It’s no secret that we here at CHUD are fans of David Benioff, the writer of The 25th Hour. In fact, when I did the junket for Troy I got to meet Brad Pitt and Sir Peter O’Toole, but Benioff was the one who had me with butterflies in my stomach.
At that junket he actually mentioned how he had been a fan of comics like The X-Men as a kid, so it makes a level of sense that he should be signed on to write a Wolvering spin-off movie. That’s right, it’s official.
The idea of a Wolverine film has long been circulating as a possibility in case X3 couldn’t come together – but with that film steaming towards a summer start, it looks like we’re getting our cake and possibly eating it too. Of course this is all contingent on Hugh Jackman signing on (he’s in for three films, but this would make #4) – although after seeing another franchise sink when Van Helsing sucked, I wouldn’t be surprised if he jumped at the opportunity for a gig like this to underwrite his future Broadway endeavors.
Benioff was hired after he pitched a concept – as yet unknown to us – to Fox. What this does mean, though, is that it looks like Wolverine’s past won’t be getting touched on much more in X3, unless it’s serving to open the door to the spin-off film.
Benioff has a new book of short stories out, When The Nines Roll Over, which I recommend. He’s been spending most of his time screenwriting, though, with adaptations of For Whom the Bell Tolls (written by some dead dude or another) and George Pelecanos’ Right as Rain (for Curtis Hanson – if you run into me on the subway today, I’ll be reading this – and carrying a knife, so if you don’t start none there won’t be none), as well as having his original screenplay, Stay, be released as a finished film this fall.