Wolverine movie in the works

Jackman talks about Matthew Vaughn's departure from 'X3' and the future of the franchise.

Jun 10 2005

Hugh Jackman will start work on a 'Wolverine' movie just as soon as he finishes work on 'X3'.

The film will be part of a first-look deal he and partner John Palermo have signed at 20th Century Fox under the Seed Productions banner.

The arrangement involves David Benioff penning a script for the X spin-off, with Jackman and Palermo producing alongside Lauren Shuler Donner and Avi Arad.

Seed will then produce and develop a variety of projects for Fox on both stage and screen.

As Jackman told Variety: 'We came in pitching a company that will be built around films, some starring me and some not. We'll also do television and we have aspirations to bring Fox in to stage productions as well. They seemed as excited as we were.'

Jackman also spoke of the turmoil behind the scenes of the third 'X-Men' film, when British director Matthew Vaughn left the project late-on and 'Rush Hour' director Brett Ratner stepped in to take the helm.

'It got to be a roller-coaster ride there, but I wasn't worried because the script was so strong,' he explained. 'Matthew had his reasons but helped make the movie better before he left. Brett has come in with a lot of enthusiasm and is full of understanding of the franchise.'

He continued: 'It has been a real learning curve, as has been putting together the script on 'Wolverine'. That project is a good start for me as producer, because I have intimate knowledge of the character.'

'X3' starts production in August and will hit screens next summer, with 'Wolverine' arriving sometime after that.

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