The Wolverine : Post Production/Publicity

[hu4601]

Jun 24, 2013 2:16:51 GMT -5 jo said:

A few tender moments from Logan --


I wonder what happened to the mutton chops . Looks great without them

[jo]

The movie The Wolverine was supposed to have started filming in the fall of 2011. Hugh talked about it in San Francisco. But more delays occurred ( the film project was initially affected by several delays starting with the dropping out by Darren Aronofsky, the tsunami problem in Japan, the search for a new director, the inputs worked into the project by new director James Mangold, etc) ...by that time, Hugh had already been committed to Les Miserables ( which also hoped to make the Oscar season the same year they completed filming).

I guess a rearrangement of his schedule was worked out between Universal/Working Title and Fox for the early 2012 filming start of Les Miserables. In the meantime, for the rest of 2011, Hugh was able to secure a Shubert theatre for his one-man show - and unexpectedly returned to Broadway way ahead than planned ( fall and early winter of 2011). He started Les Miserables rehearsals a few weeks after the one-man show closed -- and rehearsed for about 8-9 weeks. Filming in southern France started around March 8...and continued until the third week of June ( Remember when he completed the last day of filming and he flew right back to NYC to host Tropfest - June 22/23 ?). After losing weight for the early scenes in Les Miserables, he had to regain bulk not only for the scenes as M le Maire/Madeleine but also for the forthcoming The Wolverine filming.

After a break ( I think that was their Bali vacation, maybe around July), they started filming The Wolverine, first in Sydney, then followed by a few weeks in Japan, and a return to Sydney afterwards. He completed filming by around late November, just in time for the heavy promotion and London premiere of Les Miserables, followed by advance screenings for the awards community.

If my above recollections are right -- he did have a very hectic time since Back on Broadway opened in NYC in late 2011! Back to back filming for two major movies after a hectic one-man show! The Wolverine must have taken around 4 months or so to film ( maybe August to November 2012?) and is now ready for release in July of this year.

PS: He didn't stop there -- simultaneously with the heavy awards promotion for Les Miserables, he started filming Prisoners in mid-winter of 2013. That one is ready for release in September of this year, too.

Jo

[birchie]

Jun 24, 2013 16:18:07 GMT -5 hu4601 said:

Jun 24, 2013 2:16:51 GMT -5 jo said:

A few tender moments from Logan --


I wonder what happened to the mutton chops . Looks great without them

I think it's the lighting and the angle.
Sue

[rmtndew]

Jun 24, 2013 12:42:37 GMT -5 birchie said:

Jun 24, 2013 12:13:52 GMT -5 rmtndew said:

I was at the movies Saturday to see Monster's University and they had The Wolverine poster up and they were playing the trailer in the lobby. I know it comes out next month but it didn't hit me until then how close that really is!

- Alicia

Just around the corner!! > Seems like forever since he finished Les Miserables and started working on this but it's actually been just under a year!! That's a pretty fast turn around for a movie like this I think.

PS: How did you like Monster's U? It won the weekend box office over World War Z and Man of Steel. I saw MoS with my son & grandson and I hated it...they loved it of course. It was things blowing up non-stop.
Sue

If you liked Monster's Inc, you'll like it. It's very cute. And G rated which is almost unheard of these days.
I wish Hugh would do a Disney cartoon. He's great in animation and with Disney he'd get to sing. But as Jo mapped out; he's one busy man. Maybe one day, though.

- Alicia

[JH4HJ]

Jun 24, 2013 17:00:16 GMT -5 jo said:

The movie The Wolverine was supposed to have started filming in the fall of 2011. Hugh talked about it in San Francisco...

Thanks, Jo. Obviously I don't keep track of Hugh's comings/goings as well as some around here. I thought he'd filmed Wolverine then Les Mis, and I was trying to reconcile why Les Mis has come and gone while we're still waiting for the Wolvie film to open. I think I've got it straight now.

He's a busy, BUSY guy. All the better for us. Can't get enough. Moah! :-/ Moah!!!

[jo]

It looks like they have now started the marketing of THE WOLVERINE in full gear --

*They have released more of the distintive artwork via posters of all the major characters - maybe 8-9, including one that is more of a sentimental nod to Jean Grey.

