The Wolverine

[Gamblour.]

Yeah, at the end of the day, this isn't too different than David Gordon Green directing a stoner comedy.

That being said, I wonder what direction visually Aronofsky will go with this. Snorrie cam on Wolverine running and attacking people, or maybe just a sad camera that follows him from behind the whole film.

[modage]

More worrisome is A. Fox and B. Aronofsky being completely disinterested in the material.

[modage]

'Wolverine 2' Now Simply Called 'The Wolverine'; Darren Aronofsky Calls Film A "One Off"
Source: ThePlaylist

A few new details on the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" sequel have emerged. Yes, we're still wrapping our heads (in disbelief) around the fact that Darren Aronofsky ("The Fountain," "The Wrestler") is going to be directing this thing, but we suppose since he dabbled and flirted with an adaptation of "Batman: Year One," and "Watchmen" and "RoboCop," that he would have eventually taken on a big tentpole like this one.

There is some hopeful news though. First off it's no longer called, "Wolverine 2." Now simply titled "The Wolverine," during press for "Black Swan" this weekend—his excellent upcoming psychological ballet horror starring Natalie Portman—he revealed the new title and told HitFix encouragingly that the film would be a "one-off," suggesting it will live within its own universe, won't be a sequel in any conventional sense and won't have to follow or adhere much to what came before in the awful, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

This is all frankly, very good news. 20th Century Fox basically butchered "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and or at least, made Gavin Hood's version of the film even worse (poor guy's Hollywood career is over just as it began; so much for that Foreign Film Oscar). It sounds like Aronofsky agreed to do the film because he would—knock on wood—have free rein and would be able to tell a much darker, different story. This could be akin to Christopher Nolan rebooting "Batman Begins" and finally doing a comic-book character justice so fans and fanboys should be very optimistic.

And truthfully if all goes well, Aronofsky getting his way with Wolverine's story in Japan—full of ninjas, samurais and a good love story to boot—is almost too good to be true. More good fortune is recent news that Matthew Libatique, the cinematographer of "Black Swan," "Iron Man," "The Fountain," will also be the lenser of "The Wolverine"—prepare for more behind the head hand held tracking shots than any comic book movie ever.

Yes, we openly resisted the idea of Aronofsky taking on "The Wolverine," mostly because we initially would have rather seen him take on projects that he had gestating like Noah's Ark project, or the adaptation of non-fiction survival thriller "The Tiger" with Brad Pitt, or the highbrow literary adaptation "Serena" with Angelina Jolie, or most intriguingly, "Jackie," about Jackie Kennedy in the days following JFK's assassination, which would star Rachel Weisz (however, now that the couple have sadly split this could mean this project is now dead).

But now that it's here and in our faces, we've accepted it. More importantly with Libatique on board and "The Wolverine" sounding like it's going to be a Darren Aronofsky film, not a 20th Century Fox one, we're now greatly anticipating it. 2012? We're looking forward to getting a first glimpse of the picture. Pajiba recently put up what were called "spoilers" from the film, but the details were pulled by the studio and it's "rumored" that the Silver Samurai will be the main villain of the movie. Here's a tip though. Just read the original "Wolverine" mini-series and you'll get all the details you need as the film is based off that excellent Chris Claremont-written and Frank Miller-illustrated/co-written story.


edit: removed all the bullshit.

[modage]

Okay, now I'm excited.

Wow, how did that happen?

[Gamblour.]

More good fortune is recent news that Matthew Libatique, the cinematographer of "Black Swan," "Iron Man," "The Fountain," will also be the lenser of "The Wolverine"—prepare for more behind the head hand held tracking shots than any comic book movie ever.

A) Scooped 'em

I wonder what direction visually Aronofsky will go with this. Snorrie cam on Wolverine running and attacking people, or maybe just a sad camera that follows him from behind the whole film.

B) They totally got it wrong, anyway. Maryse Alberti was the DP on Wrestler, and I'm pretty sure the handheld-behind-the-actor shots are attributable to him, not Aronofsky or Libatique.

[MacGuffin]

Fox in 2-year pact with Aronofsky
First pic under deal will be 'The Wolverine'
Source: Variety

Fox has signed Darren Aronofsky and his production company Protozoa Pictures to a two-year overall deal covering development and production of films for 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight.

Fox disclosed Thursday that the first pic under the pact will be the previously untitled "The Wolverine," starring Hugh Jackman and written by Christopher McQuarrie. Production is scheduled to begin in April on "Wolverine," a spinoff from last year's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which also starred Jackman.

Fox said the deal solidifies its relationship with Aronofsky, whose recent films "Black Swan" and "The Wrestler" have been distributed by Fox Searchlight, which also produced "Black Swan."

