Last week everyone was all abuzz about an LA Times interview with Bryan Singer. The director and “X-Men” series producer Lauren Shuler Donner not only spoke about Singer’s return to the series for “X-Men: First Class” — a high school like version of the original X-Men starring the original five characters: Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Jean Grey and Angel — but there was also discussions about a possible fourth “X-Men” movie (and speculation/wishful thinking that the filmmaker could even direct “Wolverine 2”).
But perhaps even the most basic aspects of this project are premature? Singer has already attached himself to several projects in the last nine months including the kids film, “Jack The Giant Killer,” an “Excalibur” remake, — and no, Guy Ritchie‘s similar project is apparently a separate one — and a big screen adaptation of “Battlestar Gallactica.”
And apparently, Singer’s obligations lie with “Jack The Giant Killer” first. According to a HitFlix report. 20th Century Fox are “actively searching for directors to step in and helm the film, with discussions with at least two other filmmakers as recently as last week.” Apparently the names are big, fanboys would love them, but Hitflix is not revealing who they are yet.
Evidently, Fox, now flush with cash from “Avatar,” is eager to proceed with “X-Men: First Class” and doesn’t necessarily want to wait a few years for Singer to finish with his Warner Bros./’Giant Killer’ duties. Singer is apparently already in pre-production on that project and has even started location scouting. For him to drop out now almost seems impossible (and could have legal ramifications). The earliest he will be available is 2012 according to the HitFlix report, which is certainly not what Fox wants to hear.
And if 2012 is correct as his only free time, that leaves “Wolverine 2” and “X-Men: First Class” squarely off his docket as well. However, the fact that Singer came back into the “X-Men” fold at all was big news as his exit from the series was acrimonious at the time. Could this all be paving the way for an eventual “X-Men 4” film?
Hitflix also speculates that Singer could act as an executive producer on the “Wolverine” sequel and “First Class” if he indeed is too wrapped up with “Jack The Giant Killer,” which is not an unreasonable posit.
However, this is a pretty interesting situation and one that could potentially get tricky or worse. Singer already bailed on “X-Men” once because Fox treated him like garbage and hardballed with his negotiations (he jumped to “Superman” instead when “X-Men: The Last Stand” negotiations ran far too long). Now they’re threatening to take away “First Class” from him too? Unless the director is understanding that his schedule doesn’t jive with Fox’s timetable, it’s possible this could get ugly and Singer’s mutant return could be short lived. Hopefully more news surfaces soon, but if Singer reads on the Internet that Fox is talking to other director’s behind his back, the filmmaker is likely going to be angered. Fox will probably be yielding phone calls this afternoon.