*The MOST revealing is the release of NOTES made by filmsites invited to an EDIT BAY site visits at FOX in April! There must have been an embargo on this release by filmsites until now ( which seems to coincide now that the marketing hooplah for Man of Steel is starting to phase out). One of the most informative is the report from JoBlo, one of the most prominent among film sites reporting on superhero movies. The article also includes what James Mangold gensrously shared about his cinematic concept for the movie and its execution --

( SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED)



www.joblo.com/movie-news/into-the-editing-room-of-the-wolverine

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SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED

JoBlo.com goes into the Editing Room of The Wolverine!
Jun. 25, 2013by: Andrew Hegele
66%3 Comments

“The first thing I wrote on the back of the script when Fox sent it to me was ’everyone I love will die.’ ” – James Mangold

The road THE WOLVERINE has taken to 2013 has been long and reported… We know the headlines: Japan, Chris Claremont & Frank Miller, Aronofsky and then Mangold... Even with superhero adaptations continuing to be as profitable as ever, reboots seem to be the forgone conclusion when a franchise reaches a poorly received installment or when the primary players simply age out of their characters. So it’s kind of a miracle that six films in, Fox is still championing a series that began in 2000. Like most of us, my relationship with the X-MEN franchise fluctuates on a series of highs and lows depending on the film. So to gauge how my write up will possibly reflect your anticipation level, let me quickly make my peace with the previous installments: I really like X1, love X2, tolerated X3 (haven’t revisited it since theaters), loath ORIGINS and am generally ambivalent towards First Class… Yeah, that last bit is usually where my opinion differs from most. With that in mind, after viewing the first fifteen minutes of THE WOLVERINE as well as the train action set piece you’ll recognize from the trailers, I feel pretty comfortable saying this movie is shaping up to be the most promising installment to the universe since X-MEN 2.

James Mangold: “Westerns and Samurai films and superhero films have a lot in common. The scale of the visuals in the tent pole films can sometimes overwhelm the drama. What’s beautiful about the western is that the technological limitations of the era restrict the ability for someone to go crazy with stuff like CG. So you’re then forced to actually do your job and make a story about people you care about and shoot action that seems real.” As it turns out, James’ suite on the FOX lot was a playhouse of western, samurai and superhero iconography; a large conceptual art piece of The Silver Samurai hangs next to an original poster for Glenn Ford’s 3:10 TO YUMA, followed by the excellent brush stroked posters for THE WOLVERINE leading to the editing bay.

I love seeing work in the actual editing bay, there’s something raw and inviting where instead of an exported file, the editor simply scrolls to the beginning of the AVID timeline and presses play. That’s exactly what happened when James brought four of us in. “Let’s show the beginning Mike.”

I never want to spoil too much with these, but I’ll give a brief rundown of what James showed us with some general impressions followed by some more words from the man himself.

The opening scene after the studio logos starts quietly; two B29 planes gracefully make their way across the sky in the distance. After a moment we hear sirens, then the title card: 1945. Cut to a Japanese prison camp where soldiers are running in the opposite direction of the bombers. We pull back reveling Logan in a barred up well (how he became, or stayed a POW remains one of the many mysteries regarding this man), he peers out of the well holding himself steady by his boned claws along the interior brick. Three high ranking officers, knowing what’s coming, pull out their samurai swords and preform “sepukku” or ‘honorable suicide by impalement’ (honor’s a big theme of this film as I gather). A younger Japanese guard then opens the doors of the prisoner’s entrapments and tells them to run. “Those are B29’s bub. There’s no outrunning.” Logan says under his breath. The bombs drop slowly in the distance. The young guard pulls out his sword ready to follow in his commander’s footsteps before Logan interferes; “Run!” He grabs the soldier and throws him down the well, holding its giant metal cover over him. The bomb goes off. What ensues is the most grotesque regeneration we’ve ever seen of Wolverine in an X-Men movie.

Cut to Logan waking up from a dream. He’s with… Jean! You can see a good deal of this scene in the opening of the last trailer. It’s a bit longer, he recalls his dream of the bomb and they actually share a laugh. “You’re making fun of me” Jean quips. Damn I miss Famke. Logan promises, “I’ll never hurt you or anyone ever again.” Of course, he’s already impaled her without knowing it. “Nooo!” and…

He wakes up, a dream within a dream. Logan, post X-MEN 3, is in the wilderness of the Canadian mountains with a full beard. We see a routine of his simple day around his base camp including a humorous scene where he urinates as a bear walks by, neither Logan or the bear flinch at the other. Oddly it’s in these assorted moments when you can already tell Mangold is doing something quite different. There is a grace to the pacing of it. A focus. It’s taking its time unlike previous installments and frankly unlike most superhero films I’ve seen recently. Logan heads to a small hardware store to pick some supplies. Outside the store is a group of obnoxious hunters, loading their rifles and drinking.

Logan wakes up later that night when he hears howling, he investigates nearby his camp and finds the bear from earlier dying from an arrow wound. Logan gently pulls out the arrow. “Damn it.” He recognizes something about this particular arrow. The bear is in agony. “Don’t make me have to do this” he whispers under his breath before using his claw to put the poor beast out of its misery. It’s a surprisingly moving and poignant moment.

Unlike the first X-MEN bar fight, the one that precedes this bear scene is not Logan defending himself from some punks that “don’t take kindly to his type”; rather it’s Logan fixating his aggression towards the hunters from outside the hardware store. As he walks into the bar we hear a hunter brag about shooting a giant game to the other patrons. Logan asks (paraphrasing) “You the one who shot at the bear?” Logan takes the arrow out and stabs it in the hunters’ hand, right through the wooden table. “You used poisoned tipped arrows. They’re illegal. It didn’t kill him, it turned him crazy and he wound up killing campers.” The hunter screams “No! I didn’t!” “Then I guess your hand will be just fine then.” Logan pours some of the hunters whisky over the hand wound. He’s in agony. Logan’s on the edge.

That’s when Yukio (Rila Fukushima) comes in. You can see the highlights of her bar introduction in the last trailer. She pulls some real Hattari Hanzo shit with her sword and the patrons rightfully freak. “It’s not worth fighting them. These men will die soon.” After some convincing, she escorts Logan to Japan by private jet. "How do you know those guys are going to die?" Logan asks. "Not all of us have claws." It appears Yukio is a mutant with the ability to tell some aspects of the future. Interesting... Now we skip ahead to a middle section of the move; the train sequence.

The train scene was the highlight of the day. Logan has to face a number of Yakuza inside a Japanese train car and by this time he’s already gained back his mortality. Wow, this Wolverine doesn’t give two shits about killing. Remember that moment of hesitation he had before unleashing his claws on the SWAT guys in X2? Not here, not when his life is actually on the line. It’s full on berserker from the get go. This was the most realistically choreographed fight I’ve seen in the series and the beginning reminded me of the trailer park fight between The Bride & Elle in KILL BILL VOL 2, remember when Elle couldn’t get her sword out because it was too cramped inside? Yeah, they play with the claustrophobic space of the train car well here too. I was surprised at how great the set piece looked when the action got on top of the train car; it looks much better than it did in the first few trailers. It’s also really engaging because the choreography of the fight demands Logan use some thought in how he’ll attack; it’s not just slash, slash, slash. At 300 MPH it becomes a game of chess with some of the goons. There is a great gag I won’t give away here, but rest assured the film delivers some excellent and fitting humor that never breaks the tension. Yeah, this is a terrific action scene.

If there was one word to describe my reaction to the footage I saw it would be: FOCUSED. Thinking about how this movie relates to other comic book films and specifically the X-MEN movies, I can definitely appreciate how James took one piece of an often-larger puzzle into Marvel’s version of THE MAN WITH NO NAME. The notion at least is similar to how they mostly liberated Tony Stark from s.h.i.e.l.d. and other heroes in IRON MAN 3 in order to make it a more personal story.

James: “I was the most interested in making the movie about… coexisting with the flagship plot movements of Claremont Miller and the pieces I was inevitably going to inherit from other films was this idea of the struggle of being immortal. Being forever. The struggle of knowing you loose everyone you love. That’s what I wanted to make the movie about. When I was a kid I actually wanted to make a movie out of the Bicentennial Man, the loneliness of someone who lasts forever. To add to that Logan’s own curse, that he either brings or signals the downfall of everyone he’s ever loved.”

