We previously reported that Liev Schreiber was in talks to play William Stryker, Logan’s nemesis. However the tables have turned - yes, he is still in the movie, but now he shall be playing Creed, aka Sabretooth - as report CHUD. Given the lack of depth associated with Creed, this seems a little out of place… “though how can you not be at least intrigued?“. CHUD assure us that this is the real deal.

It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have a casting rumor for Stryker, to replace Liev in his absence. So here it is… Michael C. Hall. You may have seen him in Dexter. There’s a fan website here if you want a better look.

Not exactly what we want to hear, another phrase we don’t like the sound of is “no social relevance whatsoever“. In speaking with Rotten Tomatoes about Kite Runner, Wolverine writer David Benioff spoke of his work on the X-men franchise:

“I don’t know what the social importance is. I think sometimes there’s a real benefit in just going to see a movie and not having to worry about the real world for a while. For two hours, you can go and just have fun. I love movies like that. A movie like this [The Kite Runner] is sometimes what I want to see, and sometimes I just want to go and watch Hugh Jackman with claws fighting some other guy. I think they both have their place. Hopefully, that will have no social relevance whatsoever.”

Whatever Hood intends to do with it is out of Benioff’s hands: “I have never met him, actually.”

“I grew up a big Wolverine fan. I’ve been reading comic books since I was a little kid, and Wolverine was always my favorite comic book hero. I consider myself just as much of a fan as anyone else. I’m hopeful that that movie will make the fans happy.”

Fun usually ends up terrible, though we should remember the context of these comments - he is comparing Wolverine to The Kite Runner, a highly charged and socially relevant story set in Afghanistan.

It seems like the film crew require the use of a nearby Ice Rink - for 3 months, for storage, to the great displeasure of the hockey players that use it to train:

The Otago Daily Times said it understood ice had been taken off the rink at the Queenstown Fun Centre to accommodate the film company for the fourth movie in the X-Men series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Ice Blacks manager Charlie Reid, of Queenstown, said he was told before Christmas the ice would be taken off for up to three months. He said the decision to rent the rink to Wolverine meant a planned training camp in Queenstown for February had to be moved to Christchurch. Mr Reid said there were 10 Queenstown ice hockey players due to head into their final training camp in Auckland at the end of the month, vying for selection in the New Zealand ice hockey team to compete in the division 2 world championships in Australia in April.

He said the biggest issue was the lack of valuable ice time the Queenstown players had heading in to the upcoming selection camp.

Ice Blacks 2007 captain Simon Glass said he thought the centre was being used by Wolverine for storage. He said it was an inconvenience to players because they would not be able to train on the ice.

However, Glass said it would be good for the team in the long run because the money would go back in to the arena.

Source: Stuff

20th Century Fox have released an official marketing blurb to describe the X-men Origins: Wolverine movie. Nothing too radical here - but we do get a general picture of the storyline - there will be action, violence, a love interest and Victor Creed. Most noteworthy however is the last sentence, which tells us to expect a number of legendary X-men characters.

‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ is set to star Jackman and will be directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition). The producers are Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter (who produced all three previous “X-Men” films), along with Jackman and his Seed Prods. producing partner, John Palermo. The film will be executive produced by Marvel Films’ Kevin Feige.

Leading up to the events of ‘X-Men’, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ – written by David Benioff (The Kite Runner, Troy) – tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.

Variety are running an update on exactly how the current Writer’s Guild strikes shall affect the big budget Hollywood productions, specifically Michael Bay’s Transformers 2 and the Wolverine X-men spin off:

DreamWorks/Par’s “Transformers 2″ is far enough along to proceed with pre-production, location scouting and advance VFX work, but will face serious issues if the strike continues for several months. Michael Bay’s megabudget sequel isn’t set to start filming until June.

[…]

Fox is moving full speed ahead with its “X-Men” spinoff “Wolverine,” even though many roles are still uncast. Unlike “X-Men,” “Wolverine” rests solidly on Hugh Jackman’s shoulders.

If you don’t understand the cause of these strikes, I recommend watching this video which explains everything you need to know: