The renaissance of successful, and overall good, comic book movies is in no small part thanks to Bryan Singer. He brought us the first two films in the X-Men franchise, and in doing so he proved to audiences and studios that comics were a viable source for material. After a brief hiatus, Singer returned to that franchise to bring us X-Men: Days of Future Past and the soon to be released Apocalypse. It looks like the latter film may be his final bow for the X-Men series, however, as Singer has just jumped on board a new franchise which has the potential to keep him busy for quite some time.
According to Deadline, Bryan Singer has been signed on to direct a new adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This project is being described as a "new franchise" so it’s looking like, if successful, this film could lead to several others. Judging by Singer’s excitement to be involved with it, it certainly appears the director will on board for the long haul if he has that option.
I’m incredibly excited to be working with my friends at Fox, with whom I’ve had such a long and fruitful relationship. Ever since I was a boy and first discovered the 1870 Jules Verne novel, I have dreamt of retelling this classic story. Without revealing too much, it contains not only the original characters of Captain Nemo, Ned Land and Professor Aronnax, but also some new and original characters and Sci Fi plot twists culminating in a timeless adventure for all ages.
As the size and scale of this project sound to be on par with any X-Men film, it certainly looks like this project will be taking Singer’s attention for the next couple of years. Fox’s current plans for the X-Men franchise do not include any entries in the main series, instead focusing on individual characters like Gambit and Wolverine. You still have to assume that the studio will want to put out a film with the X-Men name again sooner rather than later, though. X-Men: Apocalypse is meant to be the end of the current trilogy of films that began with First Class, so this is as good a time to exit as any. But it also puts the series in limbo. If Singer had been at the helm for future movies, there would have been some level of confidence from fans. Now the next film is set to be entirely new. In addition, to losing Singer behind the camera, we also know we won’t see Hugh Jackman in front of it. Whatever we see from the X-Men next is guaranteed to be new.
Is it time for Bryan Singer to leave he X-Men films, or would you rather he hung around to ensure that the series continued on in a strong direction? The last time he left, we did get X-Men: The Last Stand after all. Please Bryan. Reconsider!
You can check out some of the more exciting superhero trailers in the video below.
