Wolverine 2 to shoot in January

Mutton-chopped star Hugh Jackman has already sort of confirmed that the sequel to last year’s Wolverine would whisk Wolvie off to Japan.

Now Roger Friedman has reported that, while that is true, the script is “a little different than we originally thought”.

Based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's Japan-set '80s comic mini-series, the script by Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie has reportedly just been handed in.

But, while it does stay mostly true to Wolvie’s much-loved exploits in Japan, the story has been tweaked for cinemas, and features ol’ knife-knuckles embarking on a love affair with a Japanese actress.

Which means that the comic’s female character of Mariko Yashida, the daughter of a corrupt Lord who is forced into an abusive marriage (and whom Wolvie saves and falls in love with), may have been dropped or switched.

Either way, the proposed shooting date of January 2011 means that this early draft could all but evaporate in the next ten months.

In related news, Jackman has just been cast in Lee Daniels' civil rights flick Selma . The film is set to shoot in May.

Daniels, whose drama Precious is up for six Oscars this year, said: “I have to really start casting the movie because we’re shooting it soon. The only person I’ve nailed in for sure is Hugh Jackman. It’s all over the place.” More when we get it...

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