Trouble in Wolvieland?

It’s a story that could have been written for the past two or three months – there’s trouble on the set of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. It’s something that hasn’t been a well-kept secret as a lot of us in the web world have heard the rumors from down under. But now Hollywood Elsewhere is reporting on a specific instance to backup the rumors of Fox’s unhappiness with the film. The report claims Fox head Tom Rothman is using his powers to override the word of director Gavin Hood. It seems Fox and Rothman aren’t exactly happy with the WOLVERINE movie. While that might initially bum you out, their unhappiness with the film is a good thing. Fox has reportedly been very unhappy with the “dark” tone of the film and is actively working to try and make it more “family friendly.” Right, because that worked so well with FANTASTIC FOUR…

Hollywood Elsewhere says that Hood left the set for a brief period of time only to return and see a large set for the film had been completely repainted to make it brighter and give it less of a dark and somber vibe. I would think that with the success of THE DARK KNIGHT and the Comic-Con footage (which featured Wolverine telling Sabretooth he was going to rip his “goddamn head” off), that they might opt for a darker feel.

Now keep in mind that rumors of turmoil between Fox and Hood have been swirling for some time now and this is just one of the first leaked incidents to support those rumors. I’m sure as the project continues through editing and post-production we’ll hear even more. Hopefully Fox will invite a few select journalists to some kind of pow-wow with Hood (perhaps in the edit bay) to help straighten all this out…