Finally, Some Good News: Bryan Singer Fired From ‘Red Sonja’ Remake

The world can be a pretty rough place, with justice hard to find. So it brings me some joy to report that at least one more supremely crappy dude in Hollywood is losing work because of his actions.

Buried in a THR piece about actress Charlotte Kirk and - initially - Warner Bros chairman Kevin Tsujihara is this nugget of information: alleged sexual predator Bryan Singer is no longer directing the Red Sonja remake. 

Here’s the news. The “Lerner” referred to is Millennium CEO Avi Lerner, who seems like a real peach.

Lerner made news recently when he hired Bryan Singer to direct a reboot of Red Sonja. After Singer was accused in an Atlantic article of sexually assaulting underage 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.

In the end it was business that made Lerner change his mind on Singer, not decency. I want to say I’m disappointed but you can’t be disappointed if you aren’t surprised. Think I’m being too hard on Lerner? Here’s the statement he made after several more allegations came out about Singer, following the resounding success of Bohemian Rhapsody:

The over $800 million Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed, making it the highest grossing drama in film history, is testament to his remarkable vision and acumen. 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.

Charming. 

Well, the good news here is that Singer is out from Red Sonja. Honestly, the remake might not ever get made, it’s been floating around Hollywood for ages. But the bigger point is Singer: it is now less and less likely that his career will survive this rash of allegations. Thank God because it seemed like Hollywood was going to let this one slide despite the heinous acts he’s been accused of. The success of Bohemian Rhapsody muddied the case against Singer for some reason. While some stars spoke out against him, many in Hollywood kept quiet as they celebrated the film at the Oscars. Hey, guys? You can still respect a film and its performers and creators while simultaneously saying one of the main forces behind the movie is a sack of shit. It’s not hard to do! But it seems that Oscar Fever caused all of that to fall by the wayside.  

Despite the positive news about Singer in that THR piece (which you should read) there is much to be dismayed about. There are many examples in the article of top Hollywood brass using the industry as a boys club to pick up girls and do despicable and unethical things. Despite all the talk and all the changes and court cases we have seen, some in the movie industry just will not evolve. The hope is that as more and more big names like Singer fall, lesser-known men like Lerner, Tsujihara and others will clean up their acts and stop using show business as a personal adult toy box. That’s putting a lot of hope in some pretty low people though. I shouldn’t hold my breath.