The Wolverine : Post Production/Publicity

[mamaleh]

There's an HBO First Look preview scheduled for July 19, 8:15 PM.

Ellen

[jo]

Here's Hugh with friend Josh Horowitz of MTV -- talking about mostly Days of Future Past ( and its 1970's theme and look) and how it might feel if they reboot the actor for the Wolverine role.


www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=83101

*Hugh and his fans ( we do not care what some fanboys say, esp those who prefer a shorter Wolvie) do feel "proprietary" about casting it with another actor

*Josh says he follows Hugh's physical regimen, except that he eats 2 cinnamon rolls instead of chicken breasts afterwards



Jo

[jo]

From STAR-LEDGER film critic --

Stephen Whitty‏@stephenwhitty
Reviews are embargoed. But if I WERE to tell you 'The Wolverine' is the best X-Men movie in years, I wouldn't be lying. @wolverinemovie

Another reason for optimism smiley-happy082


Later EDIT:


Then the filmsite critic/blogger who apologized to Mangold after seeing the film rewrote the above on the SHH Forums --

Reviews are embargoed. But if I WERE to tell you 'The Wolverine' is the best superhero movie in years, I wouldn't be lying. @wolverinemovie

smiley-happy082 wolverine smiley-happy082


This is the tweeter who rewrote the above comments --

Pietro Filipponi‏@poni_Boynow
Looked at my planner and what did it say? Tomorrow I get to meet the amazing @rila_Fukushima! Best Friday ever. Oh, and @realhughjackman too

He has said in a post on SHH that he is not much of a fan of Wolverine Hugh, except for select scenes in X-1 to 3. Hopefully, the new movie and the personal tete-a-tete will now change his mind.


Jo

[birchie]

Jul 11, 2013 20:37:40 GMT -5 jo said:

Here's Hugh with friend Josh Horowitz of MTV -- talking about mostly Days of Future Past ( and its 1970's theme and look) and how it might feel if they reboot the actor for the Wolverine role.


www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=83101

*Hugh and his fans ( we do not care what some fanboys say, esp those who prefer a shorter Wolvie) do feel "proprietary" about casting it with another actor

*Josh says he follows Hugh's physical regimen, except that he eats 2 cinnamon rolls instead of chicken breasts afterwards



Jo

That was such a cute, fun interview. I saw it this AM and saved it to my computer. Glad you posted it.
Sue

[birchie]

Jul 11, 2013 19:51:26 GMT -5 jo said:

Here's the interview with EXTRA --

www.extratv.com/2013/07/11/hugh-jackman-on-stalkers-rumors-and-being-wolverine/

It looks like his interest in dealing with personal security now and addressing the rumors is both based on what he thinks best for his family.

Jo

That was cool...I'm talking to Wolverine, tell them to wait...!
I'm not familiar with the woman interviewing him though she talks like she has comparable fame???
Sue

[mamaleh]

That was Hilaria Baldwin--Alec Baldwin's wife.

Ellen

[jo]

Another cover feature -- GQ Germany.

[birchie]

Jul 12, 2013 10:09:55 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

That was Hilaria Baldwin--Alec Baldwin's wife.

Ellen

Oh!!! That explains it! Thanks Ellen
Sue

[birchie]

Jul 12, 2013 10:39:36 GMT -5 jo said:

Another cover feature -- GQ Germany.

Love that cover picture! :o
Sue

[birchie]

I have an app on my big TV where I can search for the most recent YouTube uploads on various keywords like 'Hugh Jackman' or 'Wolverine'. It tends to give me many more than a regular YouTube search on the computer does, but the interview videos are coming fast & furious now so I'll have to be selective and pick the ones I like best. This one was good because Hugh talks about action scenes & how they are akin to choreography. youtu.be/vXHWahAq7Lo
Sue

[jo]

James Mangold, Hugh Jackman, and Famke Jannsen, at a press conference at the Mandarin Oriental.


I wonder if Famke's appearance in the movie is more than just a cameo?


