The Wolverine - BluRay or DVD

[jo]

On another The Wolverine thread, I had posted that James Mangold has indicated he might return some 12 minutes of previously filmed extras ( mainly edited due to PG-13 restrictions).

But I am amazed that the BLU-RAY combo pack - presumably including a BluRay disc, a DVD, and Digital copy ( no mention of DVD-only release at this point) is already available on PRE-ORDER at Amazon.com, with a delivery date still to be determined. A lot of fans are excited about what James Mangold has promised by way of unrated cut scenes to be featured on the BluRay edition ( not sure if this is 100% deliverable on this first BluRay release... or if that is going to come with a later release), so maybe they want to gauge future demand by accelerating the pre-order date??

As an overseas buyer, I have to rely on companies like Amazon to be able to get a BluRay copy that will fit my player ( I have a Region 1 player because I bought it in the USA - wrong decision - because the rare Blu-Ray discs sold here are for multiregion players), plus doing an early pre-order puts me at the top of the line when they ship out the items. But they don't charge me until the order is shipped. Too bad though that the cost is double the usual ( to cover expedited shipping and estimated import duties).

Er...I wonder if Mangold has any plans to return anything he cut from the bathtub scene - LOL!

Jo

[jo]

Amazon has now included a DVD-only option for Pre-Order.

Jo

[jo]

Interesting Twitter conversations --

Trevor Wilson ‏@_Space_Octopus_3h
Seen the movie 4 times...Can't wait for the extended cut!! #TheWolverine #moreninjas @mang0ld @realhughjackman pic.twitter.com/KZca3J9bua


Mangold‏@mang0ld2h
@_Space_Octopus_ @realhughjackman We just finished mixing the extended cut tonight!


Trevor Wilson ‏@_Space_Octopus_1h
@mang0ld @realhughjackman The pacing of the theatrical version was wonderful- perfect balance. I'm just excited to see what else was shot!

So, I guess the release date of the BluRay can be determined soon? Will the DVD also include the extended cut version? I hope so!

Jo

[jo]

Official release dates --

The WolverineVerified account

@wolverinemovie

On Digital HD Nov. 19. On Blu-Ray & DVD Dec. 3

[mamaleh]

Unfortunately, from what I've read, the extended version and Mangold's commentary are only on the 3D Blu-ray. Very vexing.

Ellen

[jo]

I picked this up from the SuperheroHype forum discussions --

‘The Wolverine‘ was one of the most pleasant surprises of the summer, a shockingly low key and self-contained superhero story that valued its characters above action. Well, at least until the third act, but that’s a complaint for another time and place. The good news is that ‘The Wolverine’ DVD and Blu-ray will arrive on December 3 with an unrated version, allowing for more Wolverine-stabs-ninjas action than ever before!

Of course, with that good news comes a little bit of bad news. Although the “Unleashed Extended Edition” of ‘The Wolverine’ sounds cool, this alternate version of the film will only be available on one of the three available home releases. If you want to see the longer (and potentially gnarlier) version of the movie, you’ll have to pick up the 3D Blu-ray version of the film, which includes the extended cut as well as 3D and non-3D versions of the theatrical version. If that sounds like a bit of a ploy to get you to pick up the slightly more expensive 3D disc…well, you’re probably right.

However, the release does seem to offer plenty of bang for your buck. Both Blu-ray releases will contain an alternate ending, a ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past‘ set tour, an interactive featurette titled ‘The Path of the Ronin,’ the ability to sync the film with a partner app for a second screen experience and, of course, trailers. Sadly, the director’s commentary with Mangold will only be available on the 3D Blu-ray.

Fans who have yet to upgrade to high definition will probably find themselves hugely disappointed with the DVD release, which will contain only the theatrical cut and the vaguely titled special feature ‘Inspiration: A Ronin’s Journey.’

Which version of ‘The Wolverine’ will you be picking up on December 3, 2013? As you can see below, DVD owners will also get screwed out of the cool box art.

screencrush.com/wolverine-blu-ray-extended-cut/

I wonder if they will reconsider this decision, seeing that the BluRay is released only on December 3.

Jo

[jo]

This film site provides the details of each edition --

www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/01/the-wolverine-snikts-a-december-blu-ray-release

The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition (3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD):
•The Extended, Unrated Cut - The first for the X-Men franchise!
•The Wolverine UNLEASHED - More violent and hardcore than ever before.
•The Path of the Ronin - An immersive feature following the journey of a hero without a past.
•Alternate Ending
•Audio Commentary by Director James Mangold (only on the Unleashed Extended Edition)
•Sync with The Wolvering Second Screen App for an interactive Second Screen experience.
•X-Men: Days of Future Past Set Tour
•Theatrical Trailer



The Wolverine (Blu-ray):
•The Wolverine (theatrical version)
•The Path of the Ronin - An immersive feature following the journey of a hero without a past.
•Alternate Ending
•Sync with The Wolvering Second Screen App for an interactive Second Screen experience.
•X-Men: Days of Future Past Set Tour
•Theatrical Trailer



The Wolverine (DVD):
•The Wolverine (theatrical version)
•Inspiration - A Ronin's Journey

[jo]

This is from the confirmed official twitter account --




It looks like you get the 4-in-1 combo pack if you buy the BluRay 3D?

I read somewhere that the Extended edition is not actually in the BluRay-3D but the regular BluRay. Presumably, the commentary is also not in the BluRay-3D?

