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Aronofsky Says His Movie Titled 'The Wolverine', Not a Sequel?

by Alex Billington
November 14, 2010
Source: HitFix

Every time I think about Darren Aronofsky directing the next Wolverine ~~sequel~~ movie, I get baffled and excited, mostly because I'm still amazed he is going to direct this next. If you need any more proof that this project is now in perfect hands to whip Wolverine back into shape and show us what he is really capable of, here it is. HitFix spoke with Aronofsky recently and learned that the title will actually be The Wolverine, ditching the X-Men Origins prefix, and it apparently is a "one-off" that "isn't a sequel in any conventional sense." I'm sure they're trying to distance themselves from X-Men Origins: Wolverine as much as possible.

As a recap, The Wolverine (or Wolverine 2) is set in Japan and is based on the Chris Claremeont & Frank Miller mini-series from 1982. The script, written by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie), follows Wolverine as he falls in love with a Japanese woman who is married to another man. But to win her heart, he must battle her samurai family, which sounds like a beautiful and brilliant setup for Aronofsky and Jackman to explore the darker side of Logan. It looks like Fox may actually be trying to take the Christopher Nolan route and use Aronofsky to "reboot" (hate to use that word) this character in a darker one-off movie.

Shooting on the Darren Aronofsky directed Wolverine movie starts next March for a presumed 2012 release. In related news, HitFix also learned that cinematographer Matthew Libatique will most likely work with Aronofsky again on The Wolverine. Libatique has shot four of Aronofsky's films, not including The Wrestler, as well as Iron Man 1 & 2 and Cowboys & Aliens for Jon Favreau. Everything about this project sounds like it's in good hands, so for now we'll remain cautiously optimistic, even though I'm fully confident in Darren. Casting is most likely underway as promotion continues for Black Swan, in theaters starting December 3rd.

Filed under Hype, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

Joey

all good news here
max s.

I might be one of the few who actually liked origins, i did not think it was a spectacular film, i just thought it was an enjoyable popcorn flick. I'm no familiar with aronofsky's work so i can't really comment, but here's something. What if Nolan was to take a little time off of batman and do a little wolverine and give us the dark, complex wolverine that we've been yearning for, it's a thought you just have to wonder.
nelson

Great Director Great Lead Actor Great Screen Writer Great Cinematographer just get someone Clint Mansell to do the Score and i will be damn happy Jackman's best performance was in the fountain directed by Darren as well things are looking up guys
Xerxex

Not worried at all.
ryn

Max im not yelling at you im saying this as a comment, Nolan is fantastic but n one wants him to step back from Though Nolan makes incredbley dark films and thier great you should take a look at Aronofsky's work his movies are beatuiful and dark. I have been in love with all of them they just have a way of loetting you get to know the characters. Its going to be fantastic just go rent his movies and enjoy!
Happy Camper

Cant wait! But you can not compare Nolan and Aronofsky, one makes blockbuster (aside from his first feature) the other art films. Both are great but thats about were the line ends. They better give Daren final cut.
DoomCanoe

hes always been my favorite super hero and in the hands of a super director I can only see amazing things IM SO HAPPY!
movie mike

I like it. Artistic..but not too pretentious. Shows that this is a separate film and not a part of that offshoot cartoon pilot
SkaOreo

This is great news as no one wanted Aronofsky to deal with the crap that Origins left behind. But I think more importantly, this shows that Fox might be starting to realize why people don't like them.
Level1Alt

Really? "The Wolverine"? Really?
I am...

I agree with #10...really? So what was the use of the 1st movie then? loll A way to get more money out of people for nothing? loll I'm glad I didn't se it @ the cinema then loll! Anyway, you guys are a bit late, here is a preview of The Green Lantern : http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=71645 The fans will not like much this link, because the costume looks so, so fake. The flying leaves much to be desired and the so called space scenes….pfff I hope it's not the case but it looks like they didn't get it . Even when he uses his ring, it should be a beam, not a flame like stuff! and they say $150 Million... I doubt it!" loll Ryan Reynolds should have remained "buried" loll Judge by thyself
Ross

@2, Id have a similar position to yourself on Origins. I rewatched it just last week and while its not perfect i can still enjoy it for what it is What i would be happy to see however is an end to the current approach to reboots/reimaging which this appears to be. Once characters are established (any x-men, batman, superman, fantastic 4 etc), just make films about them. We dont need origin movies every time they want to change the story a bit for a new 'franchise' (hate that word too) or to reuse a villain. The lead actor should be able to keep the role even if the style is changed Its not like star trek from TOS/Movies/TNG/DS9/Voyager kept every bit of the story consistent and no one seemed too bothered (eg Scotty in Generations didnt fit in with TNG cameo). Give the audience a bit of credit instead of thinking that "they will be confused" if they change something and use the same actor.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

We won't see the Wolverine origin again then? That'll be 3 times. II like the sound of this one more than that last one.
lolwut

are you kidding? so adultery as a storyline? sounds like an adult version of scott pilgrim. how is this commercially viable? i guess he provides some oomph behind the camera because this project would already be starting to stink both financially and quality-wise.
max s.

