X-Men fans celebrated the news last week that Fox was officially moving forward on a sequel to X-Men: First Class and the good news continued to roll out with today’s announcement that Fox scheduled its X-Men: Origins: Wolverine sequel, simply called THE WOLVERINE, for July 23, 2013.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox scheduled its X-Men franchise title up against the Dirty Dancing remake from Lionsgate and Disney’s big-screen adaptation of its popular Phineas and Ferb cartoon.
Of course, X-Men fans took the news in stride after numerous delays and shuffling directors attached to the project.
Last year, director James Mangold finally boarded the long simmering project after Darren Aronofsky walked away from the film. Mangold reportedly beat out Gavin O'Connor and Antoine Fuqua.
Jackman played an active role in selecting Mangold, who last directed Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in the high-energy spy adventure Knight and Day for Fox.
Delays from the Japanese tsunami pushed back production to 2012 on the Christopher McQuarrie script with much of the story set around the Wolverine in Japan.
Fans, are you hopeful about Mangold getting started this year on The Wolverine with Fox finally giving the title a 2013 release date?
Let's hope this film gets made because Mangold and Jackman look like a great pairing to me.