Deadline gives the heads up:
James Mangold is 20th Century Fox’s and star Hugh Jackman’s choice to direct The Wolverine, ending one of the most competitive contests among directors for a major studio film. Negotiations are about to get underway, but I’m told that Mangold will take the helming job on the sequel to the X-Men spinoff film.
While I didn’t think the previous film under Gavin Hood was horrid as most make it out to be, it was a letdown to many. Of course, I felt that Darren Aronofsky was all wrong for this, and I had failed to see the fuzzy warmth the “fans” were giving him. When Aronofshy bailed, I was doing cartwheels. Now I’m doing handstands. ‘Knight And Day’ had a lot of faults last year, but even that can’t erase the fond memories of Identity, Copland, 3:10 or Walk The Line.
This news means Fox is serious to get this project back on track. Worse comes to worse, it’s a great Hail Mary pass. I have my fingers crossed Mangold will sign and the ink dries. The only question is if it does, will the script be re-written to include a small scene for Liev Schreiber (who also worked with Jackman and Mangold on ‘Kate & Leopold)…in any case, if this comes to pass (Mangold on board) they could start shooting by fall.
Once again, fingers (or claws) crossed…
Is any of the int’l friends hopes up?
