The Wolverine

[MacGuffin]

Darren Aronofsky Begins Talks To Direct 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2,' Also Offered 'Tales From The Gangster Squad'
Source: The Playlist

For a guy who professes not to be a comic book fan, Darren Aronofsky could have fooled us. Since breaking through with "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream," he's been attached to a number of graphic novel-related properties, including "Watchmen," "Batman: Year One," the Manga adaptation "Lone Wolf and Cub" and "Robocop" (which yeah, isn't based on a comic book, but might as well be). With his latest film "Black Swan," picking up excellent buzz, he's been linked of late to "Preacher," "Superman" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2." Supposedly, Aronofsky was pursuing "Superman" fairly vigorously, but proved to be too much of a perfectionist for Warner Bros, and Zack Snyder landed the gig on Monday. As a result, both Vulture and Deadline are reporting that offers and/or talks are underway between 20th Century Fox and the director for the latter to helm the 'Wolverine' sequel. A number of names had been linked, including "Let Me In" director Matt Reeves, Robert Schwentke, who dropped out the running in favor of "R.I.P.D" and "The Osterman Weekend," and "Twilight: Eclipse" helmer David Slade, but franchise star Hugh Jackman was apparently keen to reteam with his friend and director on "The Fountain," and seems to have gotten his way. Supposedly, Aronofsky met with studio head Tom Rothman to ensure that, if he signed on, he'd be given full creative control (man, we bet Gavin Hood wished he'd taken a similar meeting...), and that talks are now underway. It remains to be seen whether Aronofsky will sign on, but clearly, Fox are serious about trying to land the director. We've heard some very good buzz on Christopher McQuarrie's script, which follows Wolverine to Japan (if anyone happens to see it lying around, you know where to send it...), and with Aronofsky on board, this should be a sequel that far surpasses the original. Although, having said that, the film could be nothing but 90 minutes of Jackman clubbing baby seals, and it would still far surpass the original. According to Jackman, filming will kick off in March/April next year, for a Summer 2012 release. Just to cement how in-demand Aronofsky has become, Vulture also report that, as a consolation prize from Warner Bros., he's been offered "Tales From The Gangster Squad," a period gangster movie about cops attempting to bring down notorious LA gangster Mickey Cohen. Ben Affleck got a similar offer last week, but turned it down, so WB have moved on to Aronofsky. Supposedly 'Wolverine 2' has the edge, but that could all change in the next few days.

[Stefen]

It's like he's trying to screw up his career.

[Gold Trumpet]

Finally the dancing in between Arnofsky and Hollywood appears to be over. Excluding the Fountain, all of his indie films have been underwhelming for me. I think he's a possible Christopher Nolan level type of talent and could drastically improve the scale of Hollywood films. Even if I don't agree with Nolan's decisions sometime, I absolutely love the challenges he brings to all of his films. He's up scaling the ambition level of Hollywood and it's a great thing. If Arnofsky isn't interested in the betterment clause for Hollywood like Nolan is, then he will approach Hollywood like he was making a commercial by just trying to add a few better compositions to the usual snuff. May not see his potential here in a sequel, but he could show it down the road.

[modage]

Aronofsky trying out a big Hollywood film isn't the problem for me, but making a sequel to a movie that sucked seems like a bad way to make your entrance.

[Gamblour.]

Egh, this kind of makes me sad. I know the dude wants a hot paycheck, but I wish he could just come up with an idea bigger audiences would want to see than succumb to a sequel.

He should go Kubrick or go home.

[Pubrick]

He should go Kubrick or go home.

I think he tried that and failed miserably with the fountain.

Like I said, someone has to bring home a paycheck since his wife made a vow after the mummy to never again star in a successful movie.

[Pas]

If someone told me after I saw a leaked copy of Wolverine that there would be a sequel to this shit and it would be directed by Aronofsky... I probably would not have done anything but I would've been pretty surprised by that.

[Stefen]

Aronofsky should do it.

[MacGuffin]

Darren Aronofsky Turns Down 'Gangster Squad,' Nears Deal To Direct 'Wolverine 2'
Source: The Playlist

It looks like Darren Aronofsky is eager to scratch the itch of a big budget blockbuster, and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2" may be the film to satisfy that urge. Deadline reports that the director has turned down Warner Bros. offer to helm "Tales From The Gangster Squad," a period gangster movie about cops attempting to bring down notorious LA gangster Mickey Cohen. The move now leaves him wide open to take on 'Wolverine 2' and it looks like it's merely a matter of hammering out deal points. In the wake of the festival success of "Black Swan," Aronofsky is ready to get real paid. He's apparently working out a deal that will see him bank $5 million against 5% of the gross of 'Wolverine 2.' That's one helluva incentive. We're big fans of Aronofsky and are a bit dismayed he's seriously in contention to helm a boring franchise film, particularly when he has much more interesting films he could be doing instead. We guess we now have a reason to care about the second installment of the Hugh Jackman payday vehicle which takes place in Japan and will have ninjas or something. But if this means Aronofsky eventually gets to make his own "Inception," we suppose there is a potential silver lining in all of this.

