Even though acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) has left The Wolverine and Japan is an uncertain film location possibility thanks to its current woes, Hugh Jackman sounds cautiously optimistic about the project. With the action-adventure sequel currently in a state of flux, the Aussie star is urging the film's backing studio, Fox, to move ahead "full steam" and find another shotcaller.
"We need to find another director and once we’ve found that, we’ll be able to know," Jackman told Coming Soon at CinemaCon. "It’s too early to call on Japan, I’m not sure where they’re at, so now we’re finding another director, but Fox is very anxious to make the movie and we’re moving ahead full steam to find another director."
Given the fact that the script relies heavily upon Japan as a setting and the earthquakes and tsunamis there will prevent shooting for some time, the dreary situation hasn't dampened Jackman's spirit, nor his friendship with Aronofsky. "This one [The Wolverine] didn't work out. But hopefully there'll be another one."
Seems like the plan for the Christopher McQuarrie-penned sequel is to still meet its 2012 release date.
