Variety reports that Jackman is in talks to star in Shawn Levy's movie, based upon a short story by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson, where a former boxer becomes a robot boxing promoter who discovers both a son he never knew he had as well as a seemingly-unbeatable robotic boxing champ.

While we have no doubt that Jackman will kill in the role, we're concerned that he's milking his Wolverine geek cred for all it's worth... and it's working. Suddenly, we're finding ourselves interested in the movie for the first time ever. Maybe it's us that need the intervention.

Jackman Tests Mettle with "Real Steel" [Variety]

Commenting that the sequel to this summer's X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be closer to Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 mini-series than the original movie was to comic continuity - In part because, according to the producer,

there was a lot of different source material, a lot of different legends in Victor Creed's relationship to Logan and Logan's background. There were some choices we had to make

- Donner talked about the potential longevity of the movie series:

There's enough comic book material to support [a long-running series]. If we were to make up our own story, which we've never talked about, personally I would do it with Chris Claremont. I would stick with the creator... Chris is writing an amazing series right now where Wolverine's killed, Storm is the villain. Sure, one day I'd love to [do] that.

Donner's referring to the alternate world series X-Men Forever, in which Wolverine dies in the second issue - just like Claremont always wanted:

I always planned to kill him [during Claremont's original 16-year run on the X-Men series], but The Powers That Be wouldn't allow me to walk down that story path. I am so glad that I can take the characters on this particular journey now. It allows for real growth and change, and exciting possibilities. Doors that were locked can now be opened. Unfortunately, the general consensus in comics is that a character's death means The End. It's my strong belief that through such an emotionally fraught event as one character's death, the characters, the storyline, and the concept find new regenerative power and can grow stronger, for the future.

But would Fox really kill off Hugh Jackman to refresh the X-Men movie franchise?

Gavin Hood and Lauren Schuler Donner Talk Wolverine Blu-ray and Sequel [Latino Review]

At the Teen Choice Awards, Jackman joked that he'd see if Wolverine could use his surf board trophy, for Best Actor in an Action/Adventure movie, in Japan, where the next film will be set...right now. He later elaborated on the quip to MTV. Apparently they're getting started sooner rather than later as the project is currently in development, and not so far off in the future that Jackman thinks he needs to shy away from talking about it.

Also, I want to reach out to the children — sorry teens — who voted for Wolverine as the Best Action/Adventure Film. Really?

That is all.

Hugh Jackman Offers 'Wolverine 2' Update: 'We're Starting To Work On It Now' [MTV Splash Page]

Variety reports that work has already started on a sequel (Will it be called X-Men Not-So-Origins: Wolverine, I wonder?), and that it will focus on Logan's stay in Japan, where he tries to calm his savage side and learn the way of the samurai despite being surrounded by ninjas and organized crime. No writer has been hired to script yet, but I'm sure that discussions are already taking place on how many X-Men B-list characters can be awkwardly shoehorned into the movie.

Meanwhile, Variety is also reporting that Fox has already given a greenlight to a spin-off movie starring Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, the "merc with a mouth," in the wake of his post-credits scene at the end of Wolverine. Will he still have the eye-blasts and teleportation?

[Variety and Variety]

Jackman is teaming with Disney for a movie version of Ghostopolis, an upcoming graphic novel by Doug Tennapel that centers around a man who spent his life sending ghosts back to the afterlife having to rescue a living child from there, instead. This is only the latest movie deal for Tennapel, who also has previous graphic novels Monster Zoo, Creature Tech and Tommysaurus Rex in various stages of production at different studios; it's also just one in a number of comic book adaptations in the works for Jackman, including a property he co-created for the now-defunct Virgin Comics. Clearly, this is a man who knows his audience well.

Jackman will be producing and starring in Ghostopolis, although no other details have been announced.

Hugh Jackman to haunt 'Ghostopolis' [Hollywood Reporter]

Unsurprisingly, casting Wolverine in the original X-Men movie wasn't a smooth process; the character's unusual attributes in the comics - short, hairy and not particularly physically attractive, yet charming nonetheless, and capable of stunts and animal temper - aren't exactly the kind of thing that would make most actors want to sign on for the role, after all. That didn't stop X-Men writer Chris Claremont from thinking big, however, as he admitted in a recent interview:

Back in the day when we first started kicking around idea, my choice for Wolverine was Bob Hoskins. That was totally late 20th century, and it's not relevant to today's market.

