20th Century Fox has closed a deal with filmmaker Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) to co-write and direct a new stand alone X-Men spinoff entitled The New Mutants. The filmmaker will co-write the screenplay with Knate Gwaltney (Kidnap), with Simon Kinberg set to producing alongside Lauren Shuler Donner. Here's what Simon Kinberg had to say about Josh Boone coming on board in a statement.

"We're so excited to explore this new part of the X-Men universe, and so excited to do it with Josh, who is uniquely suited to tell this story about young characters."

This adventure will introduce a new crop of mutants, although it isn't exactly clear which ones will be used in this adaptation. First introduced in a 1982 Marvel graphic novel, The New Mutants received their own monthly comic book in 1983, with the team comprised of much younger mutants who all attended Professor Xavier's school. The original lineup consisted of Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Karma and Dani Moonstar, along with Professor X, but the team had an always-evolving roster that included other characters such as Warlock, Mirage, Karma, Magma and Cypher, so it's anybody's guess who this adaptation could include.

Don't expect to see The New Mutants on the big screen anytime soon, though. Josh Boone will next make The Vampire Chronicles for Universal Pictures, a reboot of Interview with the Vampire, and then he is moving on to The Stand, so it will likely be a few years before The New Mutants starts production. As for the current X-Men franchise, production is under way on X-Men: Apocalypse, which hits theaters next May, with Gambit (October 7, 2016) and Wolverine 3 (March 3, 2017) also in development.