Another day, another scorned man getting a second chance in Hollywood. Bryan Singer, best known as the man behind the X-Men film franchise, has returned from self-imposed exile and is in talks to direct a big screen adaptation of the comic book Red Sonja. This will be the first gig for Singer since he was fired from directing the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in December.
According to reports, Singer butted heads with the film’s star Rami Malek, which culminated in the director throwing an object on-set. Singer then stopped showing up for work, claiming that a family member was gravely ill. 20th Century Fox subsequently fired Singer from the film, but Singer still retained his directing credit.
Many attributed Singer’s erratic behavior to fears that he would be the next media giant to fall under the #MeToo Movement. He has been repeatedly linked to sexual assault and misconduct allegations with young boys. In December, Singer was sued by Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, who claimed that the director raped him when he was 17 years old in 2003. Following the accusations, Singer was dropped by his agency WME and his name was removed from the Division of Cinema & Media Studies program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Rumors of Singer’s misconduct have been around since 1997, when the director came under fire for filming underage boys naked in a shower scene for Apt Pupil. The boys filed a lawsuit which was later dismissed for insufficient evidence. Singer was also sued in 2014, when actor Michael Egan III accused the director of drugging and raping him. Egan appeared in the documentary An Open Secret, about the sexual abuse of former child actors by Hollywood power players. The actor eventually withdrew his claims, and was later arrested for investment fraud in an unrelated case. Two more men came forward accusing Singer of assault, but the charges were dismissed.
Yet despite the repeated claims against Singer, people still want to hire him to direct their big budget movies. It’s wild that studios would willingly risk millions of dollars on such a high-risk individual, especially in light of the #MeToo Movement. Are there really no better qualified candidates to make this movie? Like, I don’t know, literally anyone else?
When the news broke, people quickly took to social media to question Singer’s alleged comeback.
Bryan Singer repeatedly disappears from film sets during shooting and has a series of scandalous stories plaguing his entire reputation, but surely there aren’t any great female filmmakers who could’ve directed RED SONJA so I guess it makes sense that he would get the gig
— Scott Wampler™ (@ScottWamplerBMD) September 17, 2018
May we all fail up in life like Bryan Singer and others. Can you imagine a woman or POC getting such a high profile gig after doing what he did? (Oh, and throw in all the salacious allegations over the years…) https://t.co/JbaZxVQ44V
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) September 17, 2018
the inclusion of the phrase “none of which seems to have stuck” makes this feel like some pretty sinister water-carrying; THR aside, Singer’s a scumbag that no one should hire. if this is a trial balloon let’s pop it hard https://t.co/YRQhHLEw2T
— Owen Ellickson (@onlxn) September 17, 2018
People who complain the #MeToo movement is ruining lives: In the last 24 hours, Bryan Singer has a new job, Woody Allen got a puff piece in a big magazine, and Sean Penn is spouting his word soup on the movement.
— Jenelle Riley (@jenelleriley) September 17, 2018
I’m exhausted and it’s only Monday.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
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