Mangold is a pick I can get behind. 3:10 To Yuma is great, Copland is great, Identity is pretty good. And I thought Knight & Day was pretty great, too. It was deftly handled in the balancing act between decent action and comedy. I think if the script is great, Mangold can do a fantastic job. Not as good as Aronofsky, but you know...
Mangold isn't anything to shout about, but he can be a solid, workmanlike director if the material is on the page. Hopefully he can make a decent film out of The Wolverine.
I'm fine with Marigold being picked if he is locked up soon. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw "The Wolverine" go head to head against "Man of Steel" which would be an interesting battle. Probably wouldn't slot it that late though.
Limon, Fuqua, and O'Conner look like cool choices. But Aronofsky was an amazing unconventional choice for a comic hero movie
^ Indeed he was. Especially for a comic book character like Wolverine. Although he was once attached to direct a Batman movie so it's not that far fetched.
Hugh Jackman said they were looking to ramp up production in October for a fall 2012 release, so I can see The Wolverine in December (which would put it up against Man of Steel). December is an exciting month for movies again! I remember when we had Star Trek movies, James Bond movies, Lord of the Rings movies. The past few years have given us diddly squat. Now we have a new James Bond movie (for December 2012), a new Mission: Impossible movie (for December of this year), a Superman movie (also for December 2012) and possibly a new Wolverine movie (possibly for winter 2012). That's awesome. Not to mention The Hobbit. December is going to be an exciting time for movies again.
Wolverine doesn't seem like a good fit for a fall or Christmas release. I think Fox will either push for a quick enough turnaround to get it out in late summer 2012 or hold it for first quarter 2013.
Summer 2012 is going to be busy and packed with The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, Men In Black III and The Bourne Legacy (not to mention tons more). I think spring or summer 2013 would be more appropriate (and on top of that, summer 2013 is already getting full with the addition of Thor 2 and Iron Man 3).
Yeah, you're right, summer 2012 is already packed, and Fox has Prometheus, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Ice Age: Continental Drift set for that summer. They likely don't need another tentpole for summer 2012.
Summer 2013 seems more ideal at this point. It can come out late May 2013, after Iron Man 3, which is usually when X-Men films come out anyway.
The villain has been announced. Seems it will be the Silver Samurai. http://www.moviehole.net/201143306-comic-con-2011-wolverine-2-villain-announced