In a lengthy interview with Collider, James Mangold has shared his thoughts on some of the key elements of The Wolverine. 3D conversions aren't in the least bit popular among moviegoers these days, but the director is clearly confident about the impact that the added effect has on this movie. However, those of you hoping for a plethora of Easter eggs and a Marvel Studios style after-credits scene may be disappointed; neither of these seem to be something that Mangold has any interest in. However, it's worth remembering that this interview took place during the filming of the movie and it has since been reported that an additional scene WAS shot during reshoots in Montreal.
On The 3D Conversion Of The Wolverine:
"3D is a brand-new experience for me, something the studio is very excited about for the film and I’m very excited about how it might play for the martial arts stuff we’re doing. My own sense and taste in 3D films has been I don’t really like it when it feels like it’s a gimmick and it’s coming at me, it’s flying at me. What really did it for me was Prometheus. It was incredibly well done. So I’m very curious about that. But it’s my first experience. I’m glad on a movie like this that I’m getting a chance to taste what it’s like. We never could have afforded to do it 3D in production. This movie is a risky movie. It’s got a lot of foreign language. It’s got a cast that’s 9/10′s not American. All those things make studios feel that they’re taking a little more of a risk. It’s a character-based film. There isn’t some obvious uber-villain that everyone’s heard of who’s going to be reigning through the film. So a lot of the aspects of the movie become elements of risk that they have asked us to make for a little less than some tentpoles might be. So the idea of shooting in simultaneous 3D was always off the table. For me it’s also the freedom that they’ve really set us free to make the exact movie we want to make."
On Whether He Was Allowed To Choose Between A PG-13 And R-Rating:
"I’m not going to comment on that. Certainly he does get bloody. Things have repercussions. You get hit, it hurts. You get cut, you bleed. For me the instantaneous nature of healing is something that I think got carried to such an extent that I felt like it’s almost like there’s no stakes for the character. What I wanted to find again was this idea that it hurts to be Logan. It’s not free of pain. Just because your leg might heal doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel broken. It doesn’t mean that a car hitting your body doesn’t hurt like the same it would hurt if a car hit your body. He’s still flesh, blood, and nerves wrapped around that skeleton."
On Whether He Was Tempted To Include Any Easter Eggs Relating To Fox's Other Comic Book Movie Franchises:
"Thoughts like that have occurred to me."
On Whether He Plans On Including An After-Credits Scene:
"You’re thinking all different things, but I will say that for me the tags after the credits thing has never been my favorite thing in movies. To me the idea is the curtain rises and the curtain comes down. In theater, there’s the idea of the encore and I’m not opposed to it, but what I’m really focused on at this point is the majesty of the best films I see are films that don’t panhandle for an extra laugh later, but actually deliver the goods. And when the screen goes black, you go, Yes. My goal, whether there’s an egg for you later or not, is that when the thing goes black, that you go, Yes, that you say, Yes, the meal was good. I don’t need a fancy wine. I don’t need a dessert. I don’t need an aperitif. What he gave me was satisfying. That’s my hope and dream."
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
STARRING:
Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen Yashida
Hal Yamanouchi as Yashida
Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida
Rila Fukushima as Yukio
Will Yun Lee as Kenuichio Harada
Brian Tee as Noburo Mori
Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper
RELEASE DATE: July 26th, 2013.