Will have to research further -- the Amazon listing is not in full detail -- will wait a few days to see if they confirm the above info.

Jo

[jo]

I found the information - from ComicBookMovies.com!

www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/notyetamovie/news/?a=87922

THE WOLVERINE Unleashed Extended Edition includes 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray extended cut with director audio commentary, Blu-ray theatrical cut with special features, complete with exclusives that make it the perfect gift for Christmas. Each Unleashed Extended Edition comes with the first extended cut of a film in the entire X-Men franchise, and allows viewers to go way behind the scenes of the birth and creation of the darker Wolverine and the journey that he undertakes.

THE WOLVERINE Blu-ray takes fans deeper with an alternate ending and the revealing behind the scenes special feature “The Path of a Ronin,” which follows the journey of a hero without a past. The Blu-ray also boasts a sneak peek set tour of X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The Wolverine Second Screen app allows viewers to immerse themselves in the Wolverine world, unlocks exclusive videos and enhanced bonus materials and more.


THE WOLVERINE – BD3D


- THE WOLVERINE – Blu-ray 3D Theatrical Version
- THE WOLVERINE – Blu-ray Unleashed Extended Cut with Director audio commentary
- THE WOLVERINE – Blu-ray Theatrical Version with Special Features:
- Alternate Ending
- X-Men: Days of Future Past Set Tour
- The Path of the Ronin – an immersive feature following the journey of a hero without a past
- Sync with Wolverine Second Screen App for an interactive Second Screen experience
- Theatrical Trailers


THE WOLVERINE Blu-ray


- THE WOLVERINE – Theatrical Version with Special Features:
- Alternate Ending
- X-Men: Days of Future Past Set Tour
- The Path of the Ronin – an immersive feature following the journey of a hero without a past
- Sync with Wolverine Second Screen App for an interactive Second Screen experience
- Theatrical Trailers


THE WOLVERINE DVD


- THE WOLVERINE – Theatrical Cut
- Inspiration – A Ronin’s Journey

So, it looks like that even if you don't have 3D TV and 3D BluRay player, you can still watch the unrated extended cut and listen to the commentary because those features are included in the regular BluRay disc from the combo 4-discs-in-1 pack --- the 3D BluRay pack!




Jo

[birchie]

Oct 1, 2013 21:41:34 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Unfortunately, from what I've read, the extended version and Mangold's commentary are only on the 3D Blu-ray. Very vexing.

Ellen

After being confused like everyone I asked Mr Mangold about the extended, uncut version with commentary BluRay or 3D and this is his answer:

it's only in the "unleashed" package which also includes the 3D disc.

I take that to mean that it's on the regular BluRay in the unleashed set and this 4 disc set also has a 3D disc. Clear as mud right? smiley-confused009
Sue

[jo]

SUPER-SPOILER ALERT*************SUPER-SPOILER ALERT*************SUPER-SPOILER ALERT



This is is supposed to be one of the deleted scenes... or...actually the alternate ending ( I'm almost sure this was thrown in for the ultimate fanboy reaction )



First, the video clip --

SPOILER: Click to show

www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/08/the-wolverine-deleted-scene-revealed-classic-comics-costume

Then, the surprise screencap --

SPOILER: Click to show

scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1240067_702670539746645_683382796_n.jpg

Of course, until we see the actual BluRay/DVD release, this could just be speculation


Jo

[mamaleh]

No surprise that Hugh is on his cellphone. When is he NOT on his phone, LOL. Nice behind-the-scenes, stuff, And I liked the fanboy tease on the plane. Makes me look forward even more to the combo pack.

Ellen

[jo]

From the photo shoot BEHIND THE SCENES re the BluRay/DVD release.

[mamaleh]

Think that photo will appear on DataLounge with an interesting caption?

Ellen

[jo]

The promotion for the release of THE WOLVERINE BluRay/DVD is very strong. I have come across some new articles and even a media plug ( via a radio show appearance by Hugh). There's also this global chat --

The Wolverine‏@wolverinemovie43m
Get ready for @realhughjackman's @itunesmovies Twitter chat with the #WolverineUnleashed iBook bit.ly/19z9pnr pic.twitter.com/PQJ3sv5u8u


The Wolverine‏@wolverinemovie3h
2 more days to get your questions ready for the @realhughjackman @itunesmovies global Twitter chat! #AskHughJackman pic.twitter.com/r33240LRBf

It looks like the newly reorganized Marketing group at FOX is showing its new strengths!


Jo

[jo]

From the TWTR chat --

Btw, it is on the current list of worldwide twitter trends, which proves Wolverine has a real global fanbase!

iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies16m
What originally drew you to the part of Wolverine in the first X-Men Movie? #AskHughJackman

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman15m
.@itunesmovies Honestly, I needed the job! I didn't even know what a wolverine was. But, I’m a fast learner! #AskHughJackman



iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies6m
What's next for Wolverine? #AskHughJackman

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman4m
.@itunesmovies I cant say or I'll get in a lot of trouble. But if you watch to the end of The Wovlerine there's a little something from DOFP



iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies9m
What's the biggest thing you have in common with Wolverine? #AskHughJackman
Reply

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman7m
.@itunesmovies Absolutely nothing! For me after all these years he's like an old friend. #AskHughJackman



iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies14m
How do you prepare for the character of Wolverine before each new movie? #AskHughJackman

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman10m
.@itunesmovies I try to stay in good shape. 3 months before shooting I workout 3hrs a day & eat about 5-6 thousand calories between 10 &6am.



iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies18m
You've said that this was the Wolverine movie you've been waiting to deliver. What about it did you love?

