Fans have been raving about ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ and how Bryan Singer has basically fixed everything that has gone wrong with the franchise since he vacated the director’s chair in favor of directing ‘Superman Returns’. While the fact that he was more heavily involved in this film was enough to get everyone excited, back in December he revealed that he would also be helming the follow up, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse.,’ However, his seat in the director’s chair may be in jeopardy thanks to the recent sexual abuse scandal that he’s tied up in right now.
In April of this year, Michael Egan III sued Bryan Singer and three others for alleged teen sexual abuse in 1997-1999 after someone else in Britain accused the director of the same thing. The filmmaker and his lawyers have recently motioned to dismiss the second case due to lack of jurisdiction since Egan claims that the incidents took place in Hawaii despite the fact that he also said that he’s never been outside of the continental United States. However, no matter which way the judge rules on either case, Radar Online says that 20th Century Fox is weary of keeping Singer attached to the next X-Men movie because of money. Their unnamed source says that the studio is afraid that Singer’s association with the project could affect the film’s public perception, so now they’re bringing up the idea of a potential replacement because of all the money that’s being put into the franchise:
“They don’t really care whether he’s innocent or guilty — they’re only concerned with the bottom line, which is giving him another $250 to $350 million to make ‘Apocalypse’. There have been talks about who else he’d let direct it, with him producing, but those led to heated arguments and walk outs. If ‘Days of Future Past’ does big, big business (not just opening weekend, but has ‘legs’), it’ll be easier for the studio to relax and let things happen…”
I’m no expert on box office figures, but ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ has grossed over $620 million worldwide so far and currently sits at the number one spot at the box office. To me, the movie looks like it is well on it’s way to be profitable for Fox. It’s pretty hard to argue that the X-Men franchise does better with him on board as opposed to when he’s not, so chances are that he’ll remain in the director’s position. Additionally, the source in the report is unnamed, which makes the validity of the comments questionable. At the end of the day, all we can do is watch how the court proceedings play out and wait for an official word from Fox.
Do you think Bryan Singer will be removed as the director of ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ because of the current sexual abuse allegations against him? Should he be? Sound off in the comments below.