[Gamblour.]

He should go Kubrick or go home.

I think he tried that and failed miserably with the fountain.

Like I said, someone has to bring home a paycheck since his wife made a vow after the mummy to never again star in a successful movie.

Yeah, I think Kubrick was a man of his time and place in the industry. I found it fascinating reading a book of interviews with him about how much he cared about the critical response and the box office. He really understood the concept that films existed to make money.

[MacGuffin]

Hugh Jackman: Wolverine 2 will be a 'very different' X-Men movie
Source: SyFy

Hugh Jackman said on Monday night at a benefit in New York City that he expects Wolverine 2 will not be a "usual" X-Men movie. But what exactly did he mean by that?

Jackman made his comments to Vulture, which caught the Australian star just as he was sitting down to dinner. First noting that he was bulking up to play Logan again by eating "six meals a day," Jackman predicted that Wolverine 2 is "hopefully for me, going to be out of the box. It's going to be the best one, I hope. Well, I would say that, but I really do feel that, and I feel this is going to be very different."

With Darren Aronofsky, the genius behind Pi, The Fountain and the upcoming Black Swan, all but confirmed to direct this sixth X-Men-related feature, it seems almost certain that Wolverine 2 will head down a different path than its underwhelming predecessor, 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. "This is Wolverine. This is not Popeye. He's kind of dark," Jackman said. "But, you know, this is a change of pace ... [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."

The script is by Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie and is said to be based on Wolverine's famed early adventures in Japan from the comic books, although a lot of the movie's interiors will reportedly be shot in New York so that both Aronofsky and Jackman can be close to their families.

Filming begins early next year on the project, possibly in March, with a 2012 release likely. Will Aronofsky's art-house sensibilities fit well with an established comic-book franchise? Or will the heavy hand of executives at 20th Century Fox give him the same hard time they gave Gavin Hood, director of the first Wolverine? Can this director and star really make the best X-Men movie yet?

[Pas]

sorry but wolverine was the worst movie ever. Aronovsky is dead to me.

[Pubrick]

i think this has the potential to be good.

the fountain was a piece of shit and i hate hugh jackman, but i think aronofsky has shown that he's best when he doesn't write his own original material. adaptations and movies someone else wrote have been the best stuff he's done, (requiem + wrest + swan?).

that's one good sign. another is that you need to start to think of this in a different way. this isn't a sequel to the worst movie ever.. it may appear to be that but it's actually obviously not going to continue the aesthetic or cinematic quality established in the first film. pete has made great observations about comic book films when trying to explain how a sequel/remake/reimagining could be made so soon after a previous version.. such as the case with HULK. it's because this doesn't make sense in film world but it makes sense in COMIC world. the methods of restarting a franchise with a whole new point or drastically increasing the artistic credibility of a series is not uncommon in the world of comic books.

it doesn't mean that it's intentional, that somewhere studio heads are sitting back and being masterminds about using some cool new business model for resurrecting a waning franchise. but the point is that it HAS BEEN DONE. it is only a new thing to the film medium. on one level the necessity to make millions of dollars from a property they still own and the desperate measures that studios go to in order to squeeze every last cent out of it is pretty transparent, and alone can explain the machinations that lead to a series like the xmen still continuing after being decimated critically on two fronts (x3 and wolverine) and financially (the latter). but that is not necessarily the whole story, nor the whole consequence of continuing a film series.

if you think of aronofsky and i guess this usual suspects writer as the new illustrator/writer team that takes on a challenge to resurrect and REDEEM a franchise then you can see them as something like Alan Moore writing Swamp Thing. or someshit like that., i don't know much about comics but i hope you get the idea. don't be so quick to dismiss something like this, there's still potential here and i hope xixax can keep an open mind -- instead of once again completely being ignorant about what turns out to be a great movie (you know the ones i'm talking about, aka all of your favourite films this year).

[pete]

not every good director is a good candidate for franchise films.  I sincerely hope the last james bond proved that.  but aronofsky probably has at least one good franchise film in him.  so, go darren.
though, at a Q and A at the fountain (when Matt, Xerxes, Lucid and I first met) he did make fun of hugh jackman and wolverine repeatedly.

[Gold Trumpet]

For me, in theory, Wolverine is the second most fascinating super hero behind Batman. No idea whether this will be good or not, but at least I'm not trying to legitimize the idea of a new movie for The Flash or someone. There's as much potential for this as there can be for a super hero movie. Also not saying too much.