Brett Ratner, who spent over a year working on the new Superman film that Bryan Singer ended up leaving X3 to direct, will now take over the reins for the third film in the popular X-Men franchise.  Ratner, who is best known for helming the two Rush Hour films and Red Dragon, is, according to Variety, a 'comic book enthusiast,' who was interested in directing the first X-Men film, though he lost out on that project to Singer.  With the departure of British director Matthew Vaughn from X3 due to family considerations (see 'X3 Loses Director'), the way was open for Ratner to assume control.  With the script completed, the film largely cast and the budget locked, Fox believes that Ratner will be able to start filming in August and make X3's projected Memorial Day weekend 2006 opening date.