I’m not going to lie, there was a part of me that saw this coming. The whole idea of Darren Aronofsky trying to reinvent the character of Wolverine with Christopher McQuarrie writing the script was too good to be true, and it turns out it was. Aronofsky has bowed out of the directorial position on The Wolverine leaving the whole future of the project hanging in the balance.
In a statement from Aronofsky he claims that the project would have kept him for too long on filming and pre-production as the film has not yet got the greenlight. Read his statement below:
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.
Fox however are committed to making the movie properly without him, despite leaving an obviously massive hole:
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.
The movie has not yet got the greenlight or been given a release date yet but Aronofsky’s production company Protozoa still has a production deal with Fox. (The Hollywood Reporter)