@5 yeah, i watched a couple of trailers and put some movies in netflix so yeah i'll be sure to watch them and figure out if wolverine is gonna finally get the story he deserves
tazz

The Wolverine not sure about that title it seems alright but whats next for any X-Men characters who might have a solo movie The Deadpool The Gambit The Cyclops the list goes on
http://youtube.com/squareshapedsoftness Square Shaped Softness

From Aronofsky's previous work and my vague knowledge of Wolverine's backstory, I am expecting a stunning but heart wrenchingly tragic love story where Wolverine will ultimately live to watch the wife he wins grow old and die. But then maybe not, Fox are not so likely to go for that kind of thing and if that was the plan they would surely make Aronofsky tone it right down.
Jericho

stop plying with yourself, its a sequel now accept it and now who will play some Jr. who will pop up at the end?.......
SkaOreo

@17 I don't know about that. The fact that Fox even allowed Aronofsky to completely retcon the original film says a lot on what they are allowing the man to do. I'm guessing they're treating him like their own Christopher Nolan. @18 What?
http://speakinggeek.wordpress.com Chris

As I say in my blog, I'm still nervous about this because of how bad the last couple X-Men movies were, but Aranofsky is one of my favorite directors and this news at least makes me optimistic about the movie instead of dreading it. I was a bit disappointed that Aranofsky never got to do Batman so I'm interested to finally see how he handles a comic book movie.
LW

I'm just happy to see Silver Samurai
Have Hope

Just to put it out there....Xmen Origins Wolverine was one of the worst films from the year it came out. RUBBISH and a waste of time. This is defintely the most interesting project right now
LINKFX

@ Have Hope....you are absolutely correct. X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVIERNE, was one of the biggest cinematic shit stains of our time. @ Alex, the one thing that I hate more than reboots are when we use Christopher Nolan to describe every gritty realistic remake.
A5J4DX

nice
Candy Castle

R-Rated and this will be a masterpiece!
DoomCanoe

good lord #11s comment made me want to jam a pencil in my eye loll
Ostilad

Let me just get this out of the way, Origins sucked. I dig the title... The Wolverine. The Wolverine has never been like any other X-Man. He is the unexpected hero, the unshaven, rude, brute who only looks out for number one (sort of), hence, The Wolverine. Though it makes me expect someone else and not Jackman in the title role. I imagine it like being someone else and not George Clooney in Batman. Come to think of it, I imagine that it must have been the same way when the new Batman at the time was decided to be called "Batman Begins". I bet there was some disapproval. I've always been skeptical about Wolverine at the movies. With adamantium claws in a PG-13 world, he will never be that badass. But I do like where they are going with this. The darker the Wolverine the better. He is no pretty-boy superhero.
mk

so there would be just wolverine and a bunch of samurai?? no other mutants ???
LW

@28 There's Silver Samurai. He's... sorta prominent in Marvel :/
Solo Calrissian

Hey, I'm all for it. ...That way they cant convolute the Singer X-Men story any further. (for example: Sabertooth from Origins threw me for a loop). Keep it seperate since they were talking about a reboot anyways.
Fisherr

I guess i'll have to wait and see, i am praying they don't screw it up like they did last time. I trust Aronofsky.
Django3000

I was hoping for something along the lines of: "LOGAN" but this works. I'm psyched. Certainly beats "X-Men Origins: Wolverine's Last Comic Book Standing".
Django3000

BTW - That picture of Aronovsky really makes him look like he's making googly eyes at Jackman.
sig

@2 makes sense you never saw an Aronofsky picture if you liked Origins.. and you probably wouldn't know good cinema even if it hit you in the face
jebstuart

i believe that if fox lets aronofsky make the movie that he wants to make then it will be an extremely awesome movie
Ostilad

Yay for Darren! Yay for Hugh! Yay for Title! Origins Sucked!
Y?

why darren? plz not this!