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman16m
.@itunesmovies This one stands alone. That's why we called it THE Wolverine. Also, working with Jim Mangold again. Fantastic director.




iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies7m
You've portrayed a wide range of characters. What's your favorite type of character to portray? #AskHughJackman
Reply


Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman2m
.@itunesmovies I'd love to do a Western.




iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies7m
You've portrayed a wide range of characters. What's your favorite type of character to portray? #AskHughJackman


Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman2m
.@itunesmovies I dont have a favorite. I like to switch it up. When I was promoting Les Mis, I was shooting Prisoners and then DOFP...




iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies6m
We love to see you act on stage, too. Which performance interest came first: film or stage? #AskHughJackman

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman3m
.@itunesmovies Theatre came first. I'm looking at a few projects that may bring me back to theatre soon. #AskHughJackman




iTunes Movies‏@itunesmovies4m
What's next for @realhughjackman? #AskHughJackman


Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman6s
.@itunesmovies Im taking time off 2 b w/my family. School pick-up &soccer practice. Shooting a new film"Chappie"in SouthAfrica after new yr

[jo]

Very insightful interview with the articulate and talented filmmaker, James Mangold. He has put in very precise terms why the versatility of Hugh Jackman is a true gift! And no matter how many Wolverine movies he makes ( where he believes the character and the actor have continued to find a common challenge), his ability to morph into other acting roles will not be compromised!

This is a long Q&A --

comicbook.com/blog/2013/11/19/the-wolverine-screening-qa-with-director-james-mangold/

The Wolverine Screening Q&A With Director James Mangold


By: Craig Byrne on November 19, 2013


In support of today’s Blu-ray release of The Wolverine: Unleashed Extended Edition, filmmaker James Mangold met with reporters for a special screening of the film last night on the Fox Lot.

Below is a quick-and-dirty transcript of the Q&A that followed the screening. You can check out more on the event here.



This is seven movies now for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, right? What do you think keeps him coming back?

I think he’s phenomenal in the role. I made Kate and Leopold with Hugh after he’d made the first X-Men so to me it doesn’t seem like the same–he was part of an ensemble in that first film. I don’t think he had any idea, even after completing it, what was happening.

It’s easy to look back and go, “He’s made seven movies; he’s been the Wolverine,” but in the beginning he was part of a crew. I think that the evolution of what’s happened with it is the natural evolution of a great character and a great actor. It’s one of those really rare moments where it’s an alignment of the right person for the right job and I think when that happens, Sean Connery Bond, I don’t think there’s any reason that should stop.

Do you think fans are more forgiving of actors and less prone to typecast them than there used to be? Do you think it’s just the fact that the movies are so good that stops him from being typecast into a role like Chris Reeve or Leonard Nimoy?

I wouldn’t credit the movies and I wouldn’t credit anything but just Hugh. I think that he’s an incredible, versatile…

…Leonard Nimoy can’t sing and dance, God love him. And he can’t do a romantic comedy with Meg Ryan. So there’s a reality to Hugh Jackman in terms of his own versatility that is really uniquely equipped to both eclipse and live within the world of the character he’s created.

It’s also, if you think about Eastwood–how many Dirty Harrys were there? Five? But you think that Clint essentially has been in the groove of that guy for about nineteen movies. The reality is that once people respond to an actor–John Wayne may have had different names, but he was playing the same guy. There’s nothing wrong with that.

I find having made a lot of movies with movie stars that there’s almost this tragic pressure on them to prove their versatility, whether it’s to a critical audience or it’s to the general public itself. How different was Jimmy Stewart picture to picture? And I don’t mean that as a dig; there’s nothing wrong with being Jimmy Stewart. There’s nothing wrong with being Gene Arthur or Fred MacMurray or Errol Flynn; Errol Flynn didn’t do a new accent in every movie.

It isn’t only the measure of an actor, in my opinion, whether they can change like a chameleon. The absolute ability to bring your honest self to the screen with this big, round spherical lens three inches from your nose, is a miracle in and of itself and a lot of actors get hurt by trying to keep reinventing themselves as opposed to–you know, track stars run and baseball players play baseball. They don’t suddenly next season…well, one did and it didn’t work out so well. When you find that vein of gold, that connection with an audience, there’s no reason to abandon it other than some sense of public or media shame that you’re not branching out more. I think when you find a groove you can stick with it.

It can feel kind of stunt-y, too…

It can but I think the real measure is artistically, asking yourself inside whether you’re flatlining. The world, whether it’s politics or music or athletics or art or movies has gotten to where there’s so much commentary and if you listen to it you can stop listening to yourself.

I think at the moment Hugh is tired of doing this–personally not challenged–he’ll stop.