By the time that Bryan Singer was attached to the project, more "relevant" thinking had prevailed, and taller, more attractive actors were being considered; both Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe were offered the role, but both declined (Crowe was apparently interested, but wanted more money to sign on). Soon afterwards, Singer found his perfect leading man: Mission: Impossible II's Dougray Scott.

Sadly, in what was to become a bit of a running theme in his career, Scott became a footnote as opposed to a star when he had to drop out of the production due to M:I2 going over schedule by two months, meaning that he'd be unavailable for the start of the X-Men shoot (Scott was also rumored to be taking over the role of James Bond, following the departure of Pierce Brosnan. You have to wonder if he dreams of terrible accidents befalling both Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, sometimes). With filming already having been underway for three weeks, Jackman - then an unknown - was hurredly cast in the role, and the rest was franchise history.

(Wolverine wasn't the only character quickly recast in X-Men; James Marsden only became Cyclops when James Caviezel's shooting schedule for Frequency caused him to back out of the movie. Ugly Betty's Eric Mabius was also in the running.)

Oddly enough, casting an Australian as the Canadian superhero was following a precedent set by Wolverine's first non-comic book appearance, in a 1982 episode of Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends:

His altered citizenship continued through 1989's failed X-Men pilot, "Pryde of the X-Men":

Apparently, American casting directors have no idea where Canada is, much to Hugh Jackman's benefit. But at least you now know why Gibson and Crowe were offered the gig.

Poor Cyclops - he never gets a break. While fans were howling for more Wolverine, Fox doesn't give Scott Summers an inch of coolness or fun. Hell, they even killed him off half an hour into the last picture. Sure Cyclops is a boy scout, but seeing him helpless and bloodied in the stills for the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine flick feels like a continuation of Fox's anti-Scott campaign. Who knows: maybe he'll pull out in the end and save the day (doubtful as he does suck). But right now it looks like he gets yelled at in school, his glasses get stolen, and then he's thrown in jail and beaten up.

In other news, you MUST give Hugh Jackman massive credit for going all out on this Spanish TV show El Hormiguero. Say what you will about the new Wolverine film, Jackman is giving the international press circuit his all and we're reaping the benefits. Like this amazing video:

[Video via Filmonic]

In a personal email to Ain't It Cool News, Hugh Jackman wanted to reassure the X-Men fans and nip the whole "is X-Men: Origins: Wolverine doomed" rumors in the butt. According to Jackman:

I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations. I am stoked by the positive response to the teaser, which clearly reflects the tone and scope of the film. If you like that, we've got much more in store!

It warms my heart to know that Jackman is still dedicated to the character, enough to reach out to the internet fans and save them from a maelstrom of rumors and panic. Does this mean that everything will be A-OK in the rumored on-set struggle between director Gavin Hood and Fox executives? Who knows? As long as the internet has Jackman's ear, let's hope he takes the crazy fandom rage and nervousness to heart, and make this movie as epic as it needs to be.

Until then, check out the bizarre promo image above. I call on you, commenters, to find a fitting caption for this prayerful image. The winner gets a winky emoticon from Graeme.

Full letter at AICN.

According to Sci Fi Wire, Scheiber is excited about the brutal, feral bloodlust he channels as supervillain Sabretooth: He said it's "unlike any other character I’ve ever played. This guy is a real killer.” Good: Victor Creed should be a badass mother. But we're more interested in the fight scenes. Will they be amazing, will they make us cry for more? Schreiber thinks so. Because Hugh Jackman is a terrific dancer:

Just to do [a] fight scene with Hugh was really terrific because as a dancer, he has that kind of discipline and choreography. I always studied to be a fight choreographer and wanted to be a dancer, too, but didn’t quite have the feet for it. We have some remarkable fight scenes together, and I’m looking forward to people seeing those.

I can just imagine it will be an eclectic celebration of the dance! Hugh does Fosse, Fosse, Fosse! Liev follows with Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham! Or Twyla, Twyla, Twyla! Or Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd! Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!... but they keep it all inside.

