Mark Bomback to rewrite ‘The Wolverine’

WOLVERINE

Variety and SuperHeroHype have reported that Mark Bomback has been hired to rewrite the beleaguered The Wolverine, the sequel to the critically slammed 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Bomback’s previous screenplays include Die Hard 4.0 (aka Live Free Die Hard), Race to Witch Mountain, Unstoppable and the upcoming Total Recall remake.

The film is to be directed by James Mangold (Knight and Day), who replaced Darren Aronofsky after leaving for creative reasons. The existing Christopher McQuarrie screenplay is said to be based on Frank Miller and Chris Claremont’s 1982 miniseries, in which Wolverine travels to the Japan to train with a samurai.

Hugh Jackman will reprise the role of Wolverine that he has played in X-Men, X-Men 2, X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine and (briefly) in X-Men: First Class.

Production is expected to start in 2012, although no further details are available.