He’s a great character and great characters are a challenge. You have to find a way that’s different to do it than it’s been done before. You changed the claws; there’s a notable decrease in the amount of hairspray and just the look of the film I think–no superhero costume, per se…

They were all part of a general strategy I had to make the kind of movie I’d want to see. I looked at images of Hugh in the previous movies and I felt like he looked like he was wearing a wig, frankly. And he was, so that’s why it looked like it. It’s tough hair, but it shouldn’t be…

…For me, you’re always trying to walk that line between some kind of relationship to the existing comic book art and at the same time having to physically make it work on human flesh so my thing is just, there’s my own barometer of what I’ll reject and I didn’t want Wolverine to look like A Flock of Seagulls. And each one of those things–just pushing that through 20th Century Fox when there’s been as many movies as you’re listing that have had his hair like that and they’re like, “Why can’t we do that?” You’re like, “Because I think it looks like s–t and I’d like to try and do it differently.” It was very much in keeping with the idea of trying also, given that the previous Origins film had not been extremely well-received, to try and kind of say let’s rethink some things about how we’re doing this and we were very conscious even at the scripting phase of giving ourselves room to do it. I mean, honestly since he let his hair grow so long in the beginning and there’s people cutting it who may not know the official Marvel style, then maybe I can just credit it to what happened in the room with those two ladies in the tub.

But for me, I think he looked fantastic in the movie and I think anytime you can allow your actor within their own skin and their own scalp to be their character and not be separated by layers of–wearing a wig feel like wearing a hat!–everything separates you from authenticity and that’s what I was after. And that relates to the claws as well, where I felt like some things got over-designed. I mean, I literally just pulled a page from Marvel Comics where I think it was Weapon X right on the cover and I said, “Make these.” I think that the claws had looked so fake, frankly, in some other shots and movies that I wanted to just…to me, this was a film that wasn’t going to operate on the will the world be saved question so it was going to live and die by whether you’re interested in him as a character. The stakes were completely different; it may not seem gigantic from the outside but from the inside it’s an entirely different construction where there really is not central villain out to hurt millions. The whole thing is operating from a different architecture and from that point of view you’re kind of like, “How can I make the humanity of this character and his whole reality come to life?”.

Did you spend a lot of time with the Claremont/Miller series?

All the principal characters are either lifted or have evolved from what was in Claremont/Miller. I think the trick you have when you come on a movie like this is it somehow has to relate to the other things that exist. You can’t kind of pretend those movies didn’t happen so you try and take the story and at the same time plug it into this larger universe.

I think after Darren left, first of all following Darren seemed like a suicide mission. Anyone who would even be tempted wasd just going to be slaughtered. It would be like slaughtering Springsteen or something; it would be like, “Why? Why would you bother? Everyone’s going ot just imagine what could have been,” and so time went by…but what I was getting to is just that when it finally landed in front of me the first thing I thought was, where does this take place in terms of what I’ve seen already? And it struck me that why is he in the Yukon? You don’t ask that question when Claremont/Miller opens becuase you find him in comic books anywhere and everywhere–but in the context of a movie, it’s just like, “Okay, here he is living in the woods. Why? Why now?” The movie has to answer that. Hugh is going to ask me that–”Why am I here?” I can’t go, “Oh, it’s in the comic book.” The reality is that it struck me the reason he’s there is that he doesn’t want to have any more contact; he wants to be alone.

So that to me was not a change to Claremont/Miller but in a way trying to get underneath and support it, which is just – why would this journey to Japan become important? What has he been avoiding, what is he running from? And it occurred to me that he’s running from the fact that anyone he cares for dies, either from the curse, the dark side of immortality which is that you are forced to ride this very slow train in which you’re watching everyone you care about die or the most aggressive version which is that people who want to get at him kill the people he loves. And then you have the added juice of the fact that he took out someone he loved in a previous film so I was the one who decided to take this narrative and put it after X3 and in a way make it a sequel to the X-Men films as opposed to a sequel to the Origins film.

With characters like Superman and Wolverine, it’s difficult to hurt or kill them. How do you give their stories stakes?

I should dig up this article I read 25 years ago someone did an analysis of Alien. They drew this chart and postulated that the movie was a meditation on human-ness. Or human-ness versus what monster-hood. Right?

So they would go, “Why is there a cat in the movie? Well the cat’s non-human but not monster. Why is there an android in the movie? The android is non-human, non-monster…and therefore if you go through the cast – and of course then the creature is full on monster/alien so you kind of have this interesting universe.

I’ve always got that chart in my head – it was before I made Cop Land because when I made Cop Land, I thought about: you have Stallone as the center and you have like De Niro’s character’s like Law and Order – then Keitel’s character is like the brotherhood, then Ray Liotta’s character is like me. Not the brotherhood, not law and order just “What can I get for me?” And I thought those were almost the three aspects of a modern male and how they’re dealing with the world and Stallone’s caught in between.

I’ve always tried to think as I’m trying to assemble an ensemble you can take a theme and kind of make sure these different points of view are represented, so when I came on the movie I wrote on the back of the script very early “Everyone I love will die” and then I thought, “well, how do i make a movie, a tent-pole movie about death?”

And so we have Logan, an immortal who wishes he could die but can’t. You have Mariko, a mortal who wishes she could die… and can’t. You have her Grandfather who is at the edge of death, and doesn’t want to die and wants what Logan doesn’t want which is his immortality. And you have a character like Yukio who can see death, who can see death around corners. And then of course you have Jean Grey who’s actually dead.

So it’s not like I want to to get that when you’re watching the movie but it’s…I’m very conscious. I follow that kind of thought process [and] I end up…I always know something we can write first of all because there’s a lot of interesting ideas in there but there’s also the characters all have things to say to each other about their conditions and that’s how we got there.

What about – Logan on the plane – he’s so nervous. It occured to me when I was watching this the first time that if he falls into the ocean that he will drown and come back drown and come back – is that why he doesn’t want to get on planes?

