Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox The lawsuit troubles of Bryan Singer, right, won't necessarily affect the box office of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past,' which includes star Patrick Stewart,left. Just how much the salacious lawsuit file! d against "X-Men: Days of Future Past" director Bryan Singer will taint his movie at the box office remains an X-factor.
But Industry insiders say they think few movie-goers will associate the scandal with one of the biggest popcorn flicks of the summer when it's time to buy tickets.
"In the end, the question becomes how much of the American public is 'auteur-ist' enough to associate a movie with its director," says Prof. Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center of Television & Popular Culture.
"Is the alleged bad behavior enough to keep them from seeing the next installment of 'X-Men'? And I think for most people that's very much not the case."
Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox Audiences' attention will be focused on the movie's stars like Hugh Jackman. Another industry watcher agreed that the target audience for this kind of escapist fare isn't likely to stay away in noticeable numbers.
"If the suit involved an on-screen star who's in a movie, it could have effect, but the general public may not know or care who the director [of any given movie] is other than possibly Spielberg," said the expert, who requested anonymity.
In other words, Singer's thumbprints may be all over the X-franchise, but his face, the one currently a staple of all the gossip sites, won't be visible on the screen.
Alan Markfield/Twentieth Century Fox Michael Fassbender is one of the many A-listers in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' in whom audiences will likely be more interested. The scandal erupted this week when a Nevada man, Michael Egan III, filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the "Usual Suspects" director of sexually abusing him as a teen at Hollywood parties in the late '90s.
Singer, 48, has denied all of the now-31-year-old's claims and reportedly plans to countersue.
Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind the flick, needs to focus its marketing effort on the star-studded lineup assembled in front of the camera, says Dorothy Cascerceri, host and executive producer of the weekly TV talk show, "Celebrity Corner."
It is, after all, a cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence.
"They could give better than usual access to the movie's big stars and let their coverage focus on those big stars as opposed to the director," Cascerceri said.
There are few precedents to go by, since the jury is literally out of the veracity of the lawsuit.
Brian Hamill/ASSOCIATED PRESS Woody Allen, center, and Mia Farrow, right, are shown in a scene from 'Husbands and Wives,' which came out after their real life marriage imploded in an ugly scandal. The implosion of Woody Allen's marriage to Mia Farrow and his romance with adopted stepdaughter Soon Yi Previn played out publicly just as his latest movie, "Husbands and Wives," was set to hit theaters in 1992.
But Allen and Farrow were the stars of that film, which had the uncomfortable art-imitating-life plot.
With "X-Men: Days of Future Past," there are no real parallels with Egan's assertions; it's a flick about mutant superheroes battling killer robots.
A lot, however, can happen between now and the movie's May 23 release.
"On the other hand, it depends on how this story develops further," says Thompson. "If more people were to come forward or if the claims seem more creditable than they may now, then it could begin to have a cumulative effect that does make a difference to audiences."
Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/singer-lawsuit-scandal-dent-x-men-box-office-article-1.1761306
