Simon Beaufoy not writing Wolverine 2

A few days ago AICN were sent a tip that said Simon Beaufoy, who recently won an Oscar for his Slumdog Millionaire screenplay, had been recruited to write the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Well Entertainment Weekly managed to get in contact with his agent, who denied Beaufoy had the gig, although he did say producer Lauren Shuler Donner had spoken to him about Wolverine 2.

According to Beaufoy’s manager, Beaufoy was approached by Wolverine producer Lauren Shuler Donner to gauge the writer’s interest in W2, but no formal offer was made. A Fox source says that the two met at the Slumdog Oscar party and chatted about Wolverine there. Beaufoy, in any case, didn’t feel he was right for the project. Furthermore, Fox is saying that no Wolverine 2 project is actively being developed.

With 20th Century Fox marketing X-Men Origins: Wolverine like crazy, so it should earn enough to warrent a sequel. Jackman has hinted in interviews that he would be interested in heading to Japan next time round, however I don’t know where that would fit in the X-Men timeline as apparently X-Men Origins: Wolverine finishes off just before X1 begins.