I don’t know. They told me–everyone who’s really knowledgeable about Wolverine has always told me–he hates flying. And Hugh was like “I hate flying”–I mean, as Wolverine. I love the idiosyncrasy of it – that’s the beauty of him, I think, the beauty of Wolverine. It does separate him from the kind of Batman, indestructible because of my gizmos or Superman indestructible because I’m indestructible.

Wolverine’s greatest enemy is in a way – not only enemies who are out to hurt him but his own psyche. His own ability to kind of deal with the bulls–t. That’s, whether what makes him nervous or people who insult his intelligence or just general a–holes the fact that Logan has a kind of – He’s a wonderful character in a sense that he’s always struggling. So to me the idea that he doesn’t like to fly – it just fits in with the animalistic nature of him also. I don’t like to be contained, I don’t want to be in a tuna can, I don’t like to be under someone else’s control. I thought it played.

No – it did… absolutely, I just like the idea of thinking of him walking under the ocean…

The plane crashes and he emerges? We tried also to get a way from that.

I mean, we weren’t denying it–but the sense (and I don’t think that this hurt the first Wolverine film at all) but when he leaps up and brings down a helicopter to me that’s too much. It’s getting into Superman territory. He doesn’t have frog legs. He shouldn’t be able to jump that high. My own idea of him is that there’s tremendous strength but that somehow he’s still bound by physics in some way. We certainly pushed to the max too but not that.

I just turns into a video game. Watching characters flip through the air in any which way.

It seems to me that this movie would fit in with some of your other films – there’s a sense of outlaw honor. With 3:10 to Yuma, and Cop Land – is that something you look for, or is that something that percolates in your subconscious and catches your eye?

I don’t know. I mean I know whether – I mean I don’t think you’re wrong. I make a lot of different kinds of movies but I think I bring different things to all of them….I don’t try and become a different kind of filmmaker ever movie I make. I feel like I’m always learning. However it happens, I’ve had the opportunity to make so many different kinds of movies I don’t know quite how I got on that carousel. But I’m really grateful.

There was a point early in my career where I felt like I was jealous, frankly, of filmmakers who kind of branded themselves very quickly and were anointed–were first on a list whenever that kind of movie came around. With time I became glad I wasn’t.

I mean, for the sake of being whoever I am, whoever that is…but also for the sake of experience of doing different kinds of movies. I can’t tell you how much making Identity helped me make Walk the Line but it did. It’s like I can’t tell you how much Kate & Leopold helped make 3:10 to Yuma but it did. The reality is that breaking out and applying your sensibility in different arenas–I don’t know, can’t hurt you.

But yeah, I try to bring different things I love and one is kind of in the moment characters and it struck me that it was something that whatever you call it tent-pole movies or superhero films for my own sense lacked was a sense of…

…When I read the comics, I didn’t feel like they were a non-stop barrage and obviously this movie is very loud and it’ got a lot of s–t going on. But there are some breaks. And I think that’s important to me. It’s what keeps me connected and it’s also what makes me feel like we’re not making a video game. If there’s actually when the orchestra comes down and the dust settles you feel like there’s actually characters there who you might give a s–t about. Even though the s–t isn’t moving so fast.

[jo]

Another interview with James Mangold - re the extended scenes, the alternate ending with the costume, the possibilities for the next Wolverine movie, etc.:


www.iamrogue.com/news/interviews/item/10151-iar-exclusive-interview-director-james-mangold-talks-the-wolverine-unleashed-extended-edition-blu-ray-alternate-ending-and-the-wolverine-2.html

IAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Director James Mangold Talks 'The Wolverine' Unleashed Extended Edition Blu-ray, Alternate Ending, and 'The Wolverine 2'

Wednesday, 20 November 2013 14:21 Written by Jami Philbrick


The Wolverine is back … and now more violent than ever!

Available on Digital HD November 19th, and Blu-ray December 3rd is The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition, which features an unrated version of the hit film and marks the sixth time that actor Hugh Jackman has played the popular mutant on screen. The movie was directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), and inspired by the beloved comic series written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller. In fact, The Wolverine was so successful in its theatrical release, that it was recently announced a sequel is planned with both Jackman reprising his role as the title character, and Mangold returning to both write and direct.

The film finds Logan (Jackman) living as a hermit in the Yukon still tormented after killing Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) during the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. He soon meets Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a mutant assassin sent to find him by the dying Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), a man that Logan saved during WWII who wishes to repay his debt before he dies. Logan accompanies Yukio back to Japan and upon arriving meets Yashida’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who will soon inherit the old man’s fortune. Yashida tells Logan that he would like to repay his debt by granting him the one thing he wants … mortality. When Logan turns down the offer a mutant known as Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) poisons him. Yashida soon dies and Yukuza gangsters attempt to kidnap Mariko at the funeral but Logan saves her. However, he is no longer healing as he once did. Now on the run, Logan must protect Mariko while dealing with his own possible mortality.

I recently had the pleasure of watching the new extended edition of The Wolverine during a press screening at the 20th Century Fox lot in Los Angeles. I was a big fan of the theatrical release but the new cut only enhances the movie and makes this the best version of the character fans have ever seen on screen. After the screening, I had a chance to speak with director James Mangold about The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition Blu-ray, as well as the film’s upcoming sequel. The accomplished director discussed the new extended edition Blu-ray, why he chose to only include the film’s alternate ending as a deleted scene, shooting the end credit scene, which scenes were extended or added, including Jean Grey in the movie, The Wolverine 2, how it might fit in to the X-Men franchise, and if it will be inspired by any other popular Wolverine stories from the comics.



