Wolverine II Already Underway?!

A sequel to the hit X-Men film has no director, writer yet

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Shortly after X-Men Origins: Wolverine topped the box office with an $85 million take, 20th Century Fox and Seed Productions have announced their joint venture in preparing a sequel for the soon-to-be-franchise.

Wolverine, itself a spin-off of the X-Men feature film series, earned more than $158 million internationally during its opening weekend (May 1-3), the biggest start for any film so far this year. Despite that impressive debut, it wasn't enough to top the $103 million that the last X-Men flick (2006's The Last Stand) brought in for its domestic weekend premiere.

Hugh Jackman, who stars as the Marvel Comic superhero, has already begun planning the follow-up with his Seed Productions partner John Palermo. According to Variety, the sequel will stay true to the best-selling comic series by directing its focus on a samurai plot, which was breifly foreseen during an after-credit in the current film, which has Logan drinking at a Japanese pub.

No director is slated for the project, but Slumdog Millionaire writer Simon Beaufoy has been mentioned to pen a script. In related news, the FX Network has aquired the TV rights to the Wolverine film, a deal that may be worth upwards of $80 million.

Jackman will clearly return as Logan/ Wolverine, but no word on who else will come back. X-Men Origins also features Ryan Reynolds, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, and will.i.am, and was directed by Oscar winner Gavin Hood.