While Darren Aronofsky is off trying to convince Christian Bale to start working with animals, we've all been left wondering who will be taking the reins on The Wolverine, the superhero spin-off starring the other guy from The Prestige, Hugh Jackman. Now comes word that Fox has settled on James Mangold, the director of 3:10 to Yuma and Walk the Line, to helm the project.
With 3:10 to Yuma, Mangold displayed an ability to film incredible yet grounded action set pieces, and he established an admirable sense of time and place with Walk the Line, but his most recent directorial effort, the Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz action flick Knight and Day was decidedly less successful. Mangold does have experience working with Jackman at least, but it was in the 2001 rom-com Kate & Leopold, which had far too few eviscerations for our liking.
Can you honestly tell us you didn't want him to pop those claws?
Mangold got the gig by beating out a list of other directors including Gavin O'Connor and Antoine Fuqua, and will direct from a script by Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote both The Usual Suspects and The Tourist, so we have no idea what to make of him. The Wolverine is said to be set primarily in Japan and largely rooted in the classic Chris Claremont and Frank Miller Wolverine limited series.
