Is Bryan Singer Done in Hollywood?

Bryan Singer’s slow descent in Hollywood continues. Jill Soloway will write and direct Red Sonja, replacing Singer, who’s in the midst of accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against him.

Avi Lerner’s Millennium confirmed that shooting on the project had been delayed and many took this to mean they were looking to replace Singer, after allegations that Singer groped and had inappropriate sexual relationships with four young men came out. Lerner had originally defended Singer but looks to have changed his tune. Singer has denied the allegations.

With no major projects on the horizon, are we seeing the downfall of Singer in Hollywood?

Besides the allegations, Singer’s professionalism has been called into doubt. At the end of 2017 Fox fired Singer as director of Bohemian Rhapsody, three days after his repeated absences from the set had forced the studio to halt production.

“Bryan Singer is no longer the director of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’” the studio said, with no elaboration.

Outside that, Singer has managed to avoid a number of hurdles when it has come to allegations but it seems his past is catching up with him.

A quick rundown shows:

Back in 1997, a 14-year-old extra accused Singer of asking him and other minors to perform in a shower scene in the nude for the movie Apt Pupil. Two other boys supported his claim. A lawsuit was filed but dismissed for insufficient evidence.

Fast forward to April 2014 and Singer was accused in a civil lawsuit of sexual assault of a minor. The suit filed by attorney Jeff Herman alleges that Singer drugged and raped actor and model Michael Egan in Hawaii after meeting him at parties hosted by convicted sex offender Marc Collins-Rector in the late 1990s.

In August 2014, Egan sought to withdraw his lawsuit via a Request for Court Order of Dismissal, and asked that it be granted “without prejudice or an award of costs or fees, in the interest of justice.”

Also in 2014, another lawsuit was filed by Herman on behalf of an anonymous British man. Both Singer and producer Gary Goddard were accused of sexually assaulting “John Doe No. 117.” According to the lawsuit, Goddard and Singer met the man for sex when he was a minor and engaged in acts of “gender violence” against him while in London for the premiere of Superman Returns. The charge against Singer in this case was dismissed, at the accuser’s plea, in July 2014.

Jump to December 2017 and Cesar Sanchez-Guzman filed a lawsuit against Singer, alleging that he had been raped at age 17 by the director in 2003.

It was in June of 2019 that Sanchez-Gorman’s bankruptcy trustee Nancy James recommended that a $150,000 settlement be approved, saying that the absence of evidence that Singer attended the yacht party where the alleged assault took place. Singer’s attorney said that the “decision to resolve the matter with the bankruptcy trustee was purely a business one”.

This brings us to January of this year. Alex French and Maximillian Potter published an investigative report in The Atlantic where four more men alleged that Singer sexually assaulted them when they were underage.

Lest we forget, author Bret Easton Ellis alleged that two of his former partners had attended underage sex parties hosted by Singer and fellow director Roland Emmerich.

What do we do with someone who draws so many allegations? Do we take the “where there is smoke, there’s fire” route?

Hollywood looks to be moving away from Singer, while it’s still trying to find a way to excuse its continuing relationship with Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, and others.

What do you think of Bryan Singer’s future in movies?