The last month should have been one of triumph for Bryan Singer as he celebrated X-Men: Days Of Future Past grossing over $600 million around the world. However he was forced to pull out of all publicity for the film after a lawsuit was filed accusing him of sex abuse and the rape of an underage man in the late 90s.
However while he’s been keeping a low profile he has still been attached to helm the next X-Men movie, Apocalypse. However it now appears his job is in jeopardy, with 20th Century Fox executives apparently worried about the future effects of the lawsuit.
Radar reports that there are massive worries the suit will heavily impact the production. They’re apparently less concerned about whether the accusations are true or not (Singer has shown them his evidence that the allegations are untrue), and more about that if he ends up in court it could cause him to lose focus or cause delays, and as the budget could well be north of $200 million, that’s making them incredibly nervous.
Things have progressed to the point where ‘There have been talks about who else he’d let direct it, with him producing, but those led to heated arguments and walk outs.’
The other option is apparently to push back the production in case Singer does have to spend time in court, and if Days Of Future Past continues to do big business, that may become more likely. The director has also filed to have the entire lawsuit dismissed, which is due to be heard on July 28th. If that is successful it may give Fox more confidence in him.
That said, recent developments suggest that even if he gets the suit dismissed in Hawaii, it may not be the end of his legal woes. Last week his accuser, Michael Egan, voluntarily dropped another sex abuse suit against former Disney TV president David Neuman.
However he has now filed a new one in California against an anonymous defendant who is described only as the formed President Of DEN (an early internet video company largely run by three people Egan previously sued for sex abuse in the early 2000s). As Neuman was at one point President Of DEN, it’s presumed he is the target of this new suit, especially as it includes reasoning as to why a declaration Egan made under oath in the earlier suit that Neuman had never behaved inappropriately towards him should be ignores.
It’s possible Egan and his lawyer are trying to lay the groundwork which would mean if the Hawaii lawsuits are unsuccessful (which is looking increasingly likely), they could try again in California. The new lawsuit also attempts to get around the fact in ordinary circumstances the statue of limitations has passed for the types of accusations Egan is making, and if he is successful in getting a judge to agree to that with the ‘anonymous’ defendant, it would make it easier to sue Singer in California. And if that happens, it could indeed cause problems with the X-Men: Apocalypse production schedule.
FROM THE RADAR ARTICLE-
“If Days of Future Past does big, big business (not just opening weekend, but has ‘legs’), it’ll be easier for the studio to relax and let things happen, but for right now their number one concern is another lawsuit popping up in the next 10 days leading to the film’s release.”
For those in the cheap seats-
X-MEN FUTURE-PAST ALREADY MADE $610m+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is an old story dredged to bait-click people to their rancid,toilet-stain of a gossip website. Besides, the accuser dropped his case against one of the defendants when it was proven both parties were never in Hawaii. His credibility is undermined and his case is over. This will never go to trial. So the issue of interfering with production is moot. Pointless story from a pointless gossip rag.