Bryan Singer hasn’t directed a movie since 2017, when 20th Century Fox fired him from Bohemian Rhapsody mid-shoot. At the time, reports of erratic on-set behavior collided with allegations of sexual misconduct, and Hollywood essentially cut ties with the filmmaker. Now, after eight years in exile, Singer is quietly attempting a comeback, and he’s chosen a project that’s already being described as both awards-worthy and wildly controversial.
According to Variety, Singer shot a secret film in Greece in 2023 starring none other than Oscar winner Jon Voight. The indie feature, made for under $10 million, is a father-son drama set against Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in the late ’70s or early ’80s. One source who’s seen the final cut called it “a really well-made film with awards-season potential” but warned that “it’s going to be a huge hotbed of controversy.” Another insider added that the film “makes Israel look really bad and could be polarizing.”
If you’ve followed Singer’s career, you’ll know this is a long way from X-Men and Superman Returns. In fact, it almost feels like he’s trying to go back to his indie roots with The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. Singer has been living in Israel for the last five years, working without an agent after WME dropped him, and pitching projects directly to investors. This new film, directed under the radar with Israeli filmmaker Yariv Horowitz attached, appears to be his biggest effort since his Hollywood downfall.
The big question is will anyone in the U.S. actually distribute it? On paper, it sounds like Oscar bait. In reality, Singer’s name alone could scare off most distributors. Studios once made billions off his films, which includes four X-Men entries, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, and Bohemian Rhapsody, which went on to earn $910 million worldwide despite the behind-the-scenes drama. But the Atlantic’s 2019 exposé detailing sexual misconduct allegations involving minors, which Singer has categorically denied, calling the claims “outrageous, vicious, and completely false”, left his career in ruins.
His last real attempt at a comeback was Red Sonja in 2019, an $80 million remake that Millennium Films briefly championed before dropping him when no distributor wanted to touch it. That collapse seemed like the final nail in the coffin. And yet here we are, with Singer resurfacing through a low-budget period drama starring an actor who’s not exactly controversy-free himself.
It’s hard to separate the art from the artist these days. We’ve had to ask the same question with R. Kelly, Diddy, Woody Allen, Brett Ratner, and Victor Salva. Singer is betting that audiences, or at least some festival juries, are ready to reconsider him. Whether that’s realistic is another story.
The real wild card is distribution. Sources suggest a domestic deal is “imminent,” but international sales could be trickier. If the movie does surface at a major festival like Toronto, expect headlines that are less about the film and more about whether Bryan Singer deserves a second act.