It’s all the more interesting that this is the first time we’ll spend with him since the death of his friends in X3.

James: “It occurred to me when I first came on, an assumption no one else had made, was that this movie took place after everything. He was coming from a place where he has suffered the loss of his compatriots and mentors with no hope in replacing any of them. That seemed like a really strong thematic place to start. He’s also a stranger in a strange land and people are talking and there aren’t subtitles. I enjoy playing it that way, that there would be a sense of OZ to it all.

Given that this is a film without a nefarious gigantic force trying to take over the earth, the challenges are different. The plot structure is counter to what most superhero movies are. It’s more of a mystery noir picture. It’s less a ‘will he stop what’s the name from destroying cities. The stakes are more grounded and personal.”

He then relates the idea of the movie in general being more focused to the relationship minimalism has to genre,
“The idea of making a western where Hugh talks less is critical to me. Using the example of Samurai films or Josse Wales. The editing process has been one where you find stuff to take away. For my taste, I think movies tend to over explain. It’s kind of defense in part to the internet, you have so many people poking holes in things, it becomes a race trying to protect yourself from holes people will find.

Despite the fact that there have been a lot of movies, including an origin story that devoted it’s energy to that and other mutants, I felt there was this big softball down the center. You have a chance to do something that everyone, including me, wants to see done, which is to focus on him without the burden of telling us how he became Wolverine. To explore his rage, to his explore his conflict, his relationships without having to cut to nine other things.”

James concluded our discussion with what I think is the most on point assertion of what he is aiming for with THE WOLVERINE.

“I wanted to return him to the confines of his own abilities. He can’t jump up and pull down a helicopter in this film. I like the fact that he’s not Spider-Man, not Superman. It’s a little more about anger and determination, being a kind of Frankenstein monster of both nature and man. It’s more about the psychological wounds you’d carry than just doing ‘cool shit’. I wanted to bring in a FRENCH CONNECTION or BOURNE style action where you feel like it’s occurring in this world as opposed to being too fantastical. Growing up reading these, particularly the Marvel universe, is that it always felt like it took place in my world, an adult world.”
So there I was, after following the production and hoping for this kind of take on Wolverine since before ORIGINS I found myself leaving James Mangold’s suite with a very comforting vibe. This has every chance to be a high mark in the X-MEN saga. THE WOLVERINE opens July 26, 2013.

Aren't you all excited now ( to quote Eponine) ??!! >


Jo

[jo]

Hugh is on the cover of VANITY FAIR- Italian edition, released July 3. 2013, presumably to help promote The Wolverine.

antoniogenna.com/2013/06/26/edicola-vanity-fair-262013-3-luglio-2013-hugh-jackman-ti-annoio-se-telefono-10-volte-al-giorno/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

The cover story is in Italian - sorry - but the photo is definitely universal in its message



But do check out the link further for the brief interview in Italian ( taken at a set visit in Montreal) -- use a translator to make sense of it. One thing that I fully understood is that he may call Deb at least ten times a day!

He also said that he keeps three sets of wardrobe - lean, medium, and large (depending on his weight and bulk when filming or at when he is at rest-and-doing-family-things). LOL - I do remember in one account of the cover story for MEN'S FITNESS, that his publicist requested that the wardrobe that Hugh will have to wear for the photoshoot should be snug enough to fit his increased bulk ( including that of his thighs, which had further increased in girth due to training).

Jo

[jo]

Borrowed from SHH message board --














Can you guess who the distinctive character sketches refer to


Jo

[mamaleh]

Jo, that Vanity Fair cover looks familiar. Wasn't that one of the photos used in his People Sexiest Man Alive photo spread? Or maybe it just looks similar...?

Ellen

[jo]

It does look like the SMA photo series -- hey, Vanity Fair recognizes that Hugh is still THE Sexiest Man Alive

But the release date of this magazine issue is July 3, 2013 according to the cover photo.

