Xcavate: The latest on The Wolverine movie...

While there's been loads of talk about the X-Men First Class sequel, there's been a lull in newer The Wolverine updates. This is mainly because of Mr. Jackman's Les Miserables...but that doesn't stop director James Mangold from dishing out some details!

Mangold first spoke to The Playlist, saying he thought that a sequel was the best place for him to imprint his personality on the property, since he’s unhindered with it being neither ensemble piece nor an origin story.

“You could actually just tell a story about this amazing character from the start, just the way they do when you really read a comic. You don’t have to spend the first hour saying how they were born; you can actually just find them in an emotional space, in the middle of action, and what happens is you’re not crowded with cutting to nine other action heroes. You can really make a movie about this dude.”

About his reluctancy to take up the film: "Several months went by & I hadn’t even really read it, & later when they came back to me & I kind of took it in, & a lot of that hand-wringing had kind of died down. What I saw was some really promising material, & to me an interesting character played by a great friend of mine who’s a terrific actor, Hugh Jackman.” (Mangold worked with Jackman on Kate & Leopold, a film he wrote & directed in 2001.)

What drew him to the film: He was drawn to the locale of the film (Japan- though now locales are being discussed due to the tragedy that befell the nation in March 2011). It wasn't just very different from the first film, but an environment which he felt audiences hadn’t witnessed a superhero movie take place in.

“It’s a kind of adventure following such a unique character also in a really unique environment. I mean, the fact that half of the characters in this movie speak Japanese, this is like a foreign-language superhero movie that’s as much a drama & a detective story & a film noir, with high-octane action as it is anything like a conventional tentpole film.
I think part of the reason I’m doing this picture has been because it isn’t to me a conventional superhero movie. It isn’t an origin story, so I’m freed from that burden, & it also isn’t a save-the-world movie, which most of them are. It’s actually a character piece; I actually think it has more in common with The Outlaw Josey Wales & Chinatown, what we’re doing, than the conventional, ‘will Wolverine & his compatriots save the world from this thermonuclear device’ question."

About the rewrites with Mark Bomback (right >): "Mark Bomback & myself have done a tremendous amount of writing on the movie. There’s not a page that hasn’t been worked & reworked & rethought & story-boarded. So it just is what it is; I mean, kind of the part of connecting to the movie & developing the scenes & finding the locations & devising the action is all about not only making it good, but also in the process making it your own.”

In conversation with MTV News, Mangold explained that besides the advantage of his Kate & Leopold actor, Hugh Jackman's association with the movie, he "was just really intrigued by the script & the project & the boldness of making a really personal Wolverine movie." He also promised "serious action" along with "more of a journey for the character in a completely foreign land & more of a mystery and an adventure than it kind of is another save the world 'X-Men' film."

About the script he said it "goes more deeply into some really great questions about Hugh's character & his journey & where he's going. In many ways, the storyline makes me think even of Asimov's The Bicentennial Man. The man who's here forever must watch mankind make all of its mistakes & also lose everyone they ever love because we all either get killed or die in some way. We pass & they endure. At some point, do you ever get tired of it?"
On Hugh's physicality for the role: "Hugh & I have an idea about when in Wolvie's life we're finding him. I think it's in a place that will be a little more intense than we've ever seen him. In that sense, we'll be examining his look & everything else through that prism. That would affect everything from his level of musculature to his look."

Of course Hugh Jackman wasn't gonna let Mangold have the last word & he revealed more on the movie. In his talk with MovieFone, he also spoke about how James Mangold & he discussed about the tone of the film parallel to that of The Outlaw Josey Wales. He touched a bit on why he's so eager to do this particular Japanese saga Wolverine movie in an interview with ScreenCrave.

Hugh also spoke to MTV News about getting an R Rating: "There’s such great temptation to make an R rated Wolverine. I’ve always felt that & I know a lot of fans would like that & I totally get it. If there is ever a superhero that’s going to be R rated, it’s Wolverine. However in the last 10 years I’ve also met many 12, 13, 14, 15 year olds who for them Wolverine is not just cool you see it in their eyes, he’s everything to them. My thing to James Mangold, we were like ‘lets not put it off the table.’ There’s even talk about us doing 2 versions as in finding a way to do both while you shoot it, which could be really cool. But you need to have a really good reason to exclude those [younger] fans."

ContactMusic reported that in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Jackman stated: "I think we've got the chance to nail the character this time, to do the hole-in-one. We haven't managed that yet. On the last movie, we complicated it with too many other characters. And there'll be more women this time, which is good. The last one was so masculine!
On Wolverine's character development: "The new film will go more into the character. I don't think we've ever seen his rage expressed properly. We're letting go with this one of the whole, 'Who am I? Where did I come from? Oh no, I've lost my memory,' thing. I feel like that's sent us all to sleep. 'Yeah, whatever pal. We're bored! Fine, you were a sushi chef, whatever it was, can we just get on with the story now?'"

Speaking about women, after reports that Israeli star Sarai Givaty auditioned for a role in The Wolverine as a sexy huntress, there are now new reports that Israeli supermodel & actress Bar Paly is next in line to audition for the same role of the huntress (who's name is allegedly Victoria). Take this rumor with a fist-full of salt though...For now you can browse through her acting credentials...

It's now also been confirmed that Gambit will NOT be making an appearance in the movie. Thank God for that! He wasn't supposed to be in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the first place! The truth is the character was simply thrown in because it got cut from X3 after Brett Ratner took over the reins from Bryan Singer...

Recently MovieHole started a rumor via their Ask Clint column about The Wolverine getting delayed AGAIN! Check it below.

This, however, died quickly (thankfully!), refuted by JoBlo...

Stay tuned for more updates on The Wolverine right here...