Darren Aronofsky is still preoccupied with Black Swan in advance of its release in the US on 1st December, however with his planned reboot of Robocop having fallen through, he will soon be looking around for his next project.
According to Deadline, Aronofsky is part of a two horse race with David Slade (Hard Candy, Twilight: Eclipse) for the director’s chair on Wolverine 2. We reported here on the previous two-horse race between Slade and Robert Schwentke, since when Schwentke has dropped out of the running. Until Twilight: Eclipse, Slade would have seemed as unconventional a candidate as Aronofsky, however Slade has now been baptised into the waters of effects-heavy franchises and may therefore be felt by 20th Century Fox to have the edge.
As Deadline rightly point out though, Hugh Jackman, who will of course appear again as Wolverine, holds a great deal of sway over the final decision and he has worked before with Aronofsky (on the audience and critic-dividing “The Fountain”). Black Swan is generating plenty of buzz, however 20th Century Fox are going to have to decide whether Aronofsky’s lack of bigger-budget experience is too much of a risk. As we know, it can work out great, as it did with Christopher Nolan on Batman Begins or Bryan Singer with X-Men, or terribly, as it did with Gavin Hood on the first Wolverine film and Tim Story on The Fantastic Four.
Whether this will come down to a coin-toss, or a final decision by Jackman, remains to be seen. Personally, I have found Aronofsky’s style and approach a little too dour and depressing at times and Slade seems to have injected a refreshing lightness and self-awareness into the Twilight saga. Perhaps the decision will come down in the end to the style for which the studio are looking. As Steven Neish reported, whoever is at the helm, Wolverine 2 will be set in Japan and find our favourite be-clawed antihero getting caught up in a tussle with the samurai-sword wielding brothers and father of a new love-interest. At some point, a decision will be made and we will be sure to let you know as soon as we hear.
