Bryan Singer announces 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Bryan Singer took to Instagram yesterday to celebrate his 50th birthday by announcing his next project - a retelling of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

The X-Men director posted a picture of the screenplay saying: "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."

It sounds like this is something Singer has been interested in doing for a while, but he also promised fans he wouldn't be leaving the X-Men franchise any time soon. "Not abandoning the #xmen universe. Very excited about #xmenapocalypse and beyond."

The original novel by Jules Verne tells the story of an expedition sent to destroy a terrible sea monster, only to discover it's actually an extremely advanced submarine, captained by the enigmatic Captain Nemo.

The tale has been adapted for the big screen numerous times, but more recently Gone Girl director, David Fincher tried to reboot the iconic story. He managed to get a script from Andrew Kevin Walker, studio space in Australia and nearly had Brad Pitt for the lead before all went quite on the project.

Here's hoping Singer has better luck! He already has a screenplay written by Rick Sordelet and Jack The Giant Slayer’s Dan Studney, but no word on which studio the film is for or potential cast members... Watch this space!

Lauren O'Callaghan

Lauren O'Callaghan is the former Entertainment Editor of 12DOVE. You'd typically find Lauren writing features and reviews about the latest and greatest in pop culture and entertainment, and assisting the teams at Total Film and SFX to bring their excellent content onto 12DOVE. Lauren is now the digital marketing manager at the National Trust.