I think you should take this news with a grain of salt until anything is confirmed but there are some interesting casting rumours floating around.

Someone on the IMDB boards (again, take this lightly) has posted that Karl Urban may be up for the role of Sabretooth. Urban is known for this roles in The Lord Of The Rings and Pathfinder. He also has a role in the upcoming Star Trek movie, which could cause conflict if these rumours are true. Wolverine and Star Trek are scheduled to start filming around the same time, however things could be worked out if they needed to be.

Earlier this week we told you about how Maggie Q may be up for the role of SilverFox, well there could be more candidates to play Wolverine’s love interest. Apparently Alice Braga was their first choice.  She can be seen in I Am Legend next month. However, Laila Rouass is now in talks. Personally I prefer Maggie Q, Laila appeared in the UK version of Footballers Wives and from what I can see she was given crappy material which resulted in crappy acting. I just don’t think she can take on the role. However, these are rumours so I am not going to get too passionate about it yet.

There have been rumours going around that Wolverine has been delayed because Kidman and Jackman’s Australia has taken up all of the filming stages. However, people with common sense will realise big studios do not turn up and find that filming locations are unavailable. They are booked months in advance to avoid this type of problem. Eventually Fox released a statement saying:

“We are still planning to begin principal photography in January. We have every intention of keeping this on schedule. Australia is a Fox production as well, so we will work with that area of our production group as best we can to make both production schedules work (not to mention availablility of our star of both - Hugh Jackman).”

Jolly good. Now for the good stuff. IESB got word that Maggie Q has a role in the film. This good looking lady has had roles in the latest Die Hard film and Balls of Fury. She will also be joining Jackman in upcoming The List, so no doubt Wolverine was talked about on that set.

Maggie will be playing Silver Fox, Wolverine’s love interest. According to Wikipedia

Silver Fox is a lover of Wolverine who first appeared in Wolverine vol.2 #10, where she is apparently killed by Sabretooth. However, her death is later revealed to be an induced memory of Wolverine’s. In actuality, she is a member of “Team X,” the best covert ops team the CIA had to offer, and is one of a few female victims of the Weapon X project. Fox betrays Team X and becomes a member of Hydra, a subversive terrorist organization. She is later, finally, killed by Sabretooth under the control of the telepathic Psi-Borg, and Wolverine buries her body outside the cabin they once lived in together.

Could Prison Break’s Robert Knepper have a part in Wolverine? According to The Denver Post he may just have a role.

Since then, oozing charm and menace in equal amounts, Knepper has captured audiences worldwide. Not only is he starring in a big Hollywood film, “Hitman,” set to open on Wednesday, but also he is rumored to be playing the next Bond villain, co-starring with Hugh Jackman in the “X-Men” spinoff “Wolverine” and starring in a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” (1963).

Knepper will be appearing in upcoming Hitman, which is a 20th Century Fox film, as is Wolverine, so some contacts could have been made.

I dont know who he could be playing. I suppose they could do what they did to Vinnie Jones for X-Men 3 and make him a menacing Sabretooth. Or he could be one of Strykers men, or even a mutant. I think he is a bit old for Gambit, but I guess we will have to see when the cast is announced or leaked sometime soon.

Marvel Entertainment have updated its project list. Everything look great…however, where is the Magneto movie?

Feature Film Projects Being Developed by Marvel – partial list
Iron Man, Marvel - Completed principal photography; May 2, 2008 release
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel - Commenced principal photography; June 13, 2008 release
Ant-Man, Marvel - Writer and director engaged
Captain America, Marvel - Writer engaged
Thor, Marvel - Writer engaged
The Avengers, Marvel - Writer engaged

Licensed Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up
Punisher 2, Lionsgate - Commenced principal photography, slated for 2008 release
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox - Director engaged, slated for May 1, 2009 release

Marvel Character Animated TV Projects
Fantastic Four, Moonscoop SAS (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes; Running Internationally.
Spider-Man, Sony - In development; US distribution agreement with Kids’ WB for Spring 2008 release.
Wolverine and the X-Men, First Serve Toonz (India) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; Fall 2008 release.
Iron Man, Method Films (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; Fall 2008 release.
Hulk, TBD - In development.

Marvel Character Animated Direct-to-DVD Projects
Next Avengers, Lionsgate - Targeted July 2008 release
Hulk Smash, Lionsgate - Targeted October 2008 release
Thor, Lionsgate - Targeted April 2009 release
TBD, Lionsgate - Targeted September 2009 release

Marvel Character Live Stage Projects
Spider-Man the Musical, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment
In development/opening date to be determined; Julie Taymor director; music & lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge

Marvel Video Game Releases (Release dates controlled by Publishing partner)
Sega, Iron Man - Targeted 2008
Sega, The Incredible Hulk - Targeted 2008

When the first Wolverine solo film was first talked about, I just thought FOX were getting cheap and wanted the same amount of profits with less input. They had a franchise that has brought in over half a billion dollars so why not try and get more for less? Then they gave it the name X-Men Origins: Wolverine which is probably for marketing purposes as people are familiar with the X-Men name. If ever Disney decided to do another Pirates of The Caribbean, but without most of the original cast, only Johnny Depp, I am sure they would call it ‘Pirates of The Caribbean: Jack Sparrow’s Cursed Monkey’ rather than simply ‘Jack Sparrow’s Cursed Monkey’.

