Skip to main content

Bryan Singer to direct new 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film

“The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence.”

That’s the great Jules Verne in his masterfully crafted sci-fi odyssey, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which appears to be making its way, once again, to the silver screen.

Recommended Videos

With a simple snapshot on Instagram today, director Bryan Singer of X-Men fame announced to the world that he has just finished a script for the new film, which he plans to direct.

There have been plenty of big and small screen adaptations featuring Captain Nemo and his captors aboard his fantastical undersea vessel, the Nautilus. But despite the tiresome siege of reboots, revamps, and new adaptations that have plagued Hollywood as of late, it seems the time is ripe for a modern version of Verne’s classic underwater adventure.

After all, the last Nemo we saw on the big screen was in the form of a little orange fish. And coupling the CGI wonders of today’s top effects studios with the iconic tale might very well make for cinematic gold.

While Singer is still neck deep in the X-Men universe, with X-Men: Apocalypse set to debut May 27 and talk of an X-Men crossover pic with the Fantastic Four (as per Variety), the director seems to be a big fan of the Verne classic. Under a picture of the script, Singer wrote the following:

It’s my 50th birthday (ouch), and I just put the finishing touches on the script for my next film. A story I’ve wanted to retell since childhood. I promise this will be an epic and emotional adventure for all ages! An adventure very dear to my heart.  Not abandoning the #xmen universe. Very excited about #xmenapocalypse and beyond. #julesverne#20000leaguesunderthesea #nemo

As detailed in his birthday post above, Singer promised fans the new film won’t hinder future plans for the X-Men franchise, but it’s clear the director is looking to branch out from his comic book bread and butter. And, if he can stay true to the core of the story that makes Leagues one of Verne’s best-loved adventures, this may well be the perfect project for an X-Men sabbatical.

There’s no known studio attached to the project as of yet, but you can bet this will likely be a hot ticket if it hasn’t already been snatched up. Stay tuned as more details emerge.

Ryan Waniata
Former Home Theater & Entertainment Editor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
Now you can stream the movie event of 2025 on HBO Max
Michael B. Jordan flexes and prepares to fight.

At the halfway mark of the year, the defining movie of 2025 so far has been Sinners. After an impressive theatrical run, the vampiric horror is now available to stream on HBO Max. The critically acclaimed film will make its HBO linear debut at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 5.

HBO Max will also provide the deaf community with the Black American Sign Language (BASL) version of Sinners.

Read more
Spotify hit band The Velvet Sundown comes clean on AI
The Velvet Sundown.

The Velvet Sundown burst onto the music scene in early June and in the space of just a few weeks gained an astonishing 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. 

But its bland music style, hyper-realistic band images, and lack of a digital footprint quickly led many people to suspect that the The Velvet Sundown was AI-generated. And it turns out they were right.

Read more
If you have to watch one Netflix movie in July 2025, stream this one
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Finding the right movie to watch on Netflix can be difficult even if you have some idea of what you want to watch. Netflix has an algorithm that's supposed to surface the right stuff for you, but the streamer is also heavily invested in promoting its own new stuff.

So, if you're looking for a great movie to watch on the streamer, we'd recommend starting with The Man from U.N.C.L.E. This largely forgotten 2015 spy movie is adapted from a '60s TV show of the same name. Here are three reasons you should check it out:

Read more