Jo

[jo]

wolverine wolverine

[jo]

More reactions to the EDIT BAY visits/Mangold interview by filmsites --

www.slashfilm.com/the-wolverine-footage-reaction-james-mangold-aims-to-craft-an-emotionally-complex-x-men-movie/


latino-review.com/2013/06/25/the-wolverine-edit-bay-set-visit-part-1-glimpse-sequelprequel/


latino-review.com/2013/06/25/the-wolverine-edit-bay-set-visit-part-2-talking-director-james-mangold/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wolverine-edit-bay-set-visit-part-2-talking-director-james-mangold


www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=105073


www.firstshowing.net/2013/james-mangold-talks-genre-themes-and-reality-of-the-wolverine/

[jo]

An Australian online site talks of the set visit, Hugh, James, and filming in Australia --

www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/welcome-to-hell-jackmans-journey-to-the-ultimate-wolverine-20130608-2nwaz.html

Welcome to Hell: Jackman's journey to the ultimate Wolverine

Date June 8, 2013


Giles Hardie
Entertainment Editor, smh.com.au



It's a warm October day in Sydney's Chinese Gardens, which are currently doubling for a Japanese shrine. A host of silent extras dressed in intricate mourning clothes suddenly scream and scatter as the ceremonial funeral rapidly degenerates into a sprawling melee between mourners, mutants and samurai.

Last year, a handful of journalists from around the world were given access to the set for The Wolverine, Hugh Jackman's fifth film in which he has donned the Adamantium claws of his mutant alter-ego, but the first not to include the term X-Men in the title.

To me that's been the biggest handicap of some of these films. No matter how many resources studios pour into them, there sometimes just isn't the ultimate special effect, which is a real live moment.
James Mangold, director

"We really went for something new and different," Jackman explains to us in a break between shooting, the uber-fit actor covered in a combination of dirt and sweat all provided by the make-up department. "The moment the studio agreed to call it The Wolverine I was just thrilled. Rather than saying Wolverine 2, this is a standalone different movie. This is set in a different time, it's a fair way after X-Men Origins"


A noir film in Japan: Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine.

Jackman, who is also a producer on the film, admits he was never entirely satisfied with the first Wolverine-focused film. "I think for whatever reason, there were a number of things working against us at the time with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We all put our heart and soul into it. I just honestly - when I watched it - I went: I still don't feel like we've really delivered who my vision of who this character is, and the fans vision as well. So I'm thrilled we've got another shot at it."

"I never thought my run would last this long. Particularly for a guy who can't age, obviously there is a shelf life to playing this role, so I love it and I've always found it fascinating and slightly, I'll admit, frustrating that I feel we've never really delivered what I would say is the core of the character. And I think in this story, I know you get to see the ultimate Wolverine. You get to see who he really is. You definitely see him at his most vulnerable, both physically and emotionally."

Director James Mangold, who had no involvement in that film, speaks to us at the end of the day, satisfied with what he has shot. "Every day you're satisfied, but every day you're pushing for more," he says, "but I love shooting here and I love this environment a lot."

Mangold is revelling in the opportunity to make the ultimate Wolverine film to deliver on Jackman's vision. "I think the opportunity I saw here was a great actor, in one of the roles of his life, who maybe hasn't done it yet. Who maybe hasn't done the one that hits it out. That's a huge opportunity for me, as a friend to go: 'We don't have to deal with nine other members of the X-Men. This is about you.' We can go a lot deeper than I think people have gone before. Both of us were really looking forward to that."

This made the title decision important to Mangold as well. "We're making a standalone film. It fits into the universe, it doesn't deny the world, but it also is its own film. In that way the liberating aspect of the journey to another country has also freed us from the shackles to a lot of standard sequel making. It's just a movie on its own from the moment it fades to the moment it fades out."

For producer Hutch Parker, the Japanese setting exemplifies the isolated quality of the film. "It's akin to taking him to another planet," he says, "because it is so foreign from anything he knows. It puts him in circumstances that are really deeply alien. And the mechanics of that story challenge him in primal and deeply psychological, emotional as well as physical, and manifestable ways that make for the kind of character you hope for, but very, very hard to find."

The film's plot takes place almost entirely in Japan, yet we sit within the correctly named Chinese Gardens, however there can be no suspicion that the film's design team is merely settling for any Asian look they can find in Australia. The gardens are vastly altered with everything from the installation of water-features and bridges to the finest alteration to roof architecture and detailing to ensure an authentic look.

