In the 2000s, he became known for big budget superhero films such as X-Men (2000), for which Singer won the 2000 Saturn Award for Best Direction, its sequel X2 (2003), and Superman Returns (2006).

[8][9] After a screening of Lion's Den, Singer was approached by someone from Tokuma Japan Productions, a Japanese company interested in funding a series of low-budget films.

[citation needed] In 1998, Singer obtained the rights to adapt Stephen King's novella Apt Pupil, a thriller about an all-American boy discovering that a Nazi war criminal lives in his neighborhood.

Singer claimed that he had always admired and identified with the character, citing the fact that he and Superman are both orphans, noting that he was inspired by the 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve and the comics of Alex Ross.

[17] On September 10, 2009, it was announced NBC has partnered with Singer and Bryan Fuller to adapt Augusten Burroughs's Sellevision into a series about a fictional home shopping network, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

At the premiere of James Cameron's Avatar on December 16, 2009, Singer confirmed that he would be directing Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) for Warner Bros. Pictures, and that he had signed on to do X-Men: First Class,[19][non-primary source needed][20] but conflicts between the two projects led to Singer being only a producer and co-screenwriter on First Class,[21] with Matthew Vaughn taking over directorial duties.

[24] In 2012, Singer was the executive producer alongside Jane Lynch of the short film, Ronny and I,[25] directed by Guy Shalem that screened at Outfest and Cannes.

[29] Days of Future Past stars Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, and Evan Peters re-teamed with Singer for Apocalypse.

[30][31] After the release of X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, Singer expressed interest in directing a solo Mystique film starring Jennifer Lawrence.

[33] In 2016, Fox announced that Singer would direct its version of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, after having been asked to participate on the elaboration of the movie's script.

Producers were nervous about the state of production and started discussions about potentially replacing him, at which point cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel may have stepped in to direct during Singer's absence.

According to the suit filed by attorney Jeff Herman, Singer is alleged to have drugged and raped actor and model Michael Egan III in Hawaii, after initially meeting him at parties hosted by convicted sex offender Marc Collins-Rector in the late 1990s.

[64] In early August 2014, Egan sought to withdraw his lawsuit via a Request for Court Order of Dismissal, and asked that it be granted "without prejudice or an award of costs or fees, in the interest of justice.

Both Singer and producer Gary Goddard (who was also named separately in the first case) were accused of sexually assaulting "John Doe No.

[66] According to the lawsuit, Goddard and Singer met the man for sex when he was a minor and engaged in acts of "gender violence" against him while in London for the premiere of Superman Returns.

[69][70] Author Bret Easton Ellis alleged that two of his former partners had attended underage sex parties hosted by Singer and fellow director Roland Emmerich.

[75] In June 2019, Sanchez-Guzman's bankruptcy trustee Nancy James recommended that a $150,000 settlement be approved, citing the absence of evidence that Singer attended the yacht party where the alleged assault took place.

[76] On January 23, 2019, Alex French and Maximillian Potter published an investigative report in The Atlantic in which four more men alleged that Singer sexually assaulted them when they were underage.

[83][84] Time's Up released a statement on Twitter applauding the decision, stating, "The recent allegations regarding Bryan Singer's behavior are horrifying and MUST be taken seriously and investigated.