It has now officially been 20 years since the original "X-Men" movie was released. That thought might be breath-taking to some, but it's true nonetheless. The movie was a major commercial and critical success. It essentially launched the comic book movie genre as a dominant force in the 21st Century, making it arguably one of the most influential Movies ever made.
With time, stories surrounding the film have emerged. Many highly disturbing accusations have been leveled at director Bryan Singer. Including rape and child molestation. There had been rumblings of tension between the cast and Singer for some time.
According to new reports, it got worse. Very bad.
The Singer was hired for 'X-Men' during the mid-1990s
When work began on "X-Men" during the 1990s, Bryan Singer was a recent success story. He'd accumulated a string of highly-praised projects as a director. There didn't seem to be a reason to doubt his professionalism at the time. But his behavior while directing "X-Men" would prove to be alarming. The Singer allegedly participated in drug use and all-night parties, which may have played a role in his reported volatile behavior on-set as well as account absences that caused time and money-consuming delays.
A young associated producer named Kevin Feige was tasked with trying to keep Singer in line.
Probably not the most glamorous of jobs, but Feige has since gone on to mastermind the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the willingness of 'higher-ups' to excuse Singer's bad behavior may well have had consequences. Something that at least two of them apparently acknowledged to The Hollywood Reporter.
Producer Lauren Shuler Donner indicated that 'turning a blind eye' probably did 'enable' Singer.
An executive who remained anonymous went further. 'His behavior was poor in the movie. We accommodated him on the first movie, and therefore we can accommodate him in the second movie. And on and on. And it created a monster.'
Reached a boiling point during "X2: X-Men United"
Things reportedly got dangerous on the set of the original movie's first sequel, "X2: X-Men United".
As the story goes, Singer and other crewmembers showed up on-set one day inebriated by drugs. Singer decided to drastically change the shooting schedule. Despite the typical safety personnel being absent, Singer wanted to push forward with a stunt scene. Producer Tom DeSanto angrily confronted Singer, but the scene went ahead anyway. But as DeSanto was worried about, incorrect personnel and intoxicated workers didn't mix well. Something went very wrong with the stunt, leaving actor Hugh Jackman injured.
20th Century Fox seemed to focus their anger on DeSanto, rather than Singer. Going so far as to try to fire the former. When the news broke, the cast was ready to revolt. Almost the entirety on the principal cast showed up at Singer's trailer clad in costume with a unified message.
If DeSanto was fired, they were all quitting. The only two main cast members absent were Ian McKellen and Rebecca Romijn. McKellen was apparently off-set that day. Romijn seemed to still be in the midst of the extensive make-up process for her character. The cast members' efforts were a success.
Yahoo indicates that Singer's team denies these events happened. But it did change people off-guard when it was announced that he wouldn't be returning for the third installment. Instead, "X-Men: The Last Stand" was helmed by Brett Ratner, who has since also been accused of serious wrongdoings. Neither "The Last Stand" nor the next movie reached the same success as the previous two. Singer would return to the franchise.
It's uncertain how much is little of it could be credited to him, but the franchise did return to its former luster—even surpassing it in some cases.
However, an increasing amount of stories began to emerge about Singer's personal behavior. Before, during, and after his work on "X-Men." Including accusations of sickening things done to potential cast members hoping to get an audition. It was leading to the franchise once again severing ties with him.