Art Director Ian Gracie knows from experience that an intensely enthusiastic fan-base will study every aspect of his work. "Unless you do it correctly, you can be looked upon as a fool, or not knowing what you're doing. I did a couple of Star Wars films and every time you make the wrong mistake, put the moon in the wrong quarter of the sky, there are a million people who'll jump online and tell you that you're wrong."

While some exteriors were shot on location in Japan, the vast bulk of the production took place in Australia.

There's no question in this case that Hugh's dedication, and his relationship here in Australia, had a lot to do with the consideration to bring the film here," says Parker.

"Frankly, Australia's not an inexpensive place to shoot. Without the subsidies we were able to achieve with the government, it would have been very difficult. The other thing that really helped us was the quality of the crew here. When you're doing as big of a show as we are, and as much of a built show as we are, that becomes hugely important."

"I don't think there was ever a time where we thought we were going to make all of the film in Japan," explains production designer Francois Audouy. "We did consider it, because it's an experiment, but it's such a complicated visual effects movie, with complicated sequences, that it requires a certain amount of studio technology and craftsmanship. So you need a worldwide hub, like a London, or a Sydney, or a Los Angeles."


This notion of the film being an experiment appeals to Mangold, who also directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and the Western 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. He believes the risks The Wolverine is taking have spurred him to be even more creative with it.

"This movie is a risky movie," he says. "It's got a lot of foreign language. It's got a cast that's nine-tenths not American. All those things make studios feel that they're taking a little more of a risk. It's a character-based film. There isn't some obvious uber-villain that everyone's heard of who's going to be reigning through the film. A lot of the aspects of the movie become elements of risk [so the studio] have asked us to make it for a little less than some tentpoles might be."

That suited Mangold down to the ground, a director who is combining the latest camera technology with decades old lenses to achieve a unique look, a method he also used when he directed Walk The Line.

"I didn't want it to feel like every set-up is some kind of studio set-up, or every fight is only about cables and rigging. I wanted it to feel gutsy and handheld and very urgent.

"I make dramas and because I'm not by trade a tentpole filmmaker, the thing I'd like to believe that I'm bringing is the same attitude that I've been bringing making Walk the Line or 3:10 to Yuma. That in a sense, the scene work is excellent, the moment to moment reality of these characters living, breathing, loving, touching, turning, feeling in pain is real, not bulls--t.

"To me that's been the biggest handicap of some of these films. No matter how many resources studios pour into them, there sometimes just isn't the ultimate special effect, which is a real live moment."

Not that there won't be a wealth of big action scenes, after all it is still an X-Men story, if not branded as such.

"My whole difference is I don't want [action] for gimmick's sake. I don't want to just think up crazy new … I think that sometimes that's already gone too far. Some things I have seen in some of these movies, I don't believe they can do that. It's the computer-aided credibility has been strained for me. When I read comics, I love believing what my heroes can do, but I love believing that they're still flesh and blood. The whole thing wasn't painless.

"You get hit, it hurts. You get cut, you bleed. For me the instantaneous nature of healing is something that I think got carried to such an extent that I felt like it's almost like there's no stakes for the character. What I wanted to find

Mangold describes the project as making a noir film in Japan. "I watched samurai films and thought about this idea of the ronin, a samurai without a master, which is exactly what Logan is. A kind of hero without a purpose, a hero without a mission. Does he even have interest in a mission anymore? Or is he so bored with the way mankind keeps fucking up that he has almost decided to recede? I think that's a really interesting place to start a film and a really interesting place for this character to go on a journey."

The plot, based on a particular X-Men comic book series that is a favourite among many fans, sees Jackman's unkillable hero meet up with a Japanese man whose life he once saved. Now old, he offers Logan the opportunity to forego his immortality.

"I waited in a way 12 years for this chapter in this saga, for this samurai story," says Jackman. "From the very first week I had on [the first] X-Men, I was reading this comic and [producer] Lauren Shuler Donner and I were saying, one day, hopefully we get to do this story.

"Wolverine's a character who's at war with himself, as much as anything. In a way you could say his greatest enemy is himself. In this movie, you definitely see him at his lowest point. He's without purpose. He's without a reason at the beginning. Through the samurai story and through being in this foreign land, he's fired to embrace who he is — or not, I won't give that away.