So with future marketing planned and out of the way, how about the film? A source told XMF that,

“Going by the pre-vis work, it’s my belief that this tale will be just as big as the other films” says the source. “The general consensus is to make this the next chapter in a franchise, and with any continuing film in a franchise, you want to make things better.”

…and they better make it better! This whole spin-off idea was to get out of paying 14+ actors money for a possible X-Men 4. So if they make a crappy Wolverine instead of seeing more Beast, Angel and Gambit then I will be pissed!

However, I do believe the talent brought on board will give us a great movie. The only problem is we have to wait 2 years for it.

Wolverine will begin filming December 10th.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is expected to begin filming within the next month or so. Hugh Jackman is finishing off Australia with Nicole Kidman and is expected to go straight into filming for Wolverine, so its a good job they are both located in Hugh Jackman’s native Austrailia.

The Press have got information about what is going to be filmed shortly. If you don’t want to be spoiled then I suggest you close you eyes, look away or click the back button!

[Some Spoilers Below]

• A military sniper shoots a rocket launcher at the barn, narrowly missing Wolverine but exploding the building, this is apparently one of the final scenes of the movie, so I assume they want to go out with a bang.
• This will be a one-off event, with four cameras located around the set to capture the action.
• Filming is expected to be from January 14, with preparation beginning next Monday.
• Cast and crew, who are expected to work 15-hour days, seven days a week, will use accommodation in Queenstown and Alexandra.

With writers expected to be striking as early as Thursday, studios are frantically trying to get scripts complete before they start filming. If they do strike then there will be nobody to do re-writes during filming. It is well known that most scripts change daily while filming is in progress, whether its because things don’t seem right when the actors perform, or they may get a new idea for the ending such as Jean Grey’s sacrifice in X-Men 2.

Last week Paul Haggis delivered his script in to Columbia for Bond 22, hopefully he has given that script a title so we can stop calling it ‘Bond 22′.

Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter has published an article with information regarding the script for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which is being penned by James Vanderbilt (”Zodiac”), and “The Fast and the Furious 4″ by Chris Morgan are among dozens of scripts that are being flipped, a process that actually is uniting execs and scribes in one goal: to get a script that is filmable.

I’ve lost count how many writers Wolverine has had, but no doubt they are changing things for the better.

The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency have announced that Harry Gregson-Williams will compose the score for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The Hugh Jackman film will begin filming within the next new months in Australia.

Harry Gregson-Williams has composed movies such as Gone Baby Gone, Shrek the Third and will also be scoring The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, as well as G-Force, which is expected to be released the same date as Wolverine on May 1, 2009.

The script for Wolverine was originally crafted by David Benioff, who is known for his work on Troy and The Kite Runner. However, Hitman writer Skip Wood was brought on board to re-write a couple of weeks ago. Was this because of the impending writers strike? Or because the script wasn’t good enough? Well the LA Times have wrote an article, giving us more info on the situation, and it doesn’t sound good.

Just last week, 20th Century Fox issued an announcement that the studio was laying claim to May 1, 2009, as the release date for its big-budget sci-fi spinoff “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” starring Hugh Jackman. This was just days after it issued an urgent SOS to the major agencies looking for a quick rewrite person.

Meanwhile, a young Wolverine may have been cast. The film will most likely have flashbacks of some sort, so a young Hugh Jackman is needed. The boys name is Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Melbourne’s Kodi Smit-McPhee has signed up to play a young version of Jackman’s claw-wielding mutant alter ego in the up-coming action thriller Wolverine.The 11-year-old, who is up against his Romulus, My Father co-star Eric Bana for best lead actor at this year’s AFI Awards, will begin filming at Fox Studios in December.

“I am very excited about it. I like how their claws come out,” he said yesterday.

Source

And the last Wolverine news we have today is the dates that Wolveine will be filming, thanks to nztechno

Wolverine
Format: Feature Film
Dates: Prep from October 8th; Shooting 10th Dec 2007 - 18th Janurary 2008 (2 week break over Christmas 21st Dec 2007 - 7th January 2008)
Locations: Queenstown and surrounds
Production Co: WOZ Productions

Wolverine (or X-Men Origins: Wolverine as it is called now) is expected to start filming within the next few months, and casting rumours and announcements are expected to be surfacing. We have already learned that Brian Cox will not be returning to play William Stryker, instead Liev Schreiber is in final talks to play a younger version of the character. Another character that will be returning to the big screen, but without its original actor, is Sabretooth.

A fan messaged Tyler Mane on his Myspace, asking whether the rumours were true, that he will not be back to reprise his role as Wolverines nemesis.

That rumor is true! I would have loved the opportunity to revisit Sabertooth, but it won’t be me!

Tyler out

Apparently the studio want to go in a different direction with the character. If this means Sabretooth is more bad ass then I am all for it. I like Tyler Mane and the problem with the Sabretooth we got in X-Men was that he was the mute henchmen, similar to Vinnie Jones’s Juggernaut. I hope they go with an unknown and no wrestlers. The last thing we need is HHH trying to act menacing.

Thanks to aliceinchains and Pauluz