Jo

[jo]

Very informative interview with Hiroyuki Sanada, the Japanese actor who plays Shingen --

www.scifinow.co.uk/news/45945/the-wolverines-hiroyuki-sanada-on-shingen-and-samurai-films/?utm_content=buffer65333&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

The Wolverine’s Hiroyuki Sanada on Shingen and Samurai

by James Hoare, 12 July 2013


Part of Sonny Chiba’s prestigiuous Japan Action School, though Hiroyuki Sanada made his name in the West with films like Speed Racer and Sunshine, he’s best known in his homeland for the likes of Samurai Reincarnation, Ninja In The Dragon’s Den, Legend Of The Eight Samurai, The Dagger Of Kamui, and the Academy Award nominated Twilight Samurai - plus surreal horror hit Spiral and the original Ring.

Bringing touch of old school Samurai finesse to the role of comic-book antagonist Shingen Yashinda in The Wolverine, Sanada spoke exclusively to SciFiNow about reinventing the comic, James Mangold’s Kendo dojo, and katana versus claws…

What can you tell us about your character?

I’m playing Shingen, it’s an original character from the comics, but Jim [Mangold] changed him from the comics. We arranged a lot of things differently for the movie, so I’m completely different – I’m a CEO of the largest corporation in the Asian Pacific, then I’m a father of the hero Mariko.

James Mangold’s talked a lot about taking influence from samurai films, you’ve done a few samurai films do did you see the character in those terms?

Yeah, he’s been learning Kendo a long time – he has a Kendo dojo in his house! [laughs] James has studied samurai films for years, not only for the action, but the drama the background, the culture – for everything inferring from those movies.

For Shingen, he’s not a stereotypical villain – one of the villains, but is he a good guy or bad guy? It’s hard to be sure. Every character has a background, James took a lot of ideas into the movie.



Shingen isn’t a typical super villain – he’s a father, a son, a leader, a businessman – was he quite a difficult character for you to get to grips with?

Yeah, because a lot of people have a completely different image from each character, maybe. He’s completely different from the original one in the comic – the original one has a bald head, is much older, the movie version of Shingen looks like a gentleman, but he’s done bad things. No, he’s not straight-up evil.

He has a respect for his father, he’s the chairman of his company, then my father invited Logan to Japan, and I don’t know why he invited Wolverine to Japan. So I’m curious and I want to know why my father invited Logan – I cannot trust everything. I cannot understand what’s between my father and the Wolverine, what relationship they have, or what they’re planning, so it’s very complicated and it was very hard to find out the best way to play Shingen.

Bad side, good side, other people… as the son of my father, or the father of my daughter, like a sandwich, [laughs] with people not tomato. He’s definitely the most intense character in the movie.


Did you look at the original comic-book miniseries?

I bought the comics three or four years ago, when rumours came out that they were making the movie. At that time I bought a lot of comics and read… it was completely an image from America, not like Japan now. Written in the Seventies? Eighties? Modern Japan’s not like that. No Ninja at all, no Samurai at all, so we departed from the original comics.

James Mangold wanted to make it more real, match it with modern Japan. Of course it’s an superficial world for the movie. It’s not the real Japan – but the taste, design, is more real. Not only in Tokyo but also in the countryside – it’s so beautiful, we shot in outer Hiroshima, near the ocean. It’s so quiet and peaceful, completely different from Tokyo. There’s signature from from the classic Japanese film, from modern film – there’s Ninja coming in, but not like the Ninja in the graphic novel, they’re wearing more modern black costume. It’s a realistic guise for the modern world.

Jim [Mangold] thought about that a lot, so this movie has a good balance between the comic’s take, and also modern, real Japan, and also eastern and western culture. It’s a nice mixture.


In the comic, Shingen has this iconic battle with Logan, which we see a bit of in the trailer and clips. What was that like to film?

Yeah, I was very excited. Claws versus Samurai sword, especially in a one-on-one fight with Logan – it’s very exciting shooting it.

[Filming fight scenes with Hugh Jackman] is very smooth on set, because he’s done a lot of fighting in the X-Men series already, and also he’s a good dancer! It’s very easy for him to remember the choreography, even on the set. Sometimes Jim would add another ten or 15 movements and the choreographer would come in and rehearse the fight scene two, three times, then shoot, shoot, shoot, and every time Hugh’d take the same balance, position, timing… he was so quick to learn.

We trusted each other, especially with the fights. I had a sword, and he had bare arms, bare wrists, so he had to take the sword on his bare arms, neck, body and I have to stop my sword right after I touched his skin. I never hit him harder, so we had trust each other – there were no accidents, no injury on the set at all. With his movements he was a great fighter, great performer – so professional. I respect him as a professional – I really enjoyed fighting with him.