When Mangold met with Fox, he says he wrote on the back of the script "Everyone I love will die" and the curse has informed the film ever since.

"The story I wanted to tell was about a man who in a way felt cursed. And that everyone he'd ever cared about in the world, whether it be the people he fought with – as part of the X-Men - his wife, or others had perished. This idea we all kind of yearn or wish for immortality, but the curse of actually having to be on the Earth like a god forever is its own purgatory, its own hell."


Populating Logan's Japan

"We did a lot of searching for cast," says Mangold, "we wanted some really original faces" around Jackman in The Wolverine and he has certainly achieved that.

Parker is ecstatic with the cast Mangold has assembled. "We've literally on a number of occasions pinched ourselves; can you believe we're making this movie with this group of people at this time? Because it's very bold creatively to make a movie with as much of an international cast. That's a blessing. To really choose the best possible people for a role is something that doesn't always happen. Sometimes there are other issues that come into play, that drive casting and the process, and I'm thankful to Fox, really, that they allowed all of us to go about that.


A model in Japan, this is Fukushima's first acting role.

"I was taking acting classes on and off when I was modelling but I've never done anything until now. Yeah, I definitely fell in love, it's a completely different process from modelling.

"It's really interesting to see how Hugh spends [time] between the takes. I actually learned how to eat more, because he does stunts a lot and eats every couple hours trying to keep his energy up. Every time I look at him, he's eating or exercising."



Okamoto is another model turned actor for the film.

"I've been modelling for over ten years but I never really imagine myself acting, ever. Somehow, they were looking for a Japanese girl for this role and I'm sure they look for a lot of good actresses and they couldn't find the right one for them. Then, I think they opened the gate a little bigger and I think they started looking from models, like me. That's how I was found. "



A Russian actress most recognisable in Australia from a role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Khodchenkova chased the role from afar.

"I found out about the audition, and I sent in a video. I had an audition in Moscow, then I went to Los Angeles, then I had one more audition in Australia. It was a long way. I didn't really have any special preparation. I still did dancing, sometimes ballet, because it's good for the body to have nice muscle memory.

"Sometimes we have crazy moment, with the director giving me directions and I'm going, 'Oh my God! What is he saying? I need someone to translate!' It's a little bit hectic now and then, but it's funny."


Unlike some of his Japanese co-stars, Sanada brings a wealth of acting experience to the film, known on set as the George Clooney of Japan. "I think this is the time to open the door to the world. A lot of Japanese industry people think the western culture is too far, too hard to get into. But for me, I had a lot of experience with working with a foreign culture."


Read more: www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/welcome-to-hell-jackmans-journey-to-the-ultimate-wolverine-20130608-2nwaz.html#ixzz2XImseXtr

You may want to check the images from the article, using the link.

Jo

[jo]

They're really amping up the marketing, even here ( or maybe even more so) in Asia! More specifically, here in the Philippines ( even if our culture is more similar to the Western than the Eastern hemisphere, due to past Spanish and American influences).

Today, as I was looking for magazines - the first thing that stared me back was a cover photo of Hugh! It is definitely a new image - very chiselled features and manly, very much the Wolverine but in a very classy way. I have not seen this photo before. It was the cover story for our edition of TV Guide ( size of short bond paper).

*A lot of hoopla about The Wolverine which opens here a day earlier, on July 25!

*A write-up on Hugh

*An announcement that he is being featured on the Biography channel, fairly close to the release date of The Wolverine.


Btw, I have also seen an announcement that one foundation is sponsoring a benefit screening of the movie for its charitable purposes! And people are already buying tickets!

Jo

[jo]

Twin premieres of THE WOLVERINE - Sydney and Melbourne on July 24!

www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/central/fight-cancer-foundation-to-benefit-from-the-wolverine-film-launch-in-camberwell-on-july-24/story-fngnvlpt-1226670211127


Which one will Hugh attend


Jo

[jo]

Another big premiere -- in London on July 16 at the Empire Theatre at Leicester Square!

Be The Red Carpet‏@betheredcarpet18m
#TheWolverine - UK Premiere CONFIRMED for 16.7.13 Empire, L.Square, London Hugh Jackman is attending. Who's planning to go down for this?

