by Haggis
November 13th, 2003 @ 8:22 am

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X-Men 3 & Wolverine News

Jackman’s got the X-factor

Hugh Jackman could soon have his own superhero movie franchise.

A plan is being developed in Hollywood to spin off Jackman’s popular X-Men character, Wolverine, into a separate film.

X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner said she was developing X-Men 3 and planned to follow it up with the Wolverine movie, with Jackman starring in both.

“The ideal thing will be to do Wolverine after X-Men 3 and that’s what we plan to do,” Shuler Donner said.

“We’ll probably develop Wolverine at the same time, but we’ll do X-3 then we’ll do Wolverine.”

The X-Men films, based on the Marvel comic, have become one of the most profitable film franchises in the last decade.

Based on an ensemble of mutants, 2000’s X-Men and this year’s sequel, X2: X-Men United, have made a combined $US700 million ($A981 million) at the box office worldwide.

Jackman’s Wolverine character, a wolf-like mutant with retractable claws, has emerged as the most popular among the film’s fans, despite his co-stars being Oscar winners Halle Berry and Anna Paquin, and established actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.

It was Shuler Donner, a high-powered Hollywood producer with a resume of films grossing more than $US2 billion ($A2.8 billion), who was responsible for casting Jackman as Wolverine in the first X-Men film.

Scottish actor Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine, but when he dropped out Shuler Donner fought for Jackman, largely unknown in Hollywood at the time, as the replacement.

“Hugh was performing on stage in Trevor Nunn’s Oklahoma in London,” Shuler Donner said.

“I fought for him.

“Hugh just had a mysterious unpredictable nature inside of him.

“The only thing was he wasn’t the right size. Wolverine is very short and Hugh is very tall, but other than that Hugh had all of the other elements we were looking for.”

Jackman has returned to the stage, wowing fans, critics and Shuler Donner in New York with the Broadway version of The Boy from Oz.

“Oh boy, he’s so talented. His dancing and acting was brilliant and a whole lot of Hugh’s personality shines through the character of Peter Allen,” she said.