James Mangold to Direct 'Wolverine 2'

7:50 AM PDT 6/16/2011 by Borys Kit

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James Mangold

James Mangold is stepping into the director’s chair for Wolverine 2.

Its been a long road for Fox, which is making the sequel, and Hugh Jackman, who stars as the mutant Canadian superhero from the X-Men universe.

The makers went through an extensive search to settle on Darren Aronofsky as a director, but the indie auteur’s interest wavered in March after his Black Swan gothic drama proved a massive hit, grossing over $323 million worldwide on only a $13 million budget.

The studio has been in the hunt ever since, with Mangold only becoming a strong contender late in the race.

The sequel to the 2009 film is set in Japan and will incorporate elements of the ninja storyline seen the Marvel comics. Christopher McQuarrie wrote the script.

Mangold, repped by WME, worked with Jackman on 2001’s Kate & Leopold and has a strong history with Fox via 2005’s Walk the Line and last year’s Knight & Day.