It's official, Darren Aronofsky, critically acclaimed director of Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler and most recently Black Swan, has called it quits on Fox's Marvel origins reboot The Wolverine. Only a scant four months ago it was announced that Aronofsky was attached to the project, but now The Wolverine has already begun its slide back into contemptible, spin-off mediocrity with the former director's recently announced abandonment.
Deftly playing the diplomat, Aronofsky assures us it is only a clash of production scheduling and travel considerations which prompted his departure:
"As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."
Continuing with the phishy charade, Fox released the following statement:
“While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do ‘The Wolverine’, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both ‘The Wrestler’ and ‘Black Swan’ with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making ‘The Wolverine’. We will regroup and move forward aggressively.”
In this reporter's opinion the above reasons for Aronofsky's departure are pure poppycock, a thin veneer of niceties to hide the real truth behind this abrupt, and disheartening, news: there are too many cooks in the kitchen on The Wolverine project.
Rather than wage the creative control war against overbearing studio heads, Aronofsky seems to have recognized the constraints of working on a tent pole superhero reboot and opted out of the project before it became too much of a headache. While I salute you Mr. Aronofsky for maintaining your directorial dignity, I now worry for the fate of the Chris Claremont / Frank Miller sourced 1980s Wolverine adaptation. May god help it.
