It’s an unlucky St. Patty’s Day if you’re a fan of big-name small-film directors working on blockbusters; Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky has left “The Wolverine,” Fox’s second spin-off on the popular X-Man played by Hugh Jackman. Sadly (or thankfully) there’s no one to blame in this instance.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Aronofsky had been working in pre-production toward getting an official green light for the project and in doing so realized that he would be spending a great deal of time out of the country, mostly in Japan. He was simply not comfortable doing so.
The director released a joint statement with 20th Century Fox, the distributor for his recent films “Black Swan” and “The Wrestler,” addressing this peaceful but sad parting of ways:
“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. 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.”
“The Wolverine” was written by “The Usual Suspects” writer Christopher McQuarrie and will reportedly take inspiration from Frank Miller’s acclaimed comic mini-series that involved the character’s time in Japan.
No word on who might replace Aronofsky, but it will doubtfully be a bigger name. Considering the hours of pre-production put in already, much of Aronofsky’s vision is soundly in place and someone simply needs to execute it. Original “X-Men” director Bryan Singer would be an amazing fit, especially because he directed “The Usual Suspects” and is so familiar with the universe, but he will be busy with “Jack the Giant Killer.” David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”), was once rumored to be in the running for the job, but yesterday agreed to start pre-production on a new “Daredevil” film.
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I’m kinda disappointed by this news. Not necessarily cause I’m incredibly hyped for this movie, but more because I wanted to see what Aronofsky would do with it and with this type of movie. It’s definitely not his typical fare, so it could’ve been interesting. This could’ve been his “Batman Begins” in a sense.
Oh well, I’m curious who they’ll get to replace him now.