In a statement with the Hollywood Reporter Aronofsky said:
“As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of The Wolverine would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won’t be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again”.
20th Century Fox later added the following:
“While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do The Wolverine, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both The Wrestler and Black Swan with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making The Wolverine. We will regroup and move forward aggressively”.
Not a great deal of information was known about the film, but we were told that the film was set to take place in Japan. With the recent tragedies in Japan, it was expected to not only impact the making of The Wolverine, but any other film made in and or related to the country as well.
It will be interesting to see what Fox plans to do with the project now. Will they move away from the rumoured screenplay based on a Chris Claremeont/Frank Miller mini-series from 1982? Even more important , who is Fox considering to take over as director?