Did you enjoy X-Men:First Class?  Ha! Fox tricked you! Their fluke enjoyable movie was all just a ruse to make another unwanted sequel to a rightfully forgotten franchise! Ever since Darren Aronofsky pretended to want to direct it for a few months and then went out for a pack of cigs and never came back, Wolverine 2 has been looking for a new daddy.  Now it seems they’ve found it in the form of James Mangold, whose filmography includes some solid flicks like 3:10 to Yuma and Copland, some overrated mehs like Girl Interrupted and Walk the Line, and some stinkers like Kate & Leopold and (*gulp*) Knight and Day. Deadline reports that Mangold is the first choice of both Hugh Jackman** (who apparently holds no grudges about Kate & Leopold) and 20th Century Fox.  So I guess you could say Hugh Jackman is digging for Man Gold.

Negotiations are about to get underway, but I’m told that Mangold will take the helming job on the sequel to the X-Men spinoff film, a post that became vacant when Darren Aronofsky dropped out of the film in March. I’d heard that Mangold was on a very short list coming into this week, along with Warrior director Gavin O’Connor and Brooklyn’s Finest helmer Antoine Fuqua. I’ve heard that Fox will look to start principal photography in the fall. Scripted by Christopher McQuarrie, The Wolverine takes place mostly in Japan. [Deadline]

With James Mangold directing Christopher McQuarrie, there’s a chance we could get Usual Suspects meets 3:10 to Yuma, but also a chance we get The Tourist meets Knight and Day.  Too early to tell, really.  But I’ll say this, I’m already off to a great start on my X-Men-themed gay porn parody, MAN GOLD: JackMan vs. Assbender.

**Does six-foot Hugh Jackman playing a superhero who’s supposed to be short cancel out elfin Tom Cruise playing a guy who’s supposed to be 6’5″?  Discuss.

After the last Wolverine movie, the idea that Darren Aronofsky would be directing the follow-up was the only reason anyone had any interest in it.  Today, Fox issued a statement saying Aronofsky had left the project, effectively killing anyone’s hopes for it, and certainly squashing any possibility of it having some lipstick lesbo scissor action. (*sadly pours 40 out on copy of Jugs magazine*)

In a statement issued by the studio, Aronofsky said, “It became clear that the production of The Wolverine would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time.” (The film was reportedly going to be set in Japan.) “I am sad that I won’t be able to see the project through,” continued Aronofsky, “as it is a terrific script [by Chris McQuarrie] and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again.” [EW]

Translation: “I was totally down to make a few million for slapping my name on your dumb sequel, but not if it means spending a year in a radioactive f*ckpillow swamp.”

Somewhere, Brett Ratner stares at his phone, thoughtfully eating a hot pocket.

A director-star relationship Todd Phillips could only dream of

HitFix recently spoke with director Darren Aronofsky, and in addition to de facto confirming that he was actually directing the latest Wolverine movie for Fox, they got the Black Swan director to reveal a little about the chronology of the franchise.

The film that he’s directing is officially called “The Wolverine,” and there won’t be a number attached to it.  In our interview, he referred to the movie as a “one-off,” and he emphasized that the film isn’t a sequel in any conventional sense.

Of course, of course, it will have the same actor playing the same lead character, but it’s not a sequel.  On the one hand, a director denying that his film is a sequel is nothing new.  On the other, it sounds a lot more credible coming from Darren Aronofsky.  Let’s compare this with what we normally hear about comic book movies:

Aronofsky: I promise this will be a stand-alone movie, a one-off.

Marvel: We promise this will include cameos from every character in the Marvel universe and at least seven Easter eggs in every scene!  If you look closely, you can see Iron Man cleaning Captain America’s shield with Thor’s hankie!

There’ve been so many GD Darren Aronofsky stories over the last couple weeks that I could a separate site called What Will Darren Aronofsky Do.com.  But now at least it seems like there’s actual news to report, so I’m just going to rush through it as fast as I can.  Long story short, it looks like he’s going to direct Wolverine 2 after all:

One of Hollywood’s biggest directing gigs looks done. Darren Aronofsky’s deal to direct 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2  is close enough that discussion has turned to shooting the sound stage portions of the film in New York so the filmmaker and Hugh Jackman don’t have to inconvenience their families. A March start date is being eyed so that Aronofsky has time to open Black Swan and be available for the inevitable awards season obligations. When the New York scenes are completed, they’ll head to Japan to shoot the bulk of the Christopher McQuarrie-scripted movie. [Deadline]

Notice they said “biggest”, not “best.” How the hell did they get the director of The Wrestler and the writer of Usual Suspects to take Fox’s sloppy seconds?  I guess it’s better than getting Brett Ratner, but am I really supposed to be happy about this news?  It’s like hiring an Iron Chef to dress my nachos at the Am/Pm.  Will these nachos taste better?  Yeah, probably, but I think I’d rather just go to his restaurant.

"Damn, it seems one of them wasn't fooled by my disguise. Think, Aronofsky, think!"

You could start an entire site dedicated solely to movies Darren Aronofsky is rumored to be possibly thinking of directing.  He was supposedly interested in Superman before Zack Snyder got the job, and last we heard about Wolverine 2, the directing job was between David Slade and Aronofsky.  Now, Deadline says the job is Aronofsky’s if he wants it.  Can’t say I fault the media strategy.  The only way I was ever going to care about this project was by association to the guy most recently known for aggressive lesbian ballerina sex.

Aronofsky and Hugh Jackman already have a close relationship after they made The Fountain, and Aronofsky recently met with Fox chief Tom Rothman seeking the kind of creative control he’s accustomed to. There was a lull in the talks when Aronofsky briefly flirted with directing Superman, but that job went to Zack Snyder. Meanwhile, Darren has developed some serious heat off festival showings of Black Swan. I’m not sure if he’s going to do Wolverine 2, but it’s his job if he wants it — and they are talking.

If anyone can do it, Aronofsky can, but this seems like a thankless project.  I mean, it’s never going to live up to the first one.  It’d be like making a sequel to the Sistine Chapel, or Black Knight.