Bryan Singer took a leap towards a lengthy career as a director with the 1995 release of "The Usual Suspects," a film noir-cum-actioner with numerous, intriguing plot twists and an impeccable cast. With a script by Singer's childhood friend Christopher McQuarrie, "The Usual Suspects" earned positive reviews and a healthy box office, as well as Academy Awards for McQuarrie and supporting actor Kevin Spacey.
Singer is, in his own words, a self-taught director that happens to specialize in dark movies about characters who are never what they seem. He studied for two years at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, but was rejected by the USC film school. Instead, he moved to L.A. and enrolled at USC majoring in critical studies, for which he has said he is now grateful as it gave him time to screen hundreds of films. Singer and McQuarrie made "Public Access", the story of a mysterious man who turns a small town against itself through his cable TV show in 1992 and entered the film in the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. It was named co-winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Singer became sought after by the Hollywood power elite, although the film itself received little notice after the Festival. Gramercy Pictures was willing to back Singer on "The Usual Suspects", considered one of the "independent finds" of 1995, which he brought in not only on time, but under budget.
Singer followed up his initial successes with "Apt Pupil" (1998), a powerful and moving drama that explored the nature of evil. The young auteur based his disturbing movie on Stephen King's novella of the same name, having convinced the writer that he could turn the seemingly unfilmable material into a movie. Previous attempts by other filmmakers had failed to bring to the big screen King's story of a bright teen who blackmails a war criminal into regaling him with memories of Nazi atrocities. King was initially reluctant to let another director take control of his work, but that was before Singer sent him a copy of the yet-to-be-released "Usual Suspects". King reportedly loved the flick and optioned "Apt Pupil" to Singer for one dollar, trusting that his story was in good hands.
For his next project, Singer reunited with McQuarrie, McKellen and Davison for the special effects-laden "X-Men" (2000). Based on the wildly popular Marvel Comic book series featuring a team of distinctly powered mutants battling both human prejudice and their terrorist counterparts, the hotly anticipated flick effectively translated the adventures of a group of disenfranchised, unlikely and reluctant superheroes to the big screen, made a major star out of Hugh Jackman and marked Singer's first foray into the world of directing big-budget studio pictures. The film was a commercial and creative success, and the director found himself at the helm of a film franchise that only grew in popularity. Singer's follow-up outing, "X2: X-Men United" (2003), was even better than the original, with greater character development, more astonishing action sequences and a continuing appreciation for the charms of the source material--it was also one of the most satisfying--and successful--"summer blockbusters" of its era. Given both the second film's success and some juicy plot threads left dangling, it seemed that Singer was committed to steering a third X-Men feature to the big screen--the director even agreed to pen a lengthy story arc for Marvel Comics' Ultimate X-Men comic book, but Singer was unexpectedly diverted to take the reigns of an even more iconic superhero franchise when he agreed to direct "Superman Returns" (2006), Warner Bros.' long-stalled attempt to launch a new film series following DC Comics' famous Man of Steel. Singer's approach included creating a direct connection to the first two "Superman" films starring Christopher Reeve, and casting, like Reeve, a relative unknown in the form of Brandon Routh and surrounding him with better known names, including Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor and Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. However, by jumping ship between both studios and comic book companies, it seemed highly unlikely that Singer would return to helm a third X-Men installment.