Be The Red Carpet‏@betheredcarpet32m
THE WOLVERINE - UK PREMIERE 16.7.13 @ Empire L.Square.
Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, James Mangold

If I remember correctly, the Empire Theatre was one of two Leicester cinemas which hosted the world premiere of LES MISERABLES.

Jo

[birchie]

Jun 26, 2013 1:55:17 GMT -5 jo said:

They're really amping up the marketing, even here ( or maybe even more so) in Asia! More specifically, here in the Philippines ( even if our culture is more similar to the Western than the Eastern hemisphere, due to past Spanish and American influences).

<snip>

*An announcement that he is being featured on the Biography channel, fairly close to the release date of The Wolverine.

<snip>

Jo

I saw a mention of the Biography channel doing this somewhere else as well. Does anyone know if they made a new one? I hated the one they did in, I think, 2007. It seemed very quickly thrown together and only had a few people commenting about him. It was a rather odd assortment and mostly co-stars from TBFO, if I recall correctly. It also included Carson Kressly which I didn't get...I like him but I didn't think he belonged as the main spokesperson on Hugh! It also had a few factual errors. I hope they made a new, better one.
Sue

[birchie]

Jun 25, 2013 22:14:29 GMT -5 jo said:

wolverine wolverine

Great picture but wasn't Mariko the main female in the original comic book story? I wonder if they'll do a nice poster featuring Logan & Mariko. I know they're trying to hype the action aspects of the story & Viper & Yukio fill that bill but I always thought there was also quite a love story in the original?? I could be wrong...
Sue

[birchie]

Jun 25, 2013 17:42:14 GMT -5 jo said:

It looks like they have now started the marketing of THE WOLVERINE in full gear --

<snip>
( SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED********SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS BUT CAN BE TOLERATED)



www.joblo.com/movie-news/into-the-editing-room-of-the-wolverine
<snip>

Aren't you all excited now ( to quote Eponine) ??!! >


Jo

Very good article. I wanted to focus on a couple of quotes from the article because they really do have me "all excited now" LOL!

It seems to me that James Mangold and I share the same concerns about what's happening with movies these days:

"What’s beautiful about the western is that the technological limitations of the era restrict the ability for someone to go crazy with stuff like CG. So you’re then forced to actually do your job and make a story about people you care about and shoot action that seems real.”

I had a similar conversation with my son after seeing Man of Steel. I worry about the future of movies when so many focus on bigger and better effects and less & less on story and character development. All these movies just depend too much on destruction, everything blowing up and someone or something destroying the world.
Seriously, how many times can they destroy the world...or New York?


Of course I was already excited but, as some may recall, last year I wrote at length about how much I had enjoyed re-watching Shogun...the mini series not the chopped up horrible movie version...and this next quote just reminded me of some of the elements I loved about Shogun:

"He’s also a stranger in a strange land and people are talking and there aren’t subtitles. I enjoy playing it that way, that there would be a sense of OZ to it all."

In Shogun the audience gets to experience the story along with Blackthorne. It was an extremely risky way to do it but incredibly compelling. I'm very much looking forward to experiencing the Japan saga along with Logan/Wolverine. My excitement has grown considerably in the last few days with the new insights coming out about The Wolverine! Can't wait! smiley-happy036 smiley-happy096 :-/
Sue

[birchie]

Wasn't sure whether to post this here or on TV alerts thread but since it's only in Australia....
This looks amazing-Please Please Please someone record this or I hope the whole thing shows up on YouTube!
youtu.be/JzFmuN2cswM
Sue

[jo]

Hopefully, the station itself will upload the show on its site.

If this is part of the promotion for THE WOLVERINE, maybe there is a good chance we can see it online.

Jo

[rmtndew]

- Alicia

[birchie]

Jun 26, 2013 13:21:45 GMT -5 rmtndew said:

- Alicia

Can you imagine being assigned to interview someone and having that image waking towards you!!! :o smiley-love067 :o
Sue

[rmtndew]

I wouldn't be able to do my job, Sue. I'd melt to a puddle in the floor!

- Alicia

[jo]

I wonder how many Wolvie-related merchandise are out there


Jo