Bryan Singer’s #MeToo moment has been coming for more than 20 years now, with the X-Men: Apocalypse director continuing to book high-profile gigs 22 years after his first lawsuit, filed in 1997 by the parents of a 14-year-old extra who alleged that Singer filmed their son and other minors naked without their permission on the set of Apt Pupil. Since then, Singer’s been sued multiple times by several different men who all claim Singer sexually assaulted them, was the subject of an investigation by The Atlantic into his history of sexual misconduct, and was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody after reports he show up on set late or not at all—not the first time, incidentally, that Singer had reportedly displayed unprofessional behavior on set.
Regardless of all this, Millennium Films was apparently still incapable of finding literally anyone besides Bryan fucking Singer to direct the “female-empowered” comics adaptation Red Sonja. And, as if tapping an accused rapist to direct a movie whose lead character is a rape survivor wasn’t enough, they were willing to pay him $10 million for the privilege. None of that has changed, exactly; Millennium’s still sticking by Singer. In fact, rather than just fire his ass, they’re putting the entire project, which has already been in development for more than a decade, on hold.
As Deadline reports, the studio tells the trade publication in a statement that “the project is not on the slate at the moment, and is not for sale at the EFM in Berlin.” (“EFM” is the European Film Market, which is happening right now in Berlin and is one of the world’s top three industry events where studios seek funding for, and sell international distribution rights to, various upcoming projects.) No actors have been cast, and a planned shoot later this year in Bulgaria is not happening. Presumably, now that organizations like the BAFTAS, which disinvited Singer from its awards, and GLAAD, which removed Bohemian Rhapsody from its awards slate entirely, are taking action against Singer-led projects, Millennium’s planning on lying low for a while and re-launching the project when public attention has turned elsewhere.
Millennium president Avi Lerner is also currently, slowly walking back comments he made two weeks back about Singer. Two weeks ago, he said, “I know the difference between agenda driven fake news and reality, and I am very comfortable with this decision;” last week, he said that his original statement “came out the wrong way,” and that “I just don’t agree to judge by Twitter. I want [the accused] to be judged by the court.” Nevertheless, he still isn’t planning on firing Singer from Red Sonja. Guess that’ll have to come later, after he stops coming to work.