Aronofsky on Why He Was Hired for "The Wolverine"

Wolverine copyright Marvel Comics- Image, 20th Century Fox

In a previous post, I mentioned that Darren Aronofsky has promised that The Wolverine will not be a sequel to X-Men Origins:Wolverine. Now in this recent interview, he explains why he thinks he was hired to direct The Wolverine, the mega-budget superhero film that starts production in April 2011.

The director is interviewed by David Poland of MovieCityNews, and Poland asks Aronofsky the question on a lot of people's minds:

"What the hell are you doing?" (refering to the Wolverine gig).

I love Aronofsky's reply.

"I'm just trying to have fun, and I think for the first time in my life...you know every single film I've done so far, I've been the only person in the room who wants to make the movie. I'm kind of excited about doing a film where actually everyone wants to make it."

It sounds to me like Aronofsky is truly excited about The Wolverine and is determined to do something very different in the superhero genre. Any thoughts on the interview?

Via MovieCityNews

All Action Re-cut "Green Lantern" Trailer



Green Lantern copyright DC Comics - painting by Alex Ross



This fan-edited version of the original Green Lantern trailer was cut by arttron. Compared to the trailer released by Warner Brothers earlier this week, I think it gives the film a more intense, less jokey feel. This is how I pictured the Green Lantern flick when it was first announced. Whaddya think?
Via Screen Rant

Aronofsky Says 'The Wolverine' Is No Sequel

Wolverine #1 (1982) Copyright Marvel Comics

Okay, now we know the title of Darren Aronofsky's Wolverine movie. That news was broken by Drew at HitFix on November 14: 

The film that he's directing is officially called "The Wolverine," and there won't be a number attached to it.  In our interview, he referred to the movie as a "one-off," and he emphasized that the film isn't a sequel in any conventional sense. - From HitFix.com

Copyright Marvel Comics

The next question is- "What's the story?" Will the film be based on a specific story arc in the nearly forty year comic book history of Wolverine? Speculation is pointing to the classic Chris Claremont / Frank Miller tale from 1982 in which Logan travels to Japan to win back the woman he loves while battling her samurai sword-wielding family.


Claremont, the writer of that 4 issue arc, recently talked to Brendon Connelly at Bleeding Cool and had some interesting things to say about the origin of that comic and the film, The Wolverine. In the quote below, I like how Claremont believes the film should be judged on its own merits as a story and not how closely it follows the comic book storyline:

The Wolverine in the film adaptation of the story exists in a different world than the Logan in the story, but that’s the same in any adaptation like the difference between Romeo & Juliet done by Baz Luhrmann versus Franco Zefirrelli versus on the stage. You mentioned that the film starts with him in jail so something happened between Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2, he’s in jail, but the essence of the character is the same. There’s no X-Men back story to it so you know this won’t end with him sending a note back to the mansion saying “Come to the wedding”.

The responsibility of the filmmakers is to define their own reality in that two hour stretch. The reality is what occurs in that 110 minutes. The idea with any film is you walk in the door never having seen anything before and you’re introduced to the totality of the experience. - From BleedingCool.com

So, we have a director in Aronofsky who specializes in dark psychological dramas, directing a story by an Oscar-winning screenwriter in Christopher McQuarrie, that's based on an iconic Claremont / Miller tale. Anyone, and I mean anyone, have a problem with that?

The Dark Knight Rises: Casting News

Catwoman - copyright DC Comics

Rachel Weisz

Deadline reported that director, Christopher Nolan, is narrowing his list of possible female leads for The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment in Nolan's Batman franchise. As of today (11/11/10) nothing is known about the plot details and Nolan has shot down rumors in the Los Angeles Times that The Riddler would appear in the film. All we know is that the script is still being tweeked and that shooting begins in New Orleans and Chicago in April 2011. The release date is listed on the Internet Movie Database as July 20, 2012. Scroll down for more.

Natalie Portman

                                                               

Anne Hathaway

From Deadline's Mike Fleming:

"I'm told one of the roles is a love interest for Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, and the other is a villain. The actresses are:
Rachel Weisz
Naomi Watts
Natalie Portman
Anne Hathaway
Keira Knightley

Naomi Watts

Blake Lively

This latest news from Warner Brothers concerning a female villain has stoked the rumor mill again - this time about the possible appearance of sexy Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman. In an earlier post, I mentioned a photo of Rachel Weisz modeling a costume that looked suspiciously like Catwoman's getup. Now that we know Weisz is in the running, it makes me wonder if that was an early bid on her part to land the role. Of the six contenders, I think she has to be a favorite, and yes, I do believe she will be Catwoman. How about this list of female co-star contenders? Any favorites?    

 

Keira Knightley