Here is what James Mangold had to say about The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition Blu-ray, and The Wolverine 2:

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

IAR: To begin with, I recently had a chance to watch the extended cut of The Wolverine, as well as the alternate ending that will only be available as a deleted scene on The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition Blu-ray. The scene involves Yukio giving Logan a suitcase, which contains the classic yellow Wolverine mask and costume from the comic books. As a longtime X-Men comic book fan, I thought that was a perfect ending to the movie. As a director, why you decide that this scene did not fit in the theatrical release or as part of the extended cut of the film?

James Mangold: Well, I think that is a good question. To be completely frank, the trick was that I made it up on set. Partly because of the way that fans like you had been hoping for something like this. I was trying to think of a way that this could some how make an appearance. I literally while we were shooting that scene asked the actors without a script to improvise this second way of doing it. I had the prop department make a box, which frankly when we shot it was empty because I didn’t have the money nor did I have the go ahead to build a Wolverine uniform at that moment in the movie. But the trick was this, in a way I felt like I was handing off a little bit of a hot potato to the next movie, and I know that the studio felt that way. They thought that audiences would dig it but that it wouldn’t completely work. We did in fact even use it at a test screening. We screened it in front of an audience and the funny thing is that except for hardcore Wolverine fans, of which is a significant portion of the people coming, a vast majority of the audience ended the movie scratching their heads not understanding what was in the box. So you had A) the fact that there is going to be a significant, like 60% of the audience is not going to understand what the last image of the movie meant, so that is a problem. Then B) is that you are then going to create this huge expectation that Logan is going to be in that outfit in another movie immediately. I felt like it was a little bit passive aggressive and that for a little bit of juice at the end I was handing someone else, or potentially me, the problem of now dealing with what was in the box in the next picture. Lastly, it bumped when I then went to Montreal and shot the end credit scene that kind of hands off to X-Men: Days of Future Past. I went to the set of Days of Future Past because everyone was there, and I shot that scene on a weekend. But it bumped between the two. I tried and it was kind of weird in the sense that he was opening this thing and finding this uniform and then you are cutting the scene with him in this airport. It was kind of like, huh? It made you think there was something missing. All of these things were at the forefront but nothing more than the anxiety that the studio had that I was somehow guaranteeing that the next time you saw him he’d be in it. So that is the honest journey of it.


When I recently watched the extended edition of the film, it was difficult for me to identify which scenes had been extended other than the obvious added violence, and a scene where Yukio and Logan kill Harada’s ninjas with a snowplow followed by Logan lighting up a cigar. Can you discuss exactly what scenes have been added or extended for the new cut of the film?

Mangold: Well first of all there are many, many small additions of blood, and seeing claws penetrate and emerge from something with blood on them. There is a lot of stuff that got trimmed to get underneath the R-rating. So there was a point at which I saved our pure cut, which was more of the violence as we had designed it and the action as it had been laid out. So that is what you see here. The three most extended sequences that were added back are one, a large-scale ninja fight at the end, which you mentioned. Two, at the “love hotel” that Mariko and Logan stay at as they are fleeing from Tokyo, there is an attack by Yakuza thugs on Logan in which Mariko saves his life and establishes her ability with knives. That whole attack had been lifted from the theatrical version mainly due to ratings but partially to length as well. Then at the beginning of the movie thee are many more sequences and moments in Logan’s introduction to the world of Japan. But the most significant one is that you get a lot more of Hioyuki Sanada’s (Shingen Yashida – Mariko’s father) story with his father. The scene in which old man Yashida tells his son that he is not getting the company and that he is giving it to someone else didn’t exist in the theatrical version. So you are tracking a little bit more of the rivalry and the conspiracy story going on inside this family.

Can you talk about your decision to include Jean Grey as a character in The Wolverine?

Mangold: Well, Jean Grey I wanted to bring in because I wanted Logan in his isolation at the front of the film to have someone to relate to. So the idea that his only real ongoing relationship is with a bear and with a ghost image of a women he loved gave him something to relate to. Movies play when characters interact. When you find a character like we find Logan, lost, a drift, emotionally bereaved, dark, grieving in the Yukon, you need to somehow get him doing something otherwise you’d need voiceover for fifteen minutes. So the idea we had was to use Jean Grey as a central force in his life and what he is grieving over is having had to kill her in the previous adventure. My first real contribution was to relocate the Claremont/Miller story after the X-Men film trilogy. There was to me a reason that he left the world behind. That reason being that then when my film opens, the X-Men are gone, Professor X is gone, Jean Grey is gone, they are all dead, and Logan is unhinged in a way without a connection to anyone. We used Jean Grey as a kind of haunting of the connections that he had that have gone away.


Finally, the film’s end credit scene takes place two years after the ending of the movie, which seems like a great space for The Wolverine 2 to take place in. Is the idea that the sequel will be the continuing adventures of Logan and Yukio before he meets up with Professor X and Magneto in the airport?

Mangold: That is a good observation. I honestly have sketches and ideas, but there are many alternatives and that certainly is indeed a window that exists.

Are there specific Wolverine stories from the comics that you will be drawing from for the upcoming sequel?

Mangold: Absolutely. I can tell you that I certainly have in determining where we are going that I’m not solely relying on my own imagination but also the imaginations that have spun great stories about Wolverine in the comics.