Hugh Jackman’s been embodying that character for so long, is it easier for you to have someone like that to work with and fire lines at?

Yeah, exactly. He’s already Wolverine when he comes onto the set. I really understood what he means to my character, what I have to do. He’s so easy to talk to and he helped me a lot.


There’s a lot of really strong martial artists in The Wolverine, was it exciting watching them all come together for the big fights?

Yeah, this film has a lot of action sequences, not only with Hugh Jackman but with Ninja, Yakuza – a lot of action. I’m glad I got to have a one-on-one fight scene with Hugh, person-to-person, to create that scene.

I met him a long time ago at another film festival in Asia, maybe Shanghai or something, and we knew each other. We had the same makeup artist and he introduced me to Hugh and we talked about working together in the future. After that, when I was shooting in LA for Rush Hour 3.

Brett Ratner was the director, and he shot X-Men: The Last Stand, and then Hugh walked in stage left [laughs] and said hi again, “We should work together some day.” And then finally we did, so it’s been a dream come true not only acting together, but fighting together, we went to Tokyo together. It’s destiny!


There’s Japanese cast, Russian cast, Australian crew… what was it like being such an international production?

It was so fun, it was a real international project, especially when we got to Japan with the main Australian crew working with all of the Japanese crew and all the extras, and they all needed translators, and sometimes Korean actors who speak… Korean [laughs] There were a lot of languages.

I really enjoyed shooting in Australia, it felt professional and all the people were so nice and funny. The weather was the best in Australia, in Japan it was mid-summer, so hot and humid, and a lot of the Australian crew were dressed for the beach [laughs], like “I love Japan, but I hate this weather!” It was funny.


The Wolverine is released in UK cinemas on 25 July 2013. You can buy X-Men: The Ultimate Collection on Blu-ray for £32.68 at Amazon.co.uk.

*Interesting comment about Hugh being a good dancer. I have always thought that dance choreography and fight choreography are quite akin. Skill and grace in one helps out the other needs. Also, it must help a lot that Hugh is a natural athlete and shows such athleticism in both dance and fight scenes.


*I wonder if Hiroyuki having met Hugh before helped in his casting?


*His comment about modern Japan not like what is portrayed in the movie -- LOL - same thoughts here when I visited Tokyo a few years back for cherry blossom time. I had to demand to my niece ( who was an expat there then) to take us to a temple, a shrine ( and that was how I got to see one of the filming locales in this movie).


Jo

[jo]

Such good-looking people

Interestingly, Tao and Rila are current fashion models while Famke used to be a fashion model, too. And wasn't Rebecca Romijn ( I was watching here in a new TV series King and Maxwell) a former fashion model, too? I guess knowing how to act out poses for fashion photography has honed them somewhat for film acting eventually, although it is likely they took acting lessons later on. Famke and Rebecca are fairly competent actresses now ...and maybe Tao and Rila, will be, too?

Re male model types - just wondering why Hugh never looked at that possibility when he was being employed in odd jobs when he was younger ( clown, koala bear at the park, gas station attendant, waiter). Lol - he might have been discovered earlier - LOL!


Jo

[jo]

ET Online interview --

www.etonline.com/movies/136055_Why_Hugh_Jackman_s_Wife_Doesn_t_Like_His_Wolverine_Bod/index.html


Jo

[jo]

Famke talks about Hugh --

news.yahoo.com/wolverine-famke-janssen-talks-bed-scenes-hugh-jackman-212506790.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Wolverine: Famke Janssen Talks Bed Scenes With Hugh Jackman - 'So Many People Are Jealous'



Famke Janssen reprises her role as Jean Grey in the upcoming film, "The Wolverine," and the majority of her job duties this time around included cozying up to a shirtless Hugh Jackman - which, the big screen beauty admits is not a bad gig!

"I think so many people are jealous," Famke told Access Hollywood at "The Wolverine" junket in New York on Thursday. " lying in bed with Hugh Jackman, looking lovingly into his eyes over and over and over again, day after day."

Though it's been years since Famke and Hugh spent time together, when she arrived on set for the first day of filming (exhausted from having come straight from a 24-hour flight), the Aussie's warm welcome made it all worth it.

"Hugh was standing there with his arms wide open going, 'Thank you so much for being here.' I melted!" she said. "I forgot about the jet lag, forgot about the journey and was like, 'Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you!'"

