X Men Origins Wolverine
The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman as the title character. It is a prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, focusing on the mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine's skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium.
The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand.
Premise
Set roughly twenty years before X-Men, the film will focus on Wolverine's violent past, and his early encounters with William Stryker (Danny Huston). The Weapon X program and his interactions with other mutants will be explored, including his relationship with his half-brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber).
Cast
Hugh Jackman as James Howlett / Logan / Wolverine: The mutant and future X-Man.
Jackman, who played Wolverine in the previous films, has also become producer of the film via his company Seed Productions, and earned $20 million for the film. Jackman underwent a high intensity weight training regimen to bulk up for his role. He changed the program to shock the body into change and also performed cardiovascular workouts. He woke up each morning at 4 am to eat one of the small number of protein-based meals he was allowed each day.
So he understands what they're going through, but despises their force." He compared the character to a racehorse breeder, who rears his mutant experiments like children but abandons them when something goes wrong.
Lynn Collins as Kayla Silver Fox: Wolverine's love interest, who becomes a captive of Stryker. Michelle Monaghan turned down the role because of scheduling conflicts, despite her enthusiasm to work with Jackman.
Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau / Gambit: A Cajun thief who has the ability to charge any object he touches with kinetic energy, forcing it to explode. Although he initially did not get on with the casting director, he got the role because he wanted to play a mutant with the same power as Nightcrawler.
He enrolled in boot camp to get into shape for the part. When filming a fight, he scarred his knuckles after accidentally punching and breaking the camera.
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool: A wisecracking mercenary who can heal like Wolverine. Reynolds had been interested in playing the character in his own film since 2003. Reynolds was not a big comic book fan but had heard that in an issue of the comic, Deadpool likens himself to the actor, and became very interested in the character.
Dukes / The Blob: An obese mutant with an indestructible layer of fat.
Dominic Monaghan as Chris Bradley / Bolt: A mutant who can manipulate electricity. Phil Hellmuth wanted to join him but was unable because he committed to an event in Toronto. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee said he would cameo, but he was not in Australia during filming, so this will have to be a pick-up conducted during January 2009. Patrick Stewart also cameos as Professor Charles Xavier towards the end of the film.
Production
Development
David Benioff, a comic book fan, pursued the project for almost three years before he was hired to write the script in October 2004. In preparing to write the script, he reread Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" story (1991), as well as Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 limited series on the character (his favorite storyline). Jackman collaborated on the script, which he wanted to be more of a character piece compared with the previous X-Men films. Benioff aimed for a "darker and a bit more brutal" story, writing it with an R rating in mind, although he acknowledged the film's final tone would rest with the producers and director. Jackman did not see the need to make the film R.
Deadpool had been developed for his own film by Reynolds and David S.
Similarly, Gambit was a character who the filmmakers had tried to put in the previous X-Men films. Jackman liked Gambit because he is a "loose cannon" like Wolverine, stating their relationship echoes that of Wolverine and Pyro in the original trilogy. David Ayer contributed to the script. Benioff finished his draft in October 2006, and Jackman stated there would be a year before shooting, as he was scheduled to start filming Australia (2008) during 2007. Before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike began, James Vanderbilt and Scott Silver were hired for a last-minute rewrite.
Gavin Hood was announced as director of the project in July 2007 for a 2008 release. Previously, X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer and X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner were interested in returning to the franchise, while Alexandre Aja and Len Wiseman also wanted the job. Zack Snyder, who was approached for The Last Stand, turned down this film because he was directing Watchmen. Jackman saw parallels between Logan and the main character in Tsotsi. Hood explained that while he was not a comic book fan, he "realized that the character of Wolverine, I think his great appeal lies in the fact that he's someone who in some ways, is filled with a great deal of self-loathing by his own nature and he's constantly at war with his own nature". The director described the film's themes as focusing on Wolverine's inner struggle between his animalistic savagery and noble human qualities.
Hood enjoyed the previous films, but set out to give the spin-off a different feel. In October, Fox announced a May 1, 2009 release date and the X-Men Origins prefix.
Filming
Preliminary shooting took place at Fox Studios Australia (in Sydney) during late 2007. Principal photography began on January 18, 2008 in New Zealand. Fox moved some of the explosives to another area. The explosives were used for a shot of the exploding Hudson Farm, a scene which required four cameras. Jackman and Palermo's Woz Productions reached an agreement with the council to allow recycling specialists on set to advise the production on being environmentally friendly.
Filming continued at Fox (where most of the shooting was done) and New Orleans, Louisiana. Cockatoo Island was used for Stryker's facility; the enormous buildings there saved money on digitally expanding a set. Production of the film was predicted to generate $60 million in Sydney's economy. Principal photography ended by May 23.