The Wolverine "Best Script Yet" Getting a Rewrite; Adding More Viper?
Posted 09.02.11 by Ryan
No one said making movies was easy, and the highly anticipated, non-sequel sequel of The Wolverine is a shining example. Already victim of a delay that pushed production into next year (and the release date likely into 2013), the studio is filling that time by giving the script a rewrite.
Back in 2009, development began on a happy note, with Hugh Jackman revealing that Wolverine was "heading" to Japan for the next installment, which was going to be based on the seminal 1982 Wolverine mini-series from writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller. Fans were so deliriously happy that they instantly forgot the disappointment of 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
By 2010, Jackman confirmed that director Darren Aronofsky was going to direct the movie, and plans were soon in place to start shooting in April of this year, until Aronofsky dropped out a month before the Japan-based shoot.
A prolonged director search followed, with James Mangold, who worked with Jackman on the 2001 time-traveling romantic comedy Kate & Leopold, winning the job over several other candidates. Jackman felt that production could begin this year, but, weather problems in Japan ultimately delayed the shoot, which will begin next Spring after Jackman wraps a musical version of Les Miserables with The King's Speech director Tom Hooper.
Throughout the movie's long development, the one constant has been the script by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), which, by all accounts, was an excellent adaptation. Jackman admitted at the 2011 Comic-Con that "we have the best script yet," but, apparently, the studio feels it could get even "best"-er, so they have brought in screenwriter Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard, the upcoming Jack the Giant Killer and Total Recall remake) to perform a rewrite.
Bomback is no stranger to Jackman, having written the 2004 thriller Deception that starred Jackman (the actor also produced), and was seen by almost no one. According to the report, one of the newly expanded characters in the script is that of Viper, the Caucasian secretary for Japan's Minister of Justice. In the comics, Viper employs the Silver Samurai, a character that Jackman admitted he'd be fighting in The Wolverine. It's possible that Fox is employing Bomback to expand the character further, which might make the rewrite understandable. Otherwise, it seems like another unnecessary step in the movie's development, which already has had several missteps already.