After months of rumor, flirtation and seeming inevitability the latest word is that director Darren Aronofsky is on board to take the helm of X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.
Deadline.com reports that the movie is lining up New York locations to accommodate both Aronofsky and star/producer Hugh Jackman, whose families live there. That's just the initial leg of the shoot, with the cast and crew heading to Japan next summer for the rest of the filming.
New York photography is set for March, which will allow the director to promote his new film Black Swan. Christopher McQuarrie wrote the script, which is said to be outstanding.
The handling of this movie seems to be a departure from previous X-Men outings, which seemed to have Fox rushing into production with pliant directors just to get a movie out there. The fact that they've lured Aronofsky, a notoriously artistic director, on board and are taking such pains to accommodate him seems to dovetail with recent reports that there's a new corporate culture at Fox which is about aiming higher on their summer blockbusters.
Between Aronofsky on this movie and Matthew Vaugh's X-Men: First Class, fans may be seeing some of the luster returned to one of Marvel's key franchises.
