X-Men: Apocalypse has been met with a pretty mixed response from fans and critics alike, and didn’t perform anywhere near as well as its predecessor during the Memorial Day weekend. As a result, you can imagine that 20th Century Fox will now rethink their approach to the franchise, and it doesn’t seem as if Bryan Singer will be part of their plan going forward.
We already know that the filmmaker will next direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (making it impossible for the studio to have another X-Men movie ready for release with him at the helm in two years from now), but talking to The LA Times to promote X-Men: Apocalypse, Singer confirmed that he’s definitely taking a break from the franchise.
“I recently met Danny Boyle — he and I have known of each other for many years but never met. He was prepping Steve Jobs at the time and I was doing this and he said, “Are you going to be doing ‘X-Men’ movies forever?” And I didn’t actually say no. The reality is, even though I’m very desperate to jump to something completely different, I’ve spent so many years in this universe and I love this cast and the characters so much, I just don’t see myself abandoning them forever. Perhaps as a consultant, as a producer, even as a director, I could see myself returning in the future. Just right now, once this one is done, I’d like to do something really different.”
So, while it doesn’t sound as if the director will completely remove himself from the picture, it seems like we can count him out when it comes to directing whatever follows X-Men: Apocalypse, regardless of when it reaches the big screen. Honestly, that may not be the worst thing in the world either, especially as the franchise could do with some fresh blood at this stage.
Regardless, it certainly won’t hurt for Fox to have Singer involved at least in a producing capacity, but just how much they’ll shake things up – if at all – after X-Men: Apocalypse remains to be seen.
