Around December, director Darren Aronofsky was living the dream of every director out there. His latest feature Black Swan was well on its way to a $100 million gross in the States thanks to strong word of mouth, and he was on board to direct The Wolverine for 20th Century Fox and to again team up with “Fountain” star Hugh Jackman.
Aronofsky left The Wolverine not too long ago, citing distance from family as his reason for departure. That makes sense because of the film’s shooting in Japan, but it still left Fox in a bit of a pickle. The search for a replacement has narrowed, according to Variety, as the studio has a list of eight directors they want to take over — and it’s quite an interesting array of talent.
The eight directors under consideration are Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), Justin Lin (Fast Five), James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma), Gavin O’Connor (Miracle), José Padilha (Elite Squad 2), Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go), and Gary Shore (the short feature The Draft).
One glance at the list will tell you that the studio is looking at directors behind both art-house features and mainstream films. Six of the directors have had experience with directing action features. The only two exceptions are Shore and Romanek; the former mostly works with commercials, while the latter only has Never Let Me Go and One Hour Photo in his résumé of theatrical features.
Let us know which one of the eight you think should snag the helm of The Wolverine.