Fox Eyes "Wolverine" Spinoff

Tue., Oct. 5, 2004 2:05 PM PDT by

Call it a Marvel-ous mutation.

20th Century Fox has sealed a seven-figure deal with Troy scribe David Benioff to develop Wolverine, a spinoff following the razor-clawed mutant hero of the studio's X-Men franchise, Fox reps confirmed.

A longtime fan of the comic book, Benioff will pen the script based on an idea he pitched to 20th Century Fox executives. X-Men producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Marvel Studios chief Avi Arad are expected to supervise the project once they finalize their own deals.

Benioff, who wrote the upcoming Fox drama, Stay, recently adapted the George Pelecanos novel, Right as Rain, for L.A. Confidential filmmaker Curtis Hanson. According to Daily Variety, he's also working on an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls for Warner Bros.

When last we left our heavy metal hero, Wolverine had learned that he was the subject of an Army medical experiment that replaced his skeleton with a steel frame that made him nearly invincible and gave him the use of retractable steel talons as a weapon. However, X2: X-Men United still did not answer questions about his mysterious past, a notion likely to be addressed in future sequels or in the Wolverine spinoff.

The studio declined to divulge details of the plot. However it's unlikely other mutants, such as Wolverine's love interest, Jean Grey, or his shape-shifting nemesis, Mystique, will make an appearance.

Of course, the big question is whether Hugh Jackman--who essayed the tough-talking comic-book character in the first two installments--will don the furry sideburns again.

Fox is obviously banking on the newly crowned Emmy winner returning to the role that made him famous.

However by tailoring a tale around one of its most popular mutants, Fox could run the risk of overkill, especially since Wolverine could end up competing with the proposed third X-Men flick the studio has targeted to hit theaters May 5, 2006, and thus, dilute the franchise.

Development on the third entry was hobbled recently when its road-tested comic-book director Bryan Singer abruptly left the project for another Man of Steel--opting to helm Warner Bros. update of Superman.

While Fox searches for a replacement for Singer, the studio has since tapped writer Simon Kinberg to get cracking on the screenplay.

If Jackman does suit up, Wolverine could very well be an indestructible force at the box office, especially if X-Men's history has anything to say about it.

The Marvel series has become quite a cash cow for Fox. The first X-Men movie grossed over $295 million at the international box office upon its release in 2000, while its superhero sequel, 2003's X2: X-Men United, surpassed that total, raking in $406 million in global ticket sales.

Print Share on Facebook Share Comments

View Next Articles

0 Comments

Now loading...

Add Your Comment!

Guests

E! Online members

Register | Forgot password?

Play nice and have fun. And please, no HTML tags or special characters including [&*#()!@$].
You've got 1000 characters left.

Post Comment

The Big Picture

Hamm 'n' Cheese Our fave goofball Jon seems sorta determined to prove he's nothing like Don Draper in real life

More Photos
GRAB & SHARE
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Click Here

Our Partners

  • Huffington Post
  • PopEater

Get Your E! News Now

Text ENEWS to 4INFO (44636) for daily celeb news alerts

Standard messaging rates apply.

Did you know you can grab smokin' hot E! Online news, review and gossip through our RSS service?

New to RSS feeds? Learn more >>

Birthdate:

Enter your full birthdate:

  • Opt in for Breaking News Alerts

has been subscribed to the E! News Now Newsletter.

To change your settings, go to your preferences.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.