Darren Aronofsky is going to direct a comic book adaptation if it kills him — or at least get his name attached to as many in development as possible. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Aronofsky has entered into “serious talks” with Fox to direct Wolverine 2. The studio is allegedly happy to have him take the director’s chair, and he merely has to say yes or no.
This isn’t entirely new — we reported on it before — but after Aronofsky was on the list for Superman and Preacher, I’m not sure any of us were taking it seriously. He’s a name on nerdy studio dream lists. And he’s a fan of comics. It’s natural. But now, he’s getting close again. Robocop remake close.
Fox isn’t the only studio offering him a big budget piece, though. Warner Bros may have given Superman to Zack Snyder, but they’re so into Aronofsky that they’re offering him Tales From the Gangster Squad. It’s not unlike the Robocop situation of a few seasons ago, when Aronofsky pondered studio projects, and then ran off to direct Black Swan. I wouldn’t be surprised if he quietly walked away from both. (And ideally to Preacher ….)
Whatever Aronofsky does, we’ll love him for it. As I said before, the one way I could be seduced into obsessing about another Wolverine movie (even one centering on my favorite Logan story) is if Aronofsky signed on. I love his original work, but I’m selfish, and I’d like the wounded samurai story to be done right. If he signs, it’s an indication that Fox will let him have his creative freedom, and that Christopher McQuarrie’s script is worth the paper it’s printed on.
Or maybe he just really, really, really needs to get his samurai fix, story be damned. We’ll see. I’m going to be fidgeting in anticipation. Since the movie is set to film in January, we’ll be finding out very very soon.