Who wants to direct Wolverine, anyone!?

Those of you who saw X-Men: First Class on the weekend were no doubt titillated with the Hugh Jackman cameo that saw Wolverine kindly tell Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr to self-copulate. Such sights also set our radars to ‘sigh’ as we remembered the shambles that was the original prequel in the series; X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The real knife in the side is news that Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler writer/director Darren Aronofsky is now not directing Jackman (for the first time since 2006′s The Fountain) in the proposed sequel said to be a one-off, Japan-set, sword-wielding epic simply titled, The Wolverine.

That once confirmed rumour has turned to shreds with Aronofsky sighting an unwillingness to commit to the year long Japanese haul. The recent tsunami disaster did not help matters in terms of production schedules, leaving The Wolverine to swim in limbo until Fox finds a replacement worthy of Aronofsky’s hype to re-boost the reboot.

However, since ‘First Class’ began kicking-ass, fans have turned their dial to the status of their favourite mutant once again and last month saw a narrowing of the field to eight would-be directors. The ‘Yes-please!’ category sees Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity), James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk The Line) and veteran music director Mark Romanek lead the pack. The ‘No-Thanks’ contender is Justin Lin (Fast Five). ‘Who’s that?’ directors include José Padilha and Gary Shore and the ‘Yeah – Maybe’ list sees Gavin O’Connor, director of the upcoming Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton mixed-martial arts vehicle Warrior.

So far, none really manage to stir the excitement of Aronfosky’s proposed involvement, although since he left the project he has taken a gig for Revlon directing a commercial starring Pharrell Williams and Jessica Biel!? Thus the street-cred argument of a ‘director with integrity’ is altered remarkably.

UPDATE:
It’s James Mangold!!!
Shooting to commence October 2011, release planned mid-late 2012.