Millennium Films Halts Red Sonja Following Bryan Singer Sex Abuse Allegations

Millennium Films was initially unwilling to shut down Bryan Singer’s Red Sonja movie after new allegations broke of his sexual abuse, but that’s changed. THR reports that the film, which Singer was to direct for a $10 million payday, has been placed on “indefinite hold.”

Singer, who has fought accusations of sexual abusing underage boys for years, was accused by multiple menin January of sexually abusing them when they were underage. Singer called the report a “piece of vendetta journalism” and denied the claims. Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner initially issued a response calling the claims “agenda-driven fake news,” but later claimed that the statement was written by a PR rep and he made the mistake of approving it without reading it. He said, “I don’t want to apologize. I just want to clarify [the statement] I think victims should be heard and this allegation should be taken very, very seriously…I just don’t agree to judge by the Twitter. I want [the accused] to be judged by the court.”

Singer has not been removed as director, but the film isn’t on the company’s schedule anymore and isn’t being shopped at the 2019 European Film Market as was expected. The $10 million price tag was eyebrow-raising even when initially reported in October, as Singer had been coming off of his being fired from the final stages of directing Bohemian Rhapsody. He was also dealing with a separate accusation of sexual assault at the time.