Over in Japan, director James Mangold and star Hugh Jackman are currently shooting The Wolverine, the follow-up to 2009's somewhat disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine - and now, the studio behind the project, Fox, have released a very brief synopsis.
"Based on the celebrated comic book arc, The Wolverine finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed."
The celebrated comic book arc Fox are referring to is Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s run in the Wolverine comics back in 1982, known simply as Wolverine and boasting this frantic front cover.
Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, The Tourist) and Mark Bomback (Die Hard 4.0, Unstoppable, the Total Recall remake) have written the screenplay, with director Mangold (Cop Land, 3:10 To Yuma, Knight And Day, Walk The Line) making the occasional tweak.
How close to the original comic books Mangold and co. keep the project remains to be seen, but the world has been reassured that it will have no connection to the story in Origins.
As pointed out on Empire's Twitter feed earlier in the month, Mr. Mangold has recently announced his presence on the much-loved social media flatform, using it to reveal the odd titbit about the movie.
Of course, with this being Twitter, there's plenty of rather uninteresting stuff - "just wrapped week three. exhausted but happy" - but there's also details on Jackman's co-star, Hiroyuki Sanada, fighting with our Canadian friend: "wrapped at 11.45 last night. Last shot featured Hiro Sanada slashing through plate glass with a samurai sword. Take 1 looked great. Take 2 amazing."
As for which films Mangold is thinking of as he makes the film? Well, they are, "Eastwood's [The Outlaw] Josie Wales, Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus, Hitchcock's Rear Window, Marnie, Vertigo... Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds, Akira Kurosawa's High & Low, Roman Polanski's Chinatown, everything by Wong Kar Wai And Chris Doyle, Besson's The Professional."
Japanese will definitely be spoken on set - in the comics, Logan ends up speaking it fluently - with Mangold saying that it's "...exhilarating to direct in multiple languages".
If you want to find out more about what to expect in the movie, the Claremont/Miller book comes highly recommended, but in the meantime keep your eyes on Mangold's Twitter feed and, of course, here on EmpireOnline.com.
The Wolverine is earmarked for a July 26, 2013 release.