Filmonic » Hugh Jackman

More details on Hugh Jackman’s robot boxing movie

Liam — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:45:52 +0000

While on the rounds promoting the DVD for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian director Shawn Levy was asked about Real Steel, a sci-fi film that would see Hugh Jackman boxing Rocky-style against robots.

From Sci-Fi Wire:

“Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who can therefore no longer do the only thing he was ever good at and has to make his way in this new world,” Levy said in an exclusive interview. “It’s faithful to the story in that that story was very much about a down-on-his-luck, slightly desperate journeyman who works in this robot boxing sport and who is desperately needing redemption and one last shot. The movie is more Rocky than Transformers.”
Levy has not cast the main character’s son yet but has a good idea about the robots. “They are most definitely not Transformers, not Terminators, definitely not WALL-Es, either,” Levy said. “Unlike a lot of these others, these are human-built, human-scale fighting machines. They are built for human spectacle. People in this movie have gotten bored with human carnage and human violence. So in the quest for more, more, more, this sport has evolved to this.”

According to Levy Steven Spielberg offered him the movie and after directing a bunch of comedies he wanted to do something different, so he accepted. I would gladly see the movie just based on the plot. The last time I saw robots boxing was in an episode of Futurama, and I wanted more!

Hugh Jackman passes on another Oscar outing

Liam — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:16:11 +0000

The 81st Academy Awards were a bit different this year as Hugh Jackman was appointed host and he brought with him something most previous comedy hosts couldn’t: the gift of song and dance. The next Oscar ceremony is 5 months away so the producers will soon start preparing for the show, however this time Hugh Jackman will not be involved:

From Variety:

While speculation is running high on who’ll host the Oscars, one name that can be crossed off the list is Hugh Jackman.
The thesp, who’s starring on Broadway with Daniel Craig in the drama “A Steady Rain,” quietly turned down the job within the past few weeks, sources said.
Jackman drew praise for his first Oscar hosting gig in February under producer Laurence Mark and exec producer Bill Condon. He may take on hosting duties again in the future, but it’s understood that he didn’t want to do the show two years in a row.

I thought Jackman did a great job and would be happy to see him host again, but I guess he wants to leave people wanting more. Here’s his opening number from earlier this year:

Do you have anyone in mind to host next years Oscars?

Hugh Jackman talks Wolverine 2

Liam — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:58:34 +0000

Hugh Jackman recently had an interview with Katie Couric from CBS News and he spoke a little about Wolverine 2 and the whole Wolverine franchise in general. He doesn’t reveal anything interesting, but he says he will only do another if the script is as good as he imagines the Japanese sage can be.

In related news X-Men Origins: Wolverine has pulled in another $50 million from DVD and Blu-ray sales, adding to the $371 million it made during it’s run. 20th Century Fox will no doubt be happy with that.

First look at Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain

Liam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:58:37 +0000

A Steady Rain isn’t actually a movie, it’s a Broadway play, however as both Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman are in it I thought I’d post the first image of them in character.

From EW

Wolverine and James Bond will soon be squaring off eight times a week. And here’s the first publicity photo of Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in the Broadway play A Steady Rain, in which they play Chicago cops with enough troubles to fill Soldier Field. Jackman, who won a Tony in 2004 for hoofing it as 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, plays Denny, a patrolman with a racist streak and violent temper. And Craig, a London stage veteran making his Broadway debut, plays Joey, a recovering alcoholic and gentler soul who may not be as docile as he first seems. In A Steady Rain, which just began rehearsals, the two buddies in blue recount a few harrowing days on the job and their very different accounts of a police call that quickly went south.

The play will open on September 29th and will run through till December 6th. I think it would be hilarious if Craig kept that moustache for Bond 23.

Hugh Jackman says Wolverine 2 will be “sexiest X-Men film yet” and a 2012 release is likely

Liam — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:23:11 +0000

Earlier this week Hugh Jackman said that they were just starting to develop the story for Wolverine 2, and confirmed that they were heading to Japan. In the post I had a mini-rant about Wolverine’s love interests. In short, I think that we’ve seen enough of Wolverine in love (Jean Grey in X-Men 3, Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and I just want to see him be his badass self without getting revenge over a lost love or crying because he has to stab one of them. He needs to be single. However, these latest quotes from Jackman suggest that not only will Wolverine have a love interest, he will have multiple:

“Parts of that story were pretty dark. I don’t know if it’s the darkest, but I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say I think it will be the sexiest,” Jackman told MTV News. “There’s some female companionship—and not just one—for Wolverine. … My wife might have an issue with it, but I think the fans will like it.”
Of course, with all this talk of what the “Wolverine” sequel will entail, there’s still the question of when we’re likely to see it hit theaters. While Jackman couldn’t offer any firm details, he did hint at a potential release in 2012.
“If you look at the history [of the X-Men movies], it’s been every three years—three years exactly,” he teased. “So that might give you a good hint.”

There’s nothing wrong with a “sexy” X-Men film, I mean we’ve already seen Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and Famke Janssen running around in leather suits. I’d be fine with subtle sexiness like that, however if it turns into MTV/Michael Bay/Brett Ratner/music video type-sexy then I’ll berserker rage on their faces.

Hugh Jackman talks Wolverine 2

Liam — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:43:03 +0000

X-Men Origins: Wolverine won the action/adventure film category at the Teen Choice Awards (ugh) this weekend and after collecting his surfboard Hugh Jackman spoke to MTV and gave an update on Wolverine 2.

“Japan is where we’re heading, [and] we’re starting to work on it now. We’re in the … first steps of developing that story.”
Reiterating his desire to Miller and Claremont’s story arc brought to the screen, Jackman said he’s “made no real secret” of his fondness for that particular chapter of Wolverine’s history. “I think the fans love that saga. It’s my favorite saga of the Wolverine stories.”
“That’s a movie I’ve longed to make from the beginning, so that’s where we’re heading,” he said.

The source for the film will be the four-issue Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, published in 1982. The story, famously conceived as Claremont and Miller traveled home from the San Diego Comic Con, saw Wolverine heading to Japan on the trail of his love Mariko Yashida. He arrives to find her married to a cold businessman, and he soon finds himself at odds with Mariko’s father and the ninja clan The Hand.

One of the main things I don’t want Wolverine to have in the next film is a love interest. I know they will want to stick to the formula and give him a female but it’s already been done. He cried like a baby in X-Men 3 over Jean Grey and he got all emotional over Silver Fox in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Give him a girl to play around with and to exchange a few witty lines, but just let him hack and slash because he can and because he wants to, not because he’s got his heartstrings in a twist again.

Anyone have anything they want/don’t want to see in Wolverine 2?

Will Wolverine appear in X-Men: First Class?

Liam — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:02:35 +0000

One of the main reasons I am looking forward to X-Men: First Class is due to the prospect of having an X-Men film revolve around the X-Men and not Wolverine. Sure, he’s a cool character and Hugh Jackman is great in the role, but the bastard hogged all the screen time in the trilogy and other characters had to suffer in order for him to shine (Cyclops and Storm mainly). So with Wolverine on course to getting his own trilogy, it may finally be time for an actual X-Men film with X-Men: First Class, which will focus on young versions of Cyclops, Jean, Beast and Storm (among other’s yet to be confirmed) as they undertake their first year at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

However, with X-Men Origins: Wolverine making big money this past weekend, mainly due to Hugh Jackman and people’s interest in Wolverine, would Fox ever consider making an X-Men film without an appearance from the clawed one?

From MTV:

“Do you think Wolverine will be in the ‘X-Men: First Class’ movie?” I asked Jackman, expecting to hear a simple “no” or “no comment.”
“I don’t know,” he responded with a grin, leaving the door open. “You’re asking good questions. You’ve done your research.”
“I’ve got nothing to do with that movie, they don’t need me,” Jackman cautioned, then cryptically added, “…as a producer.”
Which brings up a good point: Although the “producer” in Jackman is already working hard to make a Wolverine spin-off sequel, it seems likely that the “actor” in him wants to leave the door open to guest appearances in the movies of other mutants.
“I haven’t even read the script,” he tried to explain of “First Class,” but once again added honestly: “But, we’ll see.”
Finally, I thought I’d give Hugh one more shot at a stronger confirmation or denial, so I asked if he’d be willing to do a small cameo in “First Class,” along the same lines of what Patrick Stewart did in his film. “Yeah,” Jackman grinned, escaping while he could. “You have done your research.”

A cameo would actually be quite cool, considering there would be little or no interaction between Wolverine and the characters he meet for the first time in X-Men 1. From X-Men Origins: Wolverine it is hinted that First Class would takes place after those events, so it could work. However, if Wolverine end’s up on-screen for more than 20 seconds I’ll showcase some berserk rage of my own.

Fox developing Wolverine 2

Liam — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:52:46 +0000

In what must be the most obvious piece of news this month, it has been announced that 20th Century Fox and Hugh Jackman’s production company Seed are developing a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

From Variety:

Fox and Seed are in development on a sequel to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which topped the domestic box office over the weekend.
The Seed partners have begun planning the sequel, which they are squarely focusing on the samurai storyline originated in the comic series, and whose Japanese locale was teased after the film’s final credits. A writer has yet to be hired. Seed will produce.

No word on whether director Gavin Hood will return, although we probably won’t see the sequel for another few years (2012 seem likely and would fit with the typical 3 year cycle) so we probably won’t get any major cast/crew announcements any time soon. In the meantime Jackman has a few other projects lined up. According to THR Jackman has joined Disney’s Ghostopolis:

The story centers on a man who works for the government’s Supernatural Immigration Task Force. His job is to send ghosts who have escaped into our world back to Ghostopolis. When a living boy accidentally is sent to the other side, the agent must team with a female ghost (and former flame) to bring him back.

Jackman is also keen on making Carousel, a musical, and Drive, which would see him play a solitary man who drives race cars by day and getaway cars by night in Los Angeles.

Let’s see Christian Bale do this!

Liam — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:01:02 +0000

While promoting movies around the world actors usually have to do things that they probably wouldn’t do in the civilized world. What you see below doesn’t really make sense, but if X-Men Origins: Wolverine flops it won’t be because Hugh Jackman didn’t promote it hard enough.

Hugh on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero:

Jackman appears to be in the middle of a big worldwide tour promoting Wolverine, and you can keep up with him by following him on Twitter. 17 hours ago he was “Waking up at 5:00AM to do a run around Madrid..”

5 X-Men Origins: Wolverine character profiles

Liam — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:55:54 +0000

MTV revealed 5 cool character profile videos for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. They feature Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and John Wraith (Will.i.am) all talking about their characters and their motives. We also get some new footage in places. Watch below!