The Wolverine
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| The Wolverine | |
 | |
| Director: | James Mangold |
| Writer(s): | Christopher McQuarrie |
| Expected Release: | July 26, 2013 |
| More Information | |
| Expected Credits | Rumors |
| Merchandise | Characters |
The Wolverine is a movie which is currently filming. It will follow Wolverine as he travels to Japan and is set after all the previous X-Men films. It is the sixth film to be released in the X-Men series, and the first one to be released in 3D.
Contents |
Plot
Spinning out of the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Logan (Hugh Jackman) travels to Japan where he falls for the beautiful Mariko Yashida (Tao Okamoto) to the grave displeasure of her father Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi) and her half-brother, the fearsome Silver Samurai (Will Yun Lee). But this isn't Logan's first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun or his first encounter with the Yashida clan. Based on a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie) and Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard, Total Recall) and the comic book by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont.
Cast
- Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
- Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida
- Will Yun Lee as Kenuichio Harada/Silver Samurai
- Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper
- Rila Fukushima as Yukio
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Shingen
- Hal Yamanouchi as Yashida
- Brian Tee as Norubo Mori
- Naoya Ogawa as a to-be-confirmed character
- Famke Janssen as Jean Grey
Development
It will be produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Marvel, and Hugh Jackman is slated to return for the sequel. Hood speculated that there will be a sequel, which will be set in Japan. During one of the end credits scenes Logan is seen drinking at a bar in Japan. Such a location was the subject of Claremont and Miller's series, which was not in the first film as Jackman felt "what we need to do is establish who "Logan" is and find out how he became Wolverine". Jackman stated the Claremont-Miller series is his favorite Wolverine story. Of the Japanese arc, Jackman also stated that:
“..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. He’s shocked by that at first.”
Jackman added that another Wolverine film would be a follow-up rather than continuing on from X-Men: The Last Stand. The inclusion of Deadpool and Gambit also leads to the possibilities of their own spin-offs. Before Wolverine's release, Lauren Shuler Donner approached Simon Beaufoy to write the script, but he did not feel confident enough to commit. On May 5, just two days after its initial weekend run, the sequel was officially confirmed.
Christopher McQuarrie, who went uncredited for his work on X-Men, was hired to write the screenplay for the Wolverine sequel in August 2009.
Darren Aronofsky was announced as director of the film but had relinquished his position to spend time with his family.
Trivia
- Producer Lauren Shuler Donner approached writer Simon Beaufoy to write the script, but Beaufoy did not feel confident enough to commit.
- Hugh Jackman is a self-confessed fan of the Chris Claremont-Frank Miller "Wolverine" comic (1982), especially the Japanese saga: "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 full of honor and tradition and customs; someone who's really anti-all of that, and trying to negotiate his own 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."
- Originally the mutant samurai Psylocke was going to be in this film and Priyanka Chopra was considered for the role, but she was written out of the script.
- Darren Aronofsky was originally set to direct, but pulled out as the long overseas shoot would prevent him from seeing his family.
- Christopher McQurrie is the writer of the film. He wrote the Oscar winning screeplay for The Usual Supects, which was directed by X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer.
- This will be the first time Wolverine will be in a movie without X-Men attached to the title.
- Including his cameo in "X-Men: First Class", this will be Jackman's sixth portrayal of Logan/Wolverine, breaking his own record.
- Jessica Biel was offered the role of Viper but a deal couldn't be reached and she dropped out.
- Amanda Seyfried was considered for the role of Viper.
- Jessica Henwick and Katie Leung were considered for the role of Yukio.
- Togo Igawa was considered for the role of Shingen.
- Guillermo del Toro expressed interest in directing, being a fan of the Japanese saga in the "Wolverine" comics. He met with James Gianopulos and Hugh Jackman about directing the film, but ultimately decided he did not wish to spend 2-3 years of his life working on the film.
- In May 2011 Fox was down to a short list of eight candidates to direct: Jose Padilha, Doug Liman, Antoine Fuqua, Mark Romanek, Justin Lin, Gavin O'Connor, Gary Shore and James Mangold. Out of that list Mangold was chosen.
- According to James Mangold, this film is a sequel to "X-Men: The Last Stand" ("Jean Grey is gone and most of the X-Men are disbanded, so there's a tremendous sense of isolation for Wolverine") but with extended flashbacks.
- To prepare for the role, Hugh Jackman contacted Dwayne Johnson for advise on bulking up for the movie. Johnson recommended that for six months (24 weeks), gain a pound a week by eating 6,000 calories a day from a diet of "an awful lot of chicken, steak and brown rice."
- According to James Mangold, the film had started out as a prequel to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", but later he decided to make it a sequel: "I wanted to tell the story without the burden of handing it off to a film that already exists and having to conform to it. The ideas of immortality reign very heavily in this story, and the burden of immortality weighs heavily on Logan. For me that's such an interesting part of Logan's character that it is nearly impossible to explore in a prequel."
- Hugh Jackman confirmed on having discussions with director James Mangold about test screening a PG-13 rated cut and an R rated cut, but did not comment on filming sequences for them.
- Director of photography Amir Mokri was originally brought on to do the film, but was replaced during filming by second unit director of photography Ross Emery. Mokri went on to do the superhero film "Man of Steel".
- According to James Mangold, this film is influenced by the Japanese samurai films "13 Assassins" and Hiroshi Inagaki's Musashi Miyamoto Samurai trilogy; the Westerns "Shane" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales"; the crime films "The French Connection" and "Chinatown"; and the dramas "Black Narcissus", "Floating Weeds", "Chungking Express" and "Happy Together".
- Hugh Jackman said that with this film, he finally achieved the physique that he always envisioned in his mind that Wolverine should have. He said that for some reason, on each of his 5 prior takes at the character, he felt that he never had enough time to get in shape; for this film he finally had enough time, and got his body exactly the way he wanted it to look. Co-star Will Yun Lee also said that it was Jackman's best physique for the role of Wolverine.
- According to Hugh Jackman, Wolverine being surrounded by death while being unable to die due to his healing factor is a major theme in the film: "He realizes everyone he loves dies, and his whole life is full of pain. So it's better that he just escapes. He can't die really. He just wants to get away from everything."
- The first X-Men film to be released in 3D and IMAX.
- Famke Janssen filmed her Jean Gray cameo in three days. Hugh Jackman said, "There's no doubt that the most important relationship in his life is - we've seen through the movies - is his relationship with Jean Grey. Yes, we saw her die at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand, but in this movie, she has a presence which I think is vital to the movie, particularly for him confronting the most difficult thing within himself."
Gallery
Videos
External links
| X-Men films | |
|---|---|
| Released | X-Men | X2 | The Last Stand | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | First Class |
| Development | The Wolverine | Days of Future Past | Deadpool | Other |
