The Wolverine (2013)

Plot Summary

In modern day Japan, Wolverine is out of his depth in an unknown world as he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before

Director: James Mangold

Writers: Mark Bomback, Scott Frank, Christopher McQuarrie

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee

Budget: $100,000,000 (estimated)

Trailers

Reviews

IGN: The Wolverine is a standalone adventure for the classic character that reminds us that there's more to this genre than universe-building and crossovers - 4/5

Mirror: An astutely structured film (beautifully directed by James Mangold, best known for Walk The Line and 3:10 to Yuma) is a complex drama, its mood ranging from serious and taut to funny and even silly, with a welcome side order of spectacular action sequences. - 4/5

The Hollywood Reporter: Until a third act that collapses in a harebrained heap, the director largely succeeds in keeping the more cartoonish aspects at bay, roughing up the surface with organically staged fight scenes and, crucially, raising the stakes by stripping his hitherto indestructible hero of his self-healing powers. - 3/5

Total Film: It’s a step up from the garbled silliness of Wolverine’s first solo outing. Unlike Origins, the storytelling is more sharply focused here, ignited by flashes of stylised superheroism. - 3/5

Empire: An improvement on the last outing for Jackman’s not-so-merry mutant. If only it trusted enough in its unique setting to forgo a descent into aggressively awful formula. - 3/5

The Telegraph: The previous X-Men film, First Class, was secure enough in its own skin to embrace its comic side. Mangold’s picture affects a pubescent snarl instead: that’s the difference between comic and daft. - 2/5

The Guardian: The flat hammerblows of The Wolverine bear little relation to the zing and pop of Matthew Vaughn's colourful treatment. Inconsistency is inevitable in a world that's constantly being dug up and done over, but it leaves us no time to fall in love with anything being flung at us. - 2/5

MovieMoReview Rating of The Wolverine -  3/5

"Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. is Hollywood's highest paid actor

With estimated earnings of $75 million, "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. is Hollywood's highest paid actor, ahead of Channing Tatum and