Bryan Singer May Return With Another 'X-Men'

BUSAN, South Korea — Bryan Singer said Sunday he's interested in making another "X-Men" movie and has discussed the possibility with Twentieth Century Fox.

The American director made "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United," but passed on the third installment so he could make "Superman Returns." "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner ended up shooting that film, "X-Men: The Last Stand." South African filmmaker Gavin Hood made another spin-off, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which was released earlier this year.

"I'm still looking to possibly returning to the 'X-Men' franchise. I've been talking to Fox about it," Singer said at a talk at South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival.

"I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast," he said, referring to the Australian actor who plays Wolverine.

Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss serious issues through entertainment. He said the "X-Men" series, which follows a group of mutants with superpowers who struggle to fit in with humans, is about tolerance and social structures.

He said he likes to "trick audiences into thinking they're seeing fireworks, but they're learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say."

"The excitement about working in science fiction and fantasy is – the stories, if they are good, are about the human condition," Singer said.

Appearing at a panel discussion with South Korean director Kim Ji-woon, the American director also said he appreciated the creative freedom South Korean filmmakers enjoyed to make the final cut, compared to Hollywood, where directors must negotiate with studio executives.

Hollywood movie budgets are so high that "the risk is too great to leave it in the hands of a filmmaker," he said, adding that he "has a responsibility to help studios feel secure in their investments."

Singer made his name with the 1995 critically acclaimed thriller "The Usual Suspects" but later earned a strong following among comic books fans for his adaptations of popular comic book series.

Comments

[soundping]

Do it for the money!

[Ventoi]

Emma Frost will need turtlenecks and leggings...

Mommy

[CanUFeel2012]

THE ONLY WAY WE WILL GET A PERFECT X-MEN, SPIDERMAN, ECT. MOVIE IS IF THE CREATERS OF THESE CHARACTERS AND STORIES, OR BOOK GEEKS MAKE THEM...

NUFF SAID...

[stagebandman]

X-Men 4: The Apology

[Twitter sarcasms]

So it turns out that leaving X-Men to destroy the Superman franchise was a strategic act of corporate sabotage.

[jabreal00]

The first two X-men movies were pretty good. I didn't bother to see the third. I got suckered into seeing the Wolverine movie, which was awful.

[theoneA7]

One problem with Superman Returns is that Singer based it on the movie from '78. The characters changed alot since then and it seemed like Singer didn't care, he just wanted to make a movie based off the 78 movie and not the character of Superman.

And about the X-Men movies that Singer did-- although I liked them, the characters seemed really powered down(ie Storm). At least in X3 Storm could fly and Iceman had his ice form.

[GabrielXL]

If there is another, please let him make it, because "X-Men: The Last Stand" sucked ass through a straw. I don't know what the director was thinking, but he got the story all wrong. Bass-ackwards.

[MarsAmbassador]

I used to think Brian Singer ruined the X-Men...until I saw X-Men 3 by that other guy. And Wolverine, which was also horrible. Sure Brian Singer didn't even come CLOSE to nailing the X-Men dynamics from the comics (Cyclops, hello!), but his movies were 100 times better than the crap that followed.

[robiform]

Joining the chorus here--Bryan Singer, PLEASE return to the "X-Men" movies! And you can start with the next Wolverine movie, especially since you've expressed your affection (ahem!) for Hugh Jackman!

[kevinflynn56]

"trick audiences into thinking they're seeing fireworks, but they're learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say."

What was the plot of SR anyway? Superman, without telling a soul, runs away for 5 years to visit his exploded, dead planet and then he returns to stalk and then steal his ex-girlfriend back from the guy who had actually been there, taking care of her and Superman's kid for 5 years...

Oh yeah, and he fought a big rock too!

I guess I was tricked into learned that Superman is a creep.

Thanks Bryan!

[deckard70]

Singer is the best at subtext, and Superman Returns was about the unavoidable, unintentional confronting of one's own mortality from the inevitable death of one's parents, and then it was about the *intentional* confronting of one's mortality when one decides to risk one's life for one's child. It explored both sides of our mortality, our responses to it -- depression when one's parents dies, and the ironic renewed sense of life that comes from making an active decision to live for the betterment of those who will remain after us.

Singer is a master and I am very pleased he wants to return X-Men to the status it had before Ratner sunk it.

My other hope is that Singer can persuade Ellen Page to return as Kitty Pride, since she was the only good part of X-3, and she is a fantastic actress, and, Kitty Pride can sort of fill the general part of the storyline that Anna Paquin's character had served in the first two films -- that of a young adult becoming an adult.

[lifescientist]

I have only seen X3 once. Never again--there was gratuitous use of characters, too many loss-of-power incidents that resulted in loss-of-characters and resulted in diluted drama.

I used to collect the X-men/Wolverine comic books, and although X1 and X2 movies were not entirely faithful to the books, I appreciated the new vision. I hope Bryan Singer comes back and does the real third installment some justice. Although, you have to wonder...who is left on the team (emphasis on team)?

Now, as SpaceboySD mentioned...if we can pretend X3 never happened...

[KaylaL]

He better come back. The first x-men movies started the whole comicbook movie remake trend we've seen since summer of 2000 when the first x-men came out. X-Men has gone downhill since X2.

[the964kid]

The X-Men franchise wouldn't even exist without the great first 2 installments from Bryan Singer. Singer was an actual fan of the comic who understood how to bring a lot of characters together, have a real plot and have it still make sense (unlike most comic-book based movies). This is amazing news if it can happen. I have no faith in Twentieth Century Fox to actually make this happen, they never should've made X3 without Singer. At some point Disney, which now owns Marvel, will get the rights back to these X-Men movies and at that point there will be no chance of making a decent X-Men movie.

[SpaceboySD]

Is there any way we could pretend that X-Men 3 never happened and he could just remake that? Please?