Bryan Singer to direct next X Men film

The director has signed a deal with Fox to return to the franchise

X Men director Bryan Singer (Getty)

Bryan Singer will direct the next instalment in the X Men franchise after signing a deal with Fox.

X Men: Apocalypse will be the eight in the comic book series and the fourth to be directed by Singer.

Doubts were cast over whether the director would return to the franchise after actor Michael Egan filed a lawsuit against him earlier this year accusing Singer of alleged sexual abuse.

But Egan dropped the lawsuit against Singer last month, while Singer’s bid to force him to pay for his legal costs was refused.

Egan previously filed three similar legal actions against other Hollywood figures, all of which were later dropped.

Singer has been involved with the film series since its inception in 2000 before James Mangold and Brett Ratner took over in the director’s chair.

He returned to direct X Men: Days of Future Past, which was released earlier this year.

The latest film is set 10 years after Days of Future Past and will star Hugh Jackman as recurring character Wolverine, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult.

X Men: Apocalypse is due to be released in the UK on 19 May 2016.

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