Darren Aronofsky No Longer Directing ‘The Wolverine’

In what is perhaps the most disappointing news of the day, the Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) is no longer directing “Wolverine 2” and has dropped out from the project. Here’s a statement from Aronofsky himself:

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.”

In response, Twentieth Century Fox had this statement:

While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do ‘The Wolverine’, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both ‘The Wrestler’ and ‘Black Swan’ with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making ‘The Wolverine’. We will regroup and move forward aggressively.

I’m still reeling from the shock, in fact, I was checking the date to make sure this wasn’t an April Fools joke. I had such high hopes for “Wolverine 2” because of Aronofsky and only because of Aronofsky. That’s not to say this movie is going to bomb without him, a director can only do so much with what he has to work with, but it will be disappointing knowing that the film will never be able to reach the potential with him on board.

The film was scheduled to shoot in Japan. David Slade had been in the running to direct; just days ago, he was announced as director of the new “Daredevil reboot.”

Source: Washingtonpost