Fox has played it smart since Darren Aronofsky left “The Wolverine.” Instead of a rush of shortlist candidates hitting the web, and studio and its star, Hugh Jackman, have kept cool, insisting they want the right person for the job. But it appears we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg of potential candidates.
In the midst of Deadline’s report about Hugh Jackman being offered “Snow White and the Huntsman,” they briefly mention that Fox is now beginning to look at directors and that David Slade and Duncan Jones are just a couple of early names being considered.
Slade is no surprise, really. He recently admitted he pretty much had the gig until Darren Aronofsky swooped in and took it for himself. However, in the wake of Aronofsky’s departure he hit Twitter to say that no discussions had taken place between himself and Fox, but obviously, that could change. Before Aronofsky bounced, Slade signed on to direct another comic franchise for the studio, a reboot of “Daredevil,” but we’d guess that “The Wolverine” is probably the priority project between the two.
As for Duncan Jones, with “Source Code” doing respectable box office biz and earning good reviews, his name coming up is not too surprising, but whether or not he’s interesting remains to be seen. We spoke with the director and he said that while he’s flattered to be considered for these kinds of projects — he was in the running for “Superman“ — he really wants to focus on his own material. “I’m also a huge admirer of the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino and those directors who have been able to build their own material and get it done on a budget where they feel they can make the films they want to make,” he said. “So ideally I would like to be in the situation where I’m writing my own scripts and making them at a budget level where I feel I can do them justice.”
Not to mention that he spent a lot of the “Source Code” press tour talking up a city-based sci-fi pic he wants to mount next. We’d wager he’ll want to turn his “Source Code” cred into fuel to get the pieces together for his next original script.
Anyway, it’s early days. These are likely just a couple of the many names Jackman and co. are putting on their list and no matter which way you look at it, Aronofsky’s shoes are going to be big ones to fill.