Well, thank you very much for your time. I loved The Wolverine and I can’t wait to see the sequel!

Mangold: Thank you, man. I’m working on it now!

The Wolverine Unleashed Extended Edition wil be available on Digital HD November 19th, and Blu-ray December 3rd

Sorry, no extended bathtub scenes


Jo

[jo]

The Wolverine‏@wolverinemovie42m
"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." @rila_Fukushima @realhughjackman #WolverineUnleashed pic.twitter.com/KO7VTzYOc5

♥‏@bunyana_Ave196842m
@wolverinemovie @rila_Fukushima @realhughjackman Be careful! We still need him. ;-) Ha, ha, ha, ...!

[jo]

A lot of suggestions from fans and even film sites on the possible theme of the next Wolverine movie --

Finally, the film’s end credit scene takes place two years after the ending of the movie, which seems like a great space for The Wolverine 2 to take place in. Is the idea that the sequel will be the continuing adventures of Logan and Yukio before he meets up with Professor X and Magneto in the airport?

Wolverine and Yukio make quite a team - great chemistry and great action duo...plus the playful side suggested by the above photo can add unexpected humor to the plot.


Jo

[jo]

Another fascinating interview ( because he articulates his vision very well) with James Mangold.

collider.com/the-wolverine-2-sequel-james-mangold-interview/

Also, it looks like he is doing the screenplay for the next Wolverine.


Jo

[jo]

Some interesting behind-the-scenes :


uk.movies.yahoo.com/the-wolverine--12-things-we-learned-behind-the-scenes-in-japan-122203152.html

..

The Wolverine: 12 things we learned behind-the-scenes in Japan

The lowdown on the Marvel hero’s big screen comeback.

..By Mark Lankester | Yahoo UK Movies Features – 1 hour 47 minutes ago..

To celebrate unleashing of ‘The Wolverine’ on DVD and Blu-ray, we visited the cast and crew of the ‘X-Men’ movie in Japan to get the facts behind our favourite side-burned mutant’s return, and learn how to take on old adumantium claws himself.


1. The secretive script Yukio star Rila Fukushima received prior to auditioning was simply labeled ‘Fox Confidential’. Her character was called “Yvonne”, whilst Hugh Jackman’s Logan was listed as “Lance”.

2. Jackman apparently staged his own “Best kisser” competition during final auditions for the part of Mariko. Star Tao Okamoto remembers spending weeks rehearsing her lines, but when she arrived in LA Hugh wanted to improvise something else… “And then we kissed! Which wasn’t written!” she recalls. “I guess he was kissing every girl, to choose the best kisser. He’d always tease me and say ‘You’re the best’.”

3. Rila went through extensive training to convincingly handle a samurai sword like her assassin-esque character, but it wasn’t enough. After damaging a hotel conference room during one solo session, she started hiding her sword in a bathrobe and taking it out to the parks of Sydney for extra practice. “I tried to do it in the daytime as much as possible… because in the nighttime, people got scared,” she says.

4. During the vicious funeral fight scene, action star Will Yun Lee had to hide-out on the roof of Tokyo’s sacred Zojo-ji Temple. Only he kicked loose some of the tiles, resulting in some awkward negotiations for the production team.

5. Hugh Jackman acted as an on-set mentor to co-star Toa, as she’d never acted before. He even gave her advice on how to eat on-screen. “He came to me and was like ‘Try not to eat too much. After this many takes you’re going to be full… And you have to remember which food you touched in which order,’” she said. He helped Tao out when she recently auditioned for a new musical. Well, he was in Les Mis y’know.

6. Stunt performers who’d spent weeks rehearsing fight scenes, had to adapt their moves once they faced Hugh himself on set. “He’s had very big steps. Like a monster stomping towards you,” says stunt performer Hiroo Minami. During one fight scene, James Mangold was so impressed by the samurai sword vs. six-clawed action that he asked for an additional 8 minutes-worth of combat to be added - meaning Jackman and the stunt team had to improvise on the spot.

7. Japanese action legend Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Mariko’s father Shingen, reassured first-time actress Rila about her on-set nerves. “Don’t worry. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m playing this character for the first time in my life, and I’ve never worked with this team. So this is also my first time,” she remembers him saying.

8. Director James Mangold took Tao out of a scene at the last minute, which saw Logan hallucinate kissing three women at one, including Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey and Svetlana Khodchenkova’s Viper. Tao was uncomfortable mirroring Famke’s affectionate actions - apparently including playing with Hugh’s chest hair.

9. Stunt performer and coordinator Hiroo Minami (who doubled for the Green Power Ranger for several TV series) says he got into stunt performing because of Hiroyuki Sanada. For ‘The Wolverine’ he not only met his hero, but double for him in several fight scenes – including the moonlit samurai show-down with Logan.

10. Although the movie was set in Japan, some of the larger action scenes were filmed at locations in and around Sydney, Australia. Mind-blowing fight sequences such as the funeral show-down at the Zojo-ji Temple would film exterior shots in Tokyo, before seamlessly cutting to interior carnage at a Sydney studio. More sprawling scenes saw entire city streets converted to looks like Tokyo’s metropolis.

11. Rila says director James treated the actors like their characters, “almost like method directing,” she says. “Whenever I got tired, James would push me to the edge like [shouting] ‘I don’t believe you!’ [Then] I had a scene with Tao some day, and I was shocked because he treated Tao like an angel… He’s very nice. [But] sometimes for emotional scenes he’s push, push, push.”

