The Aronofsky Draft

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

Yes, that is a point, though they can't just have entirely standalone films if they want to create a coherent franchise.

I'd take Aronofsky's one-off any day of the week over a DOFP tie-in.

BUT...Since I think Darren's story is history, I'll make the best out of what we're getting - which is hopefully a tie-in to DOFP.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by JP

there is zero connection that can be made to DOFP

Not true.

Wolverine will most likely be the time traveler in DOFP. By linking this film to DOFP you build anticipation & since Wolverine is in this film you can kill two birds with one stone.

If Mangold's story blatantly sets the film post-X3, you can begin to show how the world fell after the assassination/event.

Maybe the film ends with Sentinels or some clear lead-in to DOFP like Mjolnir in IM2 or The Cosmic Cube in Thor.

Again, I'd prefer Aronofsky's Kubrickian one-off, but I have a strong feeling we're not getting it. Mangold's twitter comments pretty much confirm that. Darren's [completely linear] script was set in the 80s and ended with

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Wolverine sitting in a Japanese prison cell. No cliffhanger. No lead-in. Just a broken man yet again locked away.

[marvelrobbins]

Originally Posted by Alexei Belyakov

Not true.

Wolverine will most likely be the time traveler in DOFP. By linking this film to DOFP you build anticipation & since Wolverine is in this film you can kill two birds with one stone.

If Mangold's story blatantly sets the film post-X3, you can begin to show how the world fell after the assassination/event.

Maybe the film ends with Sentinels or some clear lead-in to DOFP like Mjolnir in IM2 or The Cosmic Cube in Thor.

Again, I'd prefer Aronofsky's Kubrickian one-off, but I have a strong feeling we're not getting it. Mangold's twitter comments pretty much confirm that. Darren's [completely linear] script was set in the 80s and ended with

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Wolverine sitting in a Japanese prison cell. No cliffhanger. No lead-in. Just a broken man yet again locked away.

If this was entirely a pre X1 film Mangold would have said oh our story takes place In 15 year timeframe between wolverine losing his memory and meeting
Rogue.We may get a glimpse of post trilgy world to lead Into future we will
see In Days of future Past as ending of the Wolverine.

I also have feeling they changed Viper Into somekind of mutant so she can be
like wolverine appearing the same age In multiple settings.

The question also Is are scenes of bearded scruffy Wolverine part of film's
main timeframe or will we see 2 past sequenzes of wolverine set before the
film's main time frame.Perhapes showing Wolverine encounting Viper at 2
different times In his life before the main story In Japan.

It may be till next july as the film Is about to open we get final concrete
answers about the complete time frame of The Wolverine.

A liner set In 1980's take could have been done and been great.

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by Alexei Belyakov

Not true.

Wolverine will most likely be the time traveler in DOFP. By linking this film to DOFP you build anticipation & since Wolverine is in this film you can kill two birds with one stone.

If Mangold's story blatantly sets the film post-X3, you can begin to show how the world fell after the assassination/event.

Maybe the film ends with Sentinels or some clear lead-in to DOFP like Mjolnir in IM2 or The Cosmic Cube in Thor.

Again, I'd prefer Aronofsky's Kubrickian one-off, but I have a strong feeling we're not getting it. Mangold's twitter comments pretty much confirm that. Darren's [completely linear] script was set in the 80s and ended with

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Wolverine sitting in a Japanese prison cell. No cliffhanger. No lead-in. Just a broken man yet again locked away.

I'd have had no problem with a linear - and far more 'arthouse' - story that didn't necessarily connect to any of the other films or set up any future films, but I don't like the ending you posted from the Aronofsky script.

Fingers crossed that Mangold is still aiming for some artistic value in the production, and that perhaps Bryan Singer has given his approval to what they are now doing.

A thematic concept is essential - even the much-reviled X3 managed that while XMO: Wolverine didn't.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

I'd have had no problem with a linear - and far more 'arthouse' - story that didn't necessarily connect to any of the other films or set up any future films,but I don't like the ending you posted from the Aronofsky script.

You say that because you don't know the full story.

The script review/outline I read is 15 pages long. Would you like to read it?

Not sure if we have a word limit in posts, its gotta be at least 5000 words.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by JP

I'd love to read it...

Danoyse mentioned script reviews are okay, but I'm wondering if her idea of a script review is something very brief/vague. This is 15 pages and nearly 4000 words. Its more an outline than a script review.

If she thinks that's fine, I'll share it.

[danoyse]

Originally Posted by Alexei Belyakov

Danoyse mentioned script reviews are okay, but I'm wondering if her idea of a script review is something very brief/vague. This is 15 pages and nearly 4000 words. Its more an outline than a script review.

If she thinks that's fine, I'll share it.

That would be a no. That's far beyond a script review from the sound of it.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by danoyse

That would be a no. That's far beyond a script review from the sound of it.

Understood.

Now, if I chop it down & remove dialogue, would it pass inspection? Say 500 words & strictly A through Z?

[Oberon sexton]

I remember David Benioff's Wolverine Origins script/first draft. Now that had the makings of a damn fine movie, the ending was especially so much better and poignant.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Oberon sexton

I remember David Benioff's Wolverine Origins script/first draft. Now that had the makings of a damn fine movie, the ending was especially so much better and poignant.

I hated it.

Too much fantasy and sci-fi. The minimalist approach to Wolverine is the best. Aronofsky's approach is very minimalist. The screenplay is like a mesh of DRIVE and OLDBOY with a hint of KILL BILL & BATMAN BEGINS.

