Hugh Jackman brings The Wolverine Down Under

No, Hugh Jackman hasn’t convinced anyone to abandon THE WOLVERINE’s previously-planned story setting of Japan in favor of the Outback – rather, production has simply elected to shoot in Sydney, Australia.

While the original plan was to shoot in Japan, certain forces of nature prevented that from being at all feasible.  Vancouver was looked at for a while, but director James Mangold (3:10 TO YUMA) and Co. have elected instead to film (way) down south with a brief stint in the US.  “The Wolverine is expected to generate more than $80 million in production expenditure in NSW [New South Wales] and create more than 720 jobs for NSW-based cast and crew, along with opportunities for 1200 extras,” said New South Wales Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner.  “It is a testament to our screen industry that Hugh Jackman and his team have chosen to come back to Australia after such a positive experience making the X-Men Origins.”

If nothing else, we have the fact that Jackman really loves the character of Wolverine and the world he lives in.  That passion counts for a lot in my book, making even the lackluster entries in the X-MEN movie cannon worth a shot.  “I love the idea of this kind of anarchic character, the outsider, being in this world full of honour and tradition and customs.  The idea of the samurai too, and the tradition there – it’s really great. In the comic book he gets his ass kicked by a couple of samurai – not even mutants.”

After a long wait, Jackman’s Wolverine at last returns on July 26th, 2013.

And in a way, it’s a shame we won’t be seeing Lynn Collins return as Kayla Silverfox:

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