Bryan Singer’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sets up at Fox for a fall start

As Bryan Singer puts the finishing touches on X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, he's ready to start gearing up for his next big project, an adaptation of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". It was last fall when Bryan Singer announced that 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA would be his next film, taking to Instagram to say that he was putting the finishing touches on the script by Rick Sordelet & Dan Studney. The film was without a home at that time, but Deadline is reporting that Bryan Singer has now closed a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to direct the epic underwater adventure.

Bryan Singer's official statement:

I’m incredibly excited to be working with my friends at Fox, with whom I’ve had such a long and fruitful relationship. Ever since I was a boy and first discovered the 1870 Jules Verne novel, I have dreamt of retelling this classic story. Without revealing too much, it contains not only the original characters of Captain Nemo, Ned Land and Professor Aronnax, but also some new and original characters and Sci Fi plot twists culminating in a timeless adventure for all ages.

Bryan Singer and Fox are looking to get production underway early this fall, so Singer will likely be casting the film as soon as he's finished with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE. There have been multiple adaptations of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" in the works over the years, including one David Fincher was developing for Disney which sadly fell through. It's been ages since I last watched Disney's 1954 version starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre, but the young and innocent Kevin that was recalls having a lot of fun with it; hopefully the old and jaded Kevin will feel similar towards Bryan Singer's take of the story.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE is set for a May 27, 2016 release.