The Wolverine Concept Art and Set Photos Arrive Online as Production Nears Start [UPDATED]
Posted 07.25.12 by Ryan
Update July 26: Twentieth Century Fox requested that the photos mentioned be removed from the site, and we have complied with that request. We apologize for any inconvenience.
July 25:Production on The Wolverine starts next week, but star Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) have already arrived in Australia and offered Prime Minister Julia Gillard a tour of Fox's Sydney Studios, which the production is using due to the tax breaks made available in the country.
The Wolverine will also shoot in Japan for its exterior locations, but the interiors will all be shot in Australia. "It speaks to the incredible craftsmanship [here] that we can make so much of Japan — feudal Japan, urban Japan, sets — all here on our soundstages in Australia," Mangold told THR of the facility.
For Jackman's part, the actor was thrilled to be shooting in his native country. "I am so happy to be home, to be shooting a movie of this magnitude here at home is one of the great privileges I have had in my career," said the 43-year-old actor, who added that he plans to continue playing the character until "I stop loving it."
I have been working for 12 years on the Wolverine character and while the franchise will go well beyond me, it really has been the backbone of my career. This one has certainly been the most interesting and complex of the Superhero characters. I do take my career one (step) at a time and I feel like a golfer always looking for that hole in one.
Members of the press were allowed to look at some of the set models and concept art, which was revealed by If (via Coming Soon) in a series of occasionally blurry photos depicted below. Revealed in the photos is a well that Wolverine will apparently be trapped in, reportedly during a sequence that takes place in Japan during World War II.
Based on the the classic Marvel Comics limited series by writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller (300, Sin City), The Wolverine was adapted by screenwriters Chris McQuarrie (Valkyrie) and Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard). Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenkova (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) was recently reported as being in talks to play the villainess Viper, and could soon join a cast that includes Will Yun Lee (Total Recall remake) as the Silver Samurai, Hiroyuki Sanada (Speed Race) as Shingen Harada, Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida, Rila Fukushima as Yukio, Hal Yamanouchi (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) as Yashida, and Brian Tee (Wedding Palace) as Noboru Mori.
Next Showing: The Wolverine opens July 26, 2013