Director Spotlight: Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer has been directing movies since 1988 and has not looked back since. He started out with a movie called "Lion's Den" starring Ethan Hawke and co-directed by John Ottman. It didn't get much notice, but it was a start. He followed it up with "Public Access" in 1993.

It wasn't until 1995 that Mr. Singer had his big breakthrough with "The Usual Suspects". It was a critical and commercial success and went on to win two Academy Awards. One for Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey. The other for Best Original Screenplay.

He then went on to make Apt Pupil in 1998, based on the novel by Stephen King. He used Ian McKellen as the neighbor to a teenage boy who suspects him of being a Nazi war criminal. The two would go on to collaborate on further films in the near future.

It would only be two years later, in 2000, when X-Men was released. It became one of the highest grossing films of the year. It also changed the way super hero movies were made. They were no longer goofy send ups of the mostly serious comic books they were based on. Mr. Singer made them believable despite their extraordinary powers. The film also introduced everyone to Hugh Jackman, starring as Wolverine, who became the breakout star of the film.

The success of X-Men led to the immediate production of X-Men 2; also known as X2. This film quickly out-performed the first movie at the box office and is widely regarded as the best super hero film made to date. It brought together all of the original players and introduced a few new mutants. The most exciting scene, by far, was the opening in which Night Crawler breached the security at the White House and attempted to assassinate the President. This movie had great action, excellent acting, a terrific story and set up a third film perfectly.

With the anticipation of the third X-Men film at a fever pitch, Mr. Singer decided to jump ship and direct the new Superman movie, "Superman Returns", instead. The genius of this movie was that Mr. Singer decided to "forget" about Superman 3 and 4. He deemed them to be unworthy of the Superman legacy, thus he started where Superman 2 left off. While many consider "Superman Returns" to be a failure, some maintain that it was an excellent film. If you watch it expecting to see an all out action super hero movie, then you will be disappointed. It was more than that. It was about the struggle of a man out of place, trying to find where he belongs. He has conceded, though, to make the next installment more action and less romance.

His next film will be "Valkyrie", also known as "Rubicon", starring Tom Cruise. It is based on actual events about a plot to assassinate Hitler by soldiers in the German Army. It is already riddled with scandal due to Tom Cruise's religious affiliation with Scientology. The German government is refusing to give them access to some of the key sites needed to film because they have labeled Scientology a cult. This may cause delays, but the end result will most likely be one of the best films of 2008.

Also on track for 2009 are "You Want Me to Kill Him?", "The Mayor of Castro Street" and "Superman: Man of Steel". Looks like Mr. Singer will be extremely busy for the next few years.

In addition to his directing credits, Mr. Singer has written numerous films, directed some television and produced both t.v. and film. He is one of the most prolific directors of our time and has only begun to scratch the surface of his creativity. We should all be excited about what his future holds.

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Click here for a more detailed history of Bryan Singer's film career: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001741/