Deadline is reporting that Bryan Singer will direct the pilot for Fox’s upcoming X-Men TV show, which just got the go ahead yesterday. Created by Burn Notice‘s Matt Nix, Singer was already attached as an executive producer on the project and was expected to step behind the camera for the first episode as well. Now, it’s official though and given his strong ties to the franchise, he’s certainly a solid pick for the job.
Though we don’t know too much about the upcoming series just yet, it’s said to be a family drama that follows “two ordinary parents who discover that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.” None of the roles have been cast at this point, but with a director now attached to helm the pilot, it’s said that the studio has begun their search for actors to lead the show.
While Singer was responsible for last year’s wholly mediocre X-Men: Apocalypse, he’s also delivered some of the franchise’s best films and given that he’s the one who really started it all with the original X-Men back in 2000, it makes sense that Fox would want him involved with their new television project. Especially since they need a hit right now after the aforementioned Apocalypse failed to impress.
Speaking of the films, this new show is said to have closer ties to them than Legion, which is premiering next month on FX. That series is apparently more of its own thing, while this family drama will still be connected to the X-Men mythos even though it probably won’t feature characters like Magneto and Professor X.
“If you like that world, if you like the world of the movies, there are definite nods to it. It definitely exists in the same general kind of universe,” Nix told IGN.
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