Friday, August 20, 2010

'Rumors from the crazy guy on the corner': David Slade to helm X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2? But what of the video game spin-off?

Vulture has reported that the top contender to direct the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which itself was a prequel to X-Men) is none other than David Slade. Following his success on Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which likely surpassed the domestic gross of New Moon just today, Slade is being courted by Hugh Jackman himself to do the 'Wolverine goes to Japan' story-arc promised in the post-credit cookie of the last film. While the first Wolverine spin-off was pretty much detested by critics and audiences alike, the $150 million film still opened with $85 million and pulled in $373 million worldwide despite being bootlegged online by Fox Studios -I mean by scary foreigners- a full month prior to the film's theatrical release. Since original director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) apparently had all kinds of behind the scenes turmoil with Fox studios, it's no surprise that he won't be back. This would be David Slade's fourth film, following the critically-acclaimed Hard Candy, the vampire comic book adaptation 30 Days of Night (both solid genre pictures), and the aforementioned Eclipse (slightly overrated, I still prefer Hardwicke's quirky humor). Why, do you ask, am I reporting on this generally unwanted sequel to an original film that I detested? Well, because while X-Men Origins: Wolverine the movie was pretty god-awful, X-Men Origins: Wolverine the video game was one of the most flat-out entertaining and enjoyable action games I've played in years. Yes, I'm excited about a big-budget tentpole picture because I'm looking forward to the video game spin off.

Scott Mendelson

No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Labels