Bryan Singer, the director of four X-men movies, another superhero movie- Superman Returns (2006), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)- has a different and unusual repertoire of films, one might say the common denominator is success. Overall Bryan Singers filmography is varied, even within the X-men franchise, he has made a point to make a distinctly different movie with each project- he even says so himself in an interview with Alex Billington here
“There’s a lot of film directors who make the same movie over, and over, and over again. They dress it up differently but they’re always making the same movie. I’m just not like that. I always want to be doing something different. Even my Superman movie had a very different tone than my X-Men movie. And Valkyrie was a historical thriller. Apt Pupil is an adaption, more horror. Usual Suspects, crime movie. “House”, medical drama. You know, there are similarities to them. But from the palette, and the tone, and the experience of making them I need them to be different or else I get very bored.”
So what is his secret to develop a different movie each time? Singer describes himself as a storyteller, he is hands-on with his projects, working with the writers to develop the script. “I used to do that as a kid. I used to just write stories and tell stories and make up stories”. Of course, it is not all storytelling- he is also visually influenced and uses new skills and knowledge developed during each project to bring to subsequent movies- a constant learning process. For example in Jack the Giant Slayer he is directing motion capture and incorporating real-life characters in environments with 25-ft tall CG giants, something completely different from any of his previous work. Even though he says he loves a real set, he can still work in a virtual environment, his ability to adapt means he is constantly picking up the awards and rewards of being a top director in Hollywood.