the Dark Phoenix story, which has been heavily rumored since Apocalypse hit theaters last summer.

The Jean-centric story, which was previously attempted and poorly executed in X-Men: The Last Stand, has also been hinted by producer / writer Simon Kinberg and director Bryan Singer — the pair have suggested that the next sequel would go somewhere the franchise has never gone before: Space. (For those unfamiliar with the comic-books, Jean Grey’s Dark Phoenix power originates from a deadly solar flare during an intergalactic mission.)

Kinberg has also said the next X-Men sequel will follow the pattern of recent films and skip ahead another decade to the ’90s. But with Bryan Singer taking a break from the franchise to helm 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (which might be for the best), who is directing the new X-Men movie? If the sequel really is filming this year, it shouldn’t be much longer before we find out.