X-Men Director Singer to Make 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Sea-faring adventures haven't been faring very well at the box office lately - just ask the makers of In the Heart of the Sea and The Finest Hours - but if anyone can make water-borne peril appeal to a wide audience, the team of X-Men director Bryan Singer and 19th-century adventure writer Jules Verne. Singer's version of Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has made it onto the schedule at 20th Century Fox for a fall production start.

Singer had expressed months ago his wish to make a film adaptation of the classic novel, which he said was one of his childhood favorites, about a rogue sea captain and his technologically amazing submarine. This week Singer sealed a deal with Fox to make the film, and he's set to start work on it sometime after the release of his X-Men: Apocalypse in May.

Verne's novel has been adapted to film several times, most famously in a 1954 Disney version starring Kirk Douglas. Singer says his version will include the novel's central characters, but it will also add "new and original characters and Sci Fi plot twists." That last bit could make the film more exciting for 21st-century audiences, but it could also be troubling to Verne fans who would prefer a faithful adaptation of the book.