It Appears That A Bryan Singer Directed X-MEN Film Is Now A Thing Of The Past
Tension on the set of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has led to Fox firing Bryan Singer who in turn, packed up his Bad Hat Harry production company and moved them off the Fox lot.
As long as the X-Men remain at 20th Century Fox (and who knows how long that will last), it appears there's not going to be another Bryan Singer-directed take on the Marvel Comics' premiere superhero mutant team.
Singer failed to return to the set of the Rami Malek led Freddie Mercury biopic after the Thanksgiving Break, causing a halt in production. With his absence unexplained, reports surfaced that this behavior is actually a common occurrence, with Singer pulling similar disappearing acts while filming X-Men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns.
Singer issued a statement that Fox was not accommodating his need to deal with an urgent matter - which the X-Men: Days of Future Past helmer says were his requirements to care for a sick parent. However, the aforementioned similar instances of disappearing from sets are raising doubts around the web about the veracity of Singer's claims.
At the very least, Fox isn't buying what Singer's selling and they've fired him from Bohemian Rhapsody. Additional reports also state that Singer clashed often and loudly with Malek (with Singer throwing objects in one instance). In his statement, Singer acknowledged the "creative differences" he and Malek had but insists that they had put them behind them just before his firing.
Singer's Bad Hat Harry production company had a three-year, first-look deal with Fox and even had their offices located on the studio's lot. The deal had actually expired but was tentatively extended for Freddie Mercury pic. In the wake of Singer's firing, Bad Hat Harry is currently packing boxes and looking for new office space.
Deadline adds that Fox had been discretely taking meetings for a potential replacement for Singer well before his actual firing.
Singer directed the first two installments in the X-Men franchise, X-Men and X-2 but departed to direct Superman Returns. X-Men 3: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class were helmed by Brett Ratner and Matthew Vaughn respectively, before Singer returned to direct Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. Simon Kinberg is directing X-Men: Dark Phoenix but these latest developments make it almost a certainty that Singer will not be returning to direct another X-Men film after the X-Men's adventure in space.