[Oberon sexton]

I don't know what draft you're talking about, but the version I read was pretty much Barry Windsor-Smiths Weapon X come to life, and they did ground it a fair bit. Making him born in the 50s instead of the mid 19th century, reducing him to only serving in Vietnam, cutting back on the number of mutants, no Team-X. Really, the only two bits that were "out there" was the Blob, and the fact that Weapon 11 was a squadron of clones.

Everything else seemed like a great prequel to what we saw in X-2.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Oberon sexton

I don't know what draft you're talking about, but the version I read was pretty much Barry Windsor-Smiths Weapon X come to life, and they did ground it a fair bit. Making him born in the 50s instead of the mid 19th century, reducing him to only serving in Vietnam, cutting back on the number of mutants, no Team-X. Really, the only two bits that were "out there" was the Blob, and the fact that Weapon 11 was a squadron of clones.

Everything else seemed like a great prequel to what we saw in X-2.

What about the dude with 6 arms?

[Oberon sexton]

Where was that? Was he one of the mutants hiding in the bar?

[Alexei Belyakov]

Hopefully in the year and a half between Aronofsky's departure and the beginning of principal photography, not alot was changed in the script.

[!ronman]

Originally Posted by Oberon sexton

I don't know what draft you're talking about, but the version I read was pretty much Barry Windsor-Smiths Weapon X come to life

The 06/01/06 draft I read wasn't that much closer to Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith. Wolverine had some flashbacks while they injected the adamantium in his body and he killed a pack of wolves in the snow, but that's all (as far as I recall). Wolverine quicky escaped from the Weapon X facility, wasn't brainwashed and he still lost his memory to an adamantium bullet.

[danoyse]

Originally Posted by Alexei Belyakov

Understood.

Now, if I chop it down & remove dialogue, would it pass inspection? Say 500 words & strictly A through Z?

No. If you've got an outline to a script, it's not a review and you can't post it here.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Project862006

why do you keep calling it aronfsky script lol he did'nt touch mcquarrie's script

Yes he did.

The outline/script review I read is of a "Screenplay by Darren Aronofsky" and is dated January 9, 2011.

[Great Mind(s)]

Are they even allowed to use his script if he's not part of the film??

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Great Mind(s)

Are they even allowed to use his script if he's not part of the film??

Yeah, the screenplay belongs to the studio. If they wanted to, they could have shot it word for word.

But instead they brought in Bomback (God knows why).

[Great Mind(s)]

Originally Posted by Alexei Belyakov

Yeah, the screenplay belongs to the studio. If they wanted to, they could have shot it word for word.

But instead they brought in Bomback (God knows why).

That's really depressing. He wrote the new Total Recall? What were they thinking?? The way it sounds, the original script would have been a seriously dark twisted film.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

But hang on a moment. I think The Wolverine will almost certainly 'stand alone' from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and was probably intended to stand alone from the First Class/DoFP series.

But since then we've had Rothman going and now Mark Millar coming on board to help build a 'shared universe.' If The Wolverine is going to be part of that, it must be 'sharing' something with the rest of the franchise by having a link of some kind.

Just saying that we cannot be 100 per cent certain - especially with Millar just coming on board - that The Wolverine will be an entirely separate entity.

On a note of comic book accuracy, it's also interesting that Alexei Belyakov, during his lament on here for the loss of Aronofsky and arrival of Mangold, mentioned that the script at that stage did have the comic book costume and mask in it. I can't see Millar wanting to pass up the opportunity to ensure those elements are included.

It could well be that Logan is forced to embrace the animal side (just as Batman embraced the bat/shadows) and don a costume for some sort of ritual (hunt? battle?) to separate his bestial nature from his human side. That could be a cool way of the Japanese training attempting to isolate his animalistic/berserker aspect from his human self.

In Aronofsky's draft, Wolverine IS the animal throughout the first act. He kills dozens of people, brutally.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

In the second act he learns to control the beast. It doesn't mean he stops killing. He simply learns how to kill like a warrior rather than an animal.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Great Mind(s)

This already feels like an instant classic action sequence. I'm imagining a funeral being interrupted by Wolverine or the ninjas, a huge fight breaks out. Wolverine slaughters these guys as Silver Samurai watches waiting to make his first move.

There was no funeral in Aronofsky's draft & I'm sure the men in black are all Yakuza.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

the ninja in the script are all part of The Hand & hide their faces throughout most of the film. When they fight Wolverine, their faces aren't visible.

The stuff with Viper is all new to me, but the garden sequence sounds very similar to

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

when Wolverine first meets Ogun

.

All in all, as long as Mangold keeps this film bloody and brutal, I'm happy.

[Great Mind(s)]

Was there a scene in Arronofsky's draft that had Wolverine carrying Mariko like that?

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Great Mind(s)

Was there a scene in Arronofsky's draft that had Wolverine carrying Mariko like that?

Good question and the answer's

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

no.

The only thing I can discern from the set pics because of the draft is that the men in black suits he was spotted fighting are

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Yakuza. In the script they're described as "men in black suits". The ninja Wolverine fights are The Hand and are all "hiding their faces".

.

[Alexei Belyakov]

Originally Posted by Great Mind(s)

I wonder how well they'll handle Logan's relationships with Mariko and Yukio.

In the screenplay

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Mariko basically represents shelter for him & stillness. His scenes with her are quiet & calm. No sex, no liquor, no tension. Its always daytime when he's with her - literally.

With Yukio, its all about chaos & losing control. They have sex many times. Rough sex. They chug Saki together. They plan murders together & she gets aroused when he kills. Their relationship is morbid. There's a scene where Yukio molests & eventually seduces a random Japanese woman on a Tokyo train while Logan watches. She does it to arouse him. Its quite graphic and disturbing. His scenes with her are always at night - literally.

So its basically a very well-written ying & yang. Each woman represents an aspect of him: Mariko is control, Yukio is chaos.