12. Although some Japanese audiences have reportedly criticised how ‘The Wolverine’ shows Japan, Tao says people should instead be proud of their heritage: “It’s a sci-fi movie. You know, there’s no ninja or samurais in Japan anymore. But we couldn’t make this movie by ourselves, we needed [the American perspective]… It seems kind of cheesy, but I think it’s nice to remind Japanese people that [those things are] actually cool. We should be proud of that stuff we have.”

The Wolverine is out now on Blu-ray 3D, DVD and Digital HD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

LOL - "Stunt performers who’d spent weeks rehearsing fight scenes, had to adapt their moves once they faced Hugh himself on set. “He’s had very big steps. Like a monster stomping towards you,” says stunt performer Hiroo Minami."

Jo

[mamaleh]

Oh--were there any other items besides numbers 2 and 8? Best kisser contests...playing with chest hair...what was I saying?

How could anyone be UNCOMFORTABLE playing with his chest hair?!! Talk about a missed opportunity.

Ellen

[njr]

Nov 22, 2013 10:24:25 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Oh--were there any other items besides numbers 2 and 8? Best kisser contests...playing with chest hair...what was I saying?

How could anyone be UNCOMFORTABLE playing with his chest hair?!! Talk about a missed opportunity.

Ellen

I was thinking the same thing!!

Nancy

[jo]

An interview with Hugh by Entertainment Weekly, re the release of THE WOLVERINE on home video (BluRay and DVD) --

insidemovies.ew.com/2013/12/02/the-wolverine-blu-ray-hugh-jackman/

'The Wolverine': Hugh Jackman talks Blu-ray release, 'Days of Future Past' teases

By Lanford Beardon Dec 2, 2013 at 12:00PM@lanfordbeard


Image Credit: James Fisher

Hugh Jackman is coming up on 15 years — and a possible eighth film — playing macho mutant Logan, a.k.a. The Wolverine in the X-Men films. But, the actor told EW, he couldn’t be happier about it: “I kind of am enjoying him more than ever.” Given the $414 million global box office take of this summer’s The Wolverine, fans would tend to agree.


Though there are still four long, wintry months between now and the May release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jackman says there’s plenty to hold over X-men obsessives in The Wolverine‘s at-home release (out in Digital HD™ now, and hitting stores Dec. 3 with a 4 Disc Unleashed Extended Edition Blu-ray and 2 Disc Blu-ray), which just so happens to include Days teases curated by director Bryan Singer himself. Read on…

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, the Blu-ray is called “The Wolverine Unleashed.” Is there anything particularly wild or unleashed you want to reveal?

HUGH JACKMAN: It just feels very weird talking about “Unleashed” — I’m literally sitting here in my tracksuit pants this morning and, not having had a shower, it feels like [I'm the one who's unleashed] [laughs]. I think you should get the behind-the-scenes of the interview. I’m almost wearing my slippers and dressing gown. I really have seen the DVD yet, but I do know there are some cool things. I spoke to Bryan Singer, and he’s doing some cool stuff, giving some behind-the-scenes stuff of Days of Future Past, which is great for X-Men fans. You get behind-the-scenes stuff.

Did you participate in any voiceovers?

I did not do a voiceover. They didn’t ask me. Maybe there’s a reason why [laughs] — I talk too much. I give away too many secrets.


Is there a scene or sequence cut from the film that you’re most excited for fans to see?

The ice village fight, which was always really cool, we shot that for a long time… but in the end, story-wise, we were ramping up to that finale and the climax to the movie, so we had to cut so much of it. I remember sitting there with my stunt double, and he was, like, “What? I almost killed myself for this thing!” Both of us actually did some really hairy stuff. There’s some really cool stuff there where I’m fighting, like, 30 or 40 ninjas and motorbikes and really cool, innovative stuff that people haven’t seen before. You’re [also] going to get to see a lot of the making of that bullet train sequence, which took us about three weeks to shoot that minute and a half. I had some pretty hairy accidents on that, and someone said, “I want to put that on the DVD!”


I know that the story that inspired The Wolverine, which was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller, is one of your favorites. Since there’s a sequel in the works, do you have any other Wolverine stories that you might like to inspire future movies?

I did love the Japanese saga — it was one of the first ones I read while making [the first] X-Men, actually. I remember thinking, “This would make a great movie.” … It’s interesting because it’s very rare, even with the Japanese saga, to make into a film. You end up using one as a basis, then you’ll draw really cool things from others. To make a movie, obviously you need to do more than just one comic. There are some really cool ideas that I’m dying to tell you, but that would be giving away a secret that is not even formed yet, you know what I mean?

You’ve been playing this character for nearly 15 years now. How has he changed, and where do you see him going?

I kind of am enjoying him more than ever. To be frank with you, I’m enjoying film work more than ever. I feel more and more comfortable. I was always a theater person, it took me a while to get used to the film atmosphere. I love it now. That and also being older helps playing Wolverine. He’s 200 or 300 years old — no one really knows — and he’s sort of world-weary. I’ll admit the actual working out gets harder and harder. But I think there’s something tragically heroic about him; he is the tragic hero. I don’t think you’ll ever see Wolverine very happy and laughing and [saying], “Oh, life is good!” There’s always some tragedy around him.

So he’s not going to be rocking the gold lamé pants from The Boy from Oz any time soon?

You never know.