Thursday 17 March 2011

Aronofsky Quits The Wolverine





In a shocking statement released Thursday, acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky has announced that he has quit the production of The Wolverine, 20th Century Fox's highly anticipated superhero sequel. In a joint statement released with Fox, the director told The Hollywood Reporter "As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of The Wolverine would keep me out of the country for almost a year." He further stated, "I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."


A Fox spokesperson said that the studio is "disappointed." The spokesperson also noted "Having done both 'The Wrestler' and 'Black Swan' with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future."

There has been no official statement on how Aronofsky's leaving will affect the shooting. According to the script being penned by Christopher McQuarrie of "The Usual Suspects" fame, the Marvel character would be facing an internal struggle between his animal instinct and his sense as a noble Samurai. The shooting was to take place overseas, including some parts in Japan, which has been ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami. There is also no word on how this will affect the film's release, which had been rumored for 2012.

A big question remaining for Hugh Jackman, who has been bulking up per Aronofsky's instructions on 6000 calorie a day diet, is whether he will have to keep the weight on. According to the Fox spokesperson, the studio and Jackman are both "committed to making 'The Wolverine.' We will regroup and move forward aggressively."

Who do you think should direct The Wolverine now?


21 comments:

DEZMOND said...

Hey, I've just wrote about this as well over at HOLLYWOOD SPY :) Great minds think alike, Melsy :)

Well, Rachel Weisz divorced him because he was apparently too busy with his work, and now he could have custody problems if he neglects their son as well, so he had to quit this job.

Dempsey Sanders said...

Thanks for the news Mel, gutted he won't be doing it again, I did like the first outing, but I guess family is more important so good luck to him. Wish him the best.

FilmMattic said...

Ahhh this is very disappointing news :(

I was really looking forward to seeing Aronofsky's take on the Wolverine saga. He is such a brilliant filmmaker. I have no idea who will replace him, but I still have to digest this sour update.

Dark-Blue-Jeans said...

It's lame of me to say I know, but I have never watched any of the X-Men movies, but judging by the comments already this is really bad news for fans.

Fritz "Doc" Freakenstein said...

I never thought Aronofsky and Wolverine were a good fit. Aronofsky is best when he works on smaller scale films. I hated The Fountain, but loved the Wrestler. I'm also looking forward to seeing The Swan, despite my lack of interest in ballet.

Unknown said...

havent the slightest idea. hopefully the story doesnt suffer.

levian said...

nooo, but he was so good with it! sorry to hear about his divorce, but it is true that family is much more important. too bad, but i guess we can just accept another director who comes next n enjoy what they will bring for us! :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

If I have to be honest, I was secretly praying for this to happen. I love both, Aronofsky and the Wolverine, but the collaboration itself just doesn't seem quite right to me. Aronofsky is in a totally different league, and not the appropriate director for the job. My opinion though.

Elwood Jones said...

It seems to be a running theme with Aronofsky, whenever he gets involved with a high project, he'll get everyone hyped and then suddenly drops it and makes another great Indie movie, as see with "Batman Year One", "Flicker" and "Lone Wolf and Cub". It's this switch to instead make another great indie film
which also makes it all the harder to besmudge him.

JL said...

I was always curious about this because I thought Aronofsky and Wolverine were an odd couple. It definitely isn't Aronofsky's typical film. But I trust him enough as a filmmaker that I figured he knew what he was doing, so it was going to be interesting to witness it.

To me this seemed much like Nolan stepping out of his "comfort zone" in a sense and going mainstream to do "Batman Begins". This could've been Aronofsky's "Batman Begins".

Not sure who will replace him now and off the top of my head I can't think of anyone really. I'm sure they'll most definiteloy move ahead though.

Unknown said...

@Dez Yes, great minds do think alike, though you've got the details on the dirt behind the statement. Always the best inside news from my fave spy. ;)

@Demps I wish him the best, too. He's a great director.

@Matt I'm disappointed, too. I was very curious to see what he'd do with Wolverine.

@Ali Wolverine was my fave X-Man and a lot of fans are probably disappointed like me. Now long as the film gets made, though, my sadness won't last long. :)

@Fritz It was an odd pairing, but it just might have worked. I agree with you on The Wrestler, it was a great film and I loved it.

Unknown said...

@Major_Mack Christopher McQuarrie's an excellent writer so I hope they can get another director who will do justice to the script.

@levian Could not have said it better. :) As long as the sexy Hugh is still Wolverine,I'm happy.

@Nebular George, I agree Aronofsky is in a different league, but sometimes you never know what will work. I just hope they get someone soon as I love Wolverine. :)

@Elwood I did not know about these other projects. Wow. Still you're right with movies like Black Swan and Wrestler, it is hard to begrudge him.

@JL I would have loved to see Aronofsky do this film. I loved Nolan's take on Batman. I have no idea who they'll get now, either. No one comes immediately to mind.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Del Toro!

Unknown said...

@Alex Del Toro would be an interesting choice for certain.

Christian James said...

As long as there still will be a Wolverine I'm happy, thanks for the news Mel.

Toodles
CJ X

Emm said...

This is probably a but ignorant of me but why can't Gavin Hood direct it and why wasn't he directing it in the first place? I enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Movies on my Mind said...

Fox is hopeless. They ruined Gavin Hood's vision for the last Wolverine flick and probably did the same here.

Unknown said...

@CJ I'm with you, happy as long there will be a Wolverine.

@Emm I was hoping Hood would direct again, too.

@Movies on my Mind You are so right about Fox. They should have let Hood direct the movie he wanted.

JL said...

I say they give it to Matt Reeves.

Unknown said...

@JL Matt Reeves is an interesting choice.

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