Opinions were divided over Hugh Jackman‘s last outing as the adamantium hero in X-men Origins: Wolverine but the film performed well earning more than $370 million at the global box-office. However the film was plagued with production issues with the studio almost firing the director Gavin Hood who envisaged an edgier tone in the vein of the graphic novels. Despite the film’s financial success it made it to the list of unworthy follow-ups of which X-Men 3 is also on.
The studios are trying to make amends it would seem in light of recent films that have changed the interpretation of comic book fare, such as Kick-Ass and the definitive Watchmen – not to mention the wildly successful The Dark Knight. The next X-men follow up – First Class, is a prequel story set in the 60’s and features a new cast and is helmed by Kick-Ass director himself Matthew Vaughn, who was originally set to make X-men 3 before being dropping out.
Darren Aronofsky
Last month it was announced that Darren Aronofsky, the director who kick-started Mickey Rourke‘s career with The Wrestler had been offered the job to helm the X-men Origins follow up. He recently made the psycho-sexual drama Black Swan with Natalie Portman & Mila Kunis and at one stage was in consideration for the reboot of the Superman franchise and it’s likely he was offered this tentpole project as a token gesture commensurate with his talents.
It’s not the first time Jackman and Aronofsky have worked together, they previously made the disappointing flick The Fountain which explored interesting themes but overall failed to connect with audiences. It seems that their working relationship is largely the reason why they hope to make a successful film that will resonate with fans.
Speaking of the director, Jackman has said:
… [Aronofsky’s] going to make it fantastic. There’s going to be some meat on the bones. There will be something to think about as you leave the theater, for sure.
Matthew Libatique recently signed on as Director of Photography having worked with Aronofsky in the past and has an impressive body of work which includes the Iron Man films and the latest Jon Favreau flick, Cowboys and Aliens. The script has been written by The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie who also contributed to the original X-men so things are looking good in the technical department. Shooting will begin in March 2011 in New York City where most of the sound stage photography will take place before the majority of the production moves to Japan.
Wolverine July 1992 A Death in The Family
With all this talent on-board, the big news is the title of the film which is striving to break free as a stand alone story, with the announcement that the film will be called, ‘THE WOLVERINE‘. Aronofsky has also emphasized that it won’t be a sequel in any conventional sense and he refers to the movie as a ‘one-off’.
As for the story set in Japan, Collider has speculated that the new film could draw from the 1979 comic by Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s that sees Wolverine traveling to Japan and falling in love with Mariko Yashida whose father, Shingen Yashida is a Yakuza crime boss whose has an illegitimate son that’s also a mutant and later becomes the Silver Samurai.
In the 1992 issue the Mariko character makes her final appearance in the edition ‘A Death in The Family‘. Producer Lauren Schuler-Donner, wife of filmmaker Richard Donner has indicated aspects of the new story:
…there’ll be samurai, ninja, katana blades, different forms of martial arts – mano-a-mano, extreme fighting…
Wolverine by Claremont & Miller
Hugh Jackman has also said he’s a fan of the four part graphic novel series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller which served to revise the Wolverine character in the eponymous limited series from September to December 1982. Jackman has always been interested in showing more of Logan‘s back story and the move to Japan is an indication that the script will feature these elements.
..there are so many areas of that Japanese story, I love the idea of this kind of anarchic character, the outsider, being in this world – I can see it aesthetically, too – full of honor and tradition and customs and someone who’s really anti-all of that, and trying to negotiate his way. The idea of the samurai, too – and the tradition there. It’s really great. In the comic book he gets his ass kicked by a couple of samurai – not even mutants.
During the post credits scenes in X Men: Origins, a hint at the Japanese story was featured:
Jackman is said to be looking forward to the new ‘sequel’ and has already begun bulking up for the role.
Expect to see four chicken breasts and a whole pile of steamed broccoli on my plate… I’m starting; I’m having my six meals a day.
The Wolverine is set to be released in 2012.
via: Collider
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