But in all seriousness Schreiber really seems dedicated to the character. He was even a fan and professes his love for Wolverine and the comic:

I just loved the character of Wolverine. I always have. That sort of deeply ironic and very urban sensibility on a superhero was something that I thought was really groundbreaking, the style of writing, particularly the very sort of editorial style. I just always loved it, and I think that we were able to capture some of that darkness in this movie, so I’m very proud.

Thank you for bringing the dancing darkness.

[Sci Fi]

Worried that the never-before-used title might be giving away too much about the project, the rest of the official press announcement is impressively vague about what Nowhere Man actually is, aside from it being "a Sci Fi odyssey set in a groundbreaking vision of the future in which mankind has traded privacy for safety."

Ah, so one of those post-9/11 dystopias, then. The comic series will be developed with and written by Marc Guggenheim, who works on Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man and ABC's Eli Stone, and is expected to premiere before the end of the year.

Hugh Jackman to create comic book property for Virgin [Newsarama]

The Last Enemy, a co-production with WGBH in Boston, looks talky but still exciting. The main character, Stephen Ezard, comes back to England after years overseas and discovers that a terrorist incident has led to massive new clampdowns. He gets roped into helping to develop TIA, a mysterious new project that wants to put every citizen into a huge database, run by private corporations. And he learns that 1,000 people died as a result of a secret experiment with implantable tags that were supposed to pass harmlessly through their bodies after a couple of years.

Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman is developing a new project with Virgin Comics, which he hopes will also turn into a movie vehicle for him. Nowhere Man, co-written by Eli Stone creator Marc Guggenheim, is about a character similar to Will Smith's in I Am Legend, who lives in a future dystopia where people have "traded privacy for security." [The Last Enemy]

• Here are those Wolverine set photos, showing Liev Schrieber's Sabretooth and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, hanging out and eating apples. Schrieber has sideburns that match Hugh's, but crazy nails instead of metal claws. The photos are not that exciting, but they do give you a sense of how closely the two "animal" mutants will resemble each other in the new movie. And this is probably from a segment where the two mutants are part of some kind of military black-ops team, hence the uniforms. Just Jared, via FirstShowing]
• Here's a roundup of mostly old spoilers for Iron Man, Marvel's new movie about a guilt-ridden weapons merchant who dresses in a suit of power armor. It does include some wacky rumors, like the idea that Hillary Swank will play the Black Widow, a Russian super-spy, and Edward Norton's Bruce Banner will turn up. [UGO]
• Here's another new clip from the post-apocalyptic disease movie Doomsday, which opens March 14. [MTV Movies]
• As you may have heard, Smallville is getting an eighth season. But it turns out Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor) and Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) won't be back as regulars. They may make guest appearances, however. Also, a Smallville regular dies in the April 17 episode, the first one written after the strike. This won't be a fake death, or a clone death, but real and irrevocable. [Ask Ausiello]
• In the Kyle XY season finale, everybody goes to the prom! Wheee! Kyle struggles to plan a night that Amanda won't forget, Josh wonders what Andy has planned for their big date, and Declan resolves to show Lori his true feelings. But meanwhile Kyle's female counterpart Jessi XX has some news about her relationship with her mom, played by Ally Sheedy. And here's a Sheedy's appearance in the episode before that, which airs March 10. [Spoiler TV]

Jackman says he's a fan of the Wolverine character, "... like everyone else. That's why I keep holding on to the character." He promises that Wolverine's arch-nemesis Sabretooth and the anti-mutant zealot William Stryker will both play a huge role in the film. The plot? A younger Wolverine "discovers the world of mutants and, ultimately, the ominous Weapon X program, which turns people into living weapons." Weapon X already played a fair part in X-Men 2 He also lets us know that there will be both familiar mutants and new faces in the film, including some big cameo roles.

The only question is, do you really want every facet of Wolverine and every dark secret exposed on film? We've already seen flashbacks of Wolvie geting injected with adamantium, we know he was part of a government project, and we know he's a rebel and a loner. Do we really need a whole film to tell us why? We'd prefer a film that follows the storyline from the comics where Magneto pulls all the metal out of his body, and it nearly kills Logan. Later, during a Danger Room training sequence, he discovers he has bone underneath those claws. First Look: Gavin Hood's X-Men Origins: Wolverine [First Showing]