"Darren's vision has brought audiences some of the most original and memorable stories and characters in recent motion picture history," said Fox Searchlight heads Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley. "We at Fox witnessed this first hand with his work on 'The Wrestler' and 'Black Swan' and now on 'The Wolverine,' which will be an exciting take on that iconic figure and on the genre itself."

Fox has 19 producing deals, including pacts with John Davis, James Cameron, Peter Chernin, Ben Stiller, Shawn Levy and Ridley and Tony Scott.

[polkablues]

Playlist articles get really short when you remove the bullshit. We approve.

[matt35mm]

More good fortune is recent news that Matthew Libatique, the cinematographer of "Black Swan," "Iron Man," "The Fountain," will also be the lenser of "The Wolverine"—prepare for more behind the head hand held tracking shots than any comic book movie ever.

A) Scooped 'em

I wonder what direction visually Aronofsky will go with this. Snorrie cam on Wolverine running and attacking people, or maybe just a sad camera that follows him from behind the whole film.

B) They totally got it wrong, anyway. Maryse Alberti was the DP on Wrestler, and I'm pretty sure the handheld-behind-the-actor shots are attributable to him, not Aronofsky or Libatique.

Libatique shot Black Swan, which is loaded with the behind the head handheld shots, so that style is something that Aronofsky has definitely been really into.  A brief look at Maryse Alberti's IMDb page suggests that she doesn't necessarily have a distinct style that she brings onto projects, but who knows?

The behind the head shot could show up in Wolverine, but it's pretty clear to me that he's never gonna do the Snorrie thing again.

[MacGuffin]

Wolverine's Aronofsky warns: Fox has no idea what it's in for
Source: SyFy

The award-winning writer-director reveals his plans for making the pseudo-sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine—"we're definitely going to make something great."

Looking at Aronofsky's resume, there's nothing on it that would lead you to believe that he should be directing a film about Wolverine—except, perhaps, his relationship with Hugh Jackman, who starred in The Fountain. Nevertheless, Fox has handed him the keys to the jewel in the X-Men crown and is letting him adapt Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's "Wolvie goes to Japan" miniseries—which is all about doomed love, tested honor and a boatload of ninjas.

"There's not too much blowing s--t up," he says. "It's a stand-alone piece that has nothing to do with anything in the whole franchise or in that universe."

"Every single film I've done so far, I've been the only person in the room who wants to make the movie. I'm kind of excited about doing a film where everyone wants to make it."

[squints]

^

haha... nice scarf

[Stefen]

haha. Man, yeah, he gotta get rid of that scarf and especially that mustache. He's been wearing it for years. I thought he was doing it ironically, but he's been rocking it for awhile. It's always perfectly groomed too, which means he knows it's there. What's his problem?

[wilder]

Darren Aronofsky Leaves 'The Wolverine'
via The Playlist

Wow, David Slade must be pissed. After losing out on "The Wolverine" to Darren Aronofsky and just recently signing on to direct the "Daredevil" reboot, some pretty shocking news has now arrived.

THR reports that Darren Aronofsky has left the director's chair for "Wolverine." Last fall, it was reported that the film was gearing up to start shooting next month for a 2012 release but we'd wager both of those dates are now up in the air. With shooting expected to take a full year, including on location work in Japan, Aronofsky—who recently split with long time partner Rachel Weisz—cited the distance and time from home (and most notably, his son) as a factor.

"As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, who have been totally supportive throughout my work on the movie, it became clear that the production of 'The Wolverine' would keep me out of the country for almost a year," Aronofsky said in a statement. While it may comes as a bit of a surprise, the director was wary about being away for so long from the start. Last fall, it was said the film would shoot largely in New York so he could be close to be home, but clearly, that won't be happening.

A number of names cropped up last year for the director's chair including Slade, including Matt Reeves (Jackman and 20th Century Fox, pay attention, he would be a great choice!) and Robert Schwentke (who has since committed to "R.I.P.D." which is likely to shoot this summer). But this is a big blow to the film on a number of levels, but foremost, finding someone with both geek and critical cachet like Aronofsky to take over will be an exceedingly difficult task. Expect a host of names to start circling soon as the studio "aggressively" finds a replacement.

[Kal]

What the hell? Obviously this has something to do with Black Swan making a gazillion dollars, and I don't give a shit about Wolverine, but its still weird.

Let's see what he is prepping...

[72teeth]

What the hell? Obviously this has something to do with Black Swan making a gazillion dollars,

...and nothin to do with the fact that this would keep him in Japan for over a year

[Pas]

He knew that already though. You can't accept a job and quit the day before you start because you hadn't realized it didn't involve bungee jumping. Weird example.

Did I miss the old news of the split with Weisz or we didn't know that?