Adding, "He's just amazing. He's truly a beautiful soul."


While the Marvel story of X-Men's powerful mutants may seem geared toward a male audience, Famke said she's confident ladies will enjoy "The Wolverine."

"I think women will definitely love this movie. Hugh Jackman is the first draw - that's already got half the female audience in right there," she said, laughing. "And there's a love story, there are tender moments.

"Hugh's character is going through changes and dealing with guilt and issues of immortality, so there's a lot to relate to from a female perspective," she added.

I once read a stat which says that purchasers of tickets at Fandango for an XMEN movie ( not sure, which one - Last Stand or Origins:Wolverine) are almost 50% women. Hugh's appeal is truly across demograhics.

Jo

[Jamie]

Jul 12, 2013 16:55:17 GMT -5 jo said:

[Filming fight scenes with Hugh Jackman] is very smooth on set, because he’s done a lot of fighting in the X-Men series already, and also he’s a good dancer! It’s very easy for him to remember the choreography, even on the set. Sometimes Jim would add another ten or 15 movements and the choreographer would come in and rehearse the fight scene two, three times, then shoot, shoot, shoot, and every time Hugh’d take the same balance, position, timing… he was so quick to learn.


Jo

This has been said about several dancers: Baryshnikov, Astaire, and Kelly - If a scene required several takes and a movement or leap that had to be matched in editing, they were able to hit exactly the same spot every single time. It is a particularly handy skill to have in these films that have so much match move and CGI

[jo]

Sneak peek of SUNRISE feature ( Australian TV) with Melissa Doyle --

au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/17973809/sneak-peek-mel-reunites-with-hugh-jackman/

It looks like Hugh will be taking a long break for the rest of the year?

But I wonder what "interesting offers" he is getting, to which he and Deb have initially said NO to?


Jo

[birchie]

Here's that Access Hollywood interview with Famke, very nice:
youtu.be/uVAM5tmD8jQ
Sue

[birchie]

This has some interesting answers to familiar questions and some new things I hadn't heard before:
youtu.be/jhs1OmTNChM
Sue

[mamaleh]

Jul 12, 2013 18:46:36 GMT -5 jo said:

Sneak peek of SUNRISE feature ( Australian TV) with Melissa Doyle --

au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/17973809/sneak-peek-mel-reunites-with-hugh-jackman/

It looks like Hugh will be taking a long break for the rest of the year?

But I wonder what "interesting offers" he is getting, to which he and Deb have initially said NO to?


Jo

If the projects were truly spectacular, I think Hugh could not have resisted. My guess is they were roles that did not have the cachet or unique appeal of a Peter Allen, Wolverine or Jean Valjean.

Ellen

[jo]

The last long break he took was after he finished the back-to-back projects of AUSTRALIA (long shoot - was that 7- 8 months?), immediately followed by XMEN ORIGINS:WOLVERINE ( 5 months or so?) and he stayed in Australia, until they decided to relocate to NYC in late 2008. He had the Oscars hosting in January 2009. He wss on Broadway - for rehearsals and limited engagement, from summer till towards the end of 2009 (A STEADY RAIN). After that, he was woworking from early summer of 2010 on REAL STEEL.

This last busy-time started with the promotions for Real Steel ( late summer 2011), the out-of-town tryouts (starting in April 2011) and the opening (October?) on Broadway of BACK ON BROADWAY, followed by the Les Miserables rehearsals/filming in the UK ( February to June 2012 ?), the filming of THE WOLVERINE in Japan and Sydney, then the heavy promotions and awards work for LES MISERABLES, the filming of PRISONERS, followed by the unexpected DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ( which should take him into early summer this year). Whew!!! Maybe he does need a really long break and more family time?

We know there are projects in the future - under development ( could take a long time) - SIX HOURS packaged by WME and of course the long-aborning HOUDINI.

I wonder if the projects are only for films or are there are also interesting short-term theatre projects ( maybe another straight play)?

We'll see



Nosy Jo

[natalieavery]

Not sure if you've seen this yet.

vimeo.com/70068836

[carouselkathy]

What is SIX HOURS?

[natalieavery]

Jul 12, 2013 23:06:50 GMT -5 carouselkathy said:

What is SIX HOURS?

I believe she means SIX YEARS.

[jo]

LOL - thanks for rescuing me ...

Corben's SIX YEARS hastened to SIX HOURS - my bad


Jo