It looks like Bryan Singer will no longer be directing a rebooted version of Red Sonja.
The news of the controversial filmmaker finally being dropped from the upcoming (but delayed) Red Sonja project was first reported in a piece from the The Hollywood Reporter that chronicles a separate sexual misconduct scandal involving Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara and an actress named Charlotte Kirk.
"After Singer was accused in an Atlantic magazine article of sexually assaulting underaged boys, Lerner dismissed the story as 'agenda-driven fake news,' then walked the statement back. Eventually, he dropped Singer from the project because he was unable to secure a domestic distributor," THR reports, detailing how film producer and CEO of Millennium Films (Red Sonja's production company) Avi Lerner finally had to dismiss Singer from directing duties.
Although development and production on Red Sonja has been halted for now, Lerner (who has a questionable past regarding sexual harassment claims himself) previously defended the decision to hire Singer as the director of the film insisting it would be made with him as planned.
"I continue to be in development for Red Sonja and Bryan Singer continues to be attached. The over $800 million Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed, making it the highest grossing drama in film history, is a testament to [Singer’s] remarkable vision and acumen," Lerner said. "I know the difference between agenda driven fake news and reality, and I am very comfortable with this decision. In America people are innocent until proven otherwise."
Singer being dropped from Red Sonja comes on the heels an exposé in The Atlantic from earlier this year detailing multiple accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against the X-Men and Bohemian Rhapsody director, including statutory rape.
