Black Swan director leaves 'The Wolverine'.

Aronofsky leaves ‘The Wolverine’

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Darren Aronofsky, The multi award nominated /winning, director of Black Swan, has dropped out of directing The Wolverine. A statement said it was because the shoot would have meant spending too much time in Japan, away from his family. Aronofsky separated from his wife, and mother of his son a month after it was announced that he would be directing The Wolverine. It is probable that this circumstance, coupled with the recent tragic events in Japan, have made the extensive location filming untenable for him.

 A joint statement from Fox & Aronofsky reads:-

“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,"

What now? 

Of course this is bad news, as it would have been interesting to see what such a unique director would have brought to a film like this. It’s definitely a story with a lot of depth to it and genuine character development for Logan too; The original is full of drama and romance as well as all the action you'd expect from a Wolverine story  set in the land of ninja and samurai. The Script is by 'The Usual Suspects' & 'Valkyrie' screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, and is based on The 1982 story arc created by two of the comic book industry's genuine legends, Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.

Widely acknowledged as one of the finest story-lines ever written. We can only hope someone of similar standing, and outside the box styling is found to replace Aronofsky, whose choice as director was a clear statement of intent as far as making something different to what has come before and to create not just a kick ass piece of super hero entertainment, but a complex, award worthy film as well. we can only hope someone of similar standing, and outside the box styling is found to replace him. 

Personally I’d rather see the release pushed back a bit than rushed replacement. There was an intent to get something different done here so getting the likes of Brett Ratner, Stephen Sommers and co, who could all do a fine job action blockbuster wise, wouldn't really cut it, A-List directors or not. That said it would be interesting to see what Luc Besson would do with this story; ditto Guillermo Del Toro or Quentin Tarantino. Of course you suspect any of those three would be likely to push hard for a higher rating (15 – 18 or R) than the studio / Jackman preferred 12A or PG-13. Three directors who may also have been interesting, but are definitely too busy are J. J. Abrams, Brad “The Incredibles” Bird, and Paul Greengrass.

Final, unlikely, wild card................................ The Cohen brothers.

Ladies fear not, Hugh Jackman will doubtless still be putting on the extra 30lb of muscle Aronofsky said he needed to make the movie. The chances of Logan stripping down to a vest at least once remain high.