On January 15 Matt Goldberg at Collider.com posted an article announcing re-shoots were taking place for the upcoming 20th Century Fox comic book feature X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Actually, they were deemed “extensive re-shoots” and the article was posted as yet another scathing fanboy reaction to something going on at Fox as the first paragraph went along the lines of saying, “Studios don’t want you to know they done fucked up and can’t get their shit together in the editing room.” Goldberg goes into some level-headed speculation after that before going into an all out anti-Fox rant as if this was new territory we were covering. (You mean to tell me Meet Dave and Babylon A.D. weren’t good movies?)
Before writing an article about these re-shoots I contacted Fox to see what the story was and see if there was any merit to the “extensive” nature of the report and the reply from a Fox representative read as such: “This Canadian portion of principal photography was always planned. I told that to Collider too when they asked me on Tues.” Taking that into consideration I just decided not to post anything and find it confusing to see Collider has now posted an “Update” to their article saying, “More people have come out to tell us that it is 100% correct…” Considering Fox themselves told them it was correct this doesn’t surprise me.
Even further, Ain’t It Cool News has published a direct email from Wolverine star Hugh Jackman with the following message:
Hey everyone –
It’s Hugh Jackman, sending this note from freezing Vancouver. I have read a lot of your online comments regarding the footage that we are currently shooting and I share your passion for the Wolverine character and the movie – I owe it all to you guys!
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!
In the meantime, here’s an exclusive shot of some characters you may recognize…
Cheers,
Hugh
I tell yah, Jackman is a true believer and he seems to have put everything he could into this production as his introduction to some Wolverine footage at last year’s Comic Con (featured at the bottom of this article) showed how much enthusiasm he has for it and how far he is willing to go to support it. Now he is sending personal emails to the very site whose readers still beg for a Fox boycott and have already declared the movie a failure.
Maybe I am the only one that got some satisfaction out of that first trailer, but I think this film could be a lot of fun. I am certainly not going to make my decision based on reshoots.
Oh, and the image at the lead of this article comes from AICN, a second peace offering from Jackman and Fox to help tone down the vitriol. Can’t blame ’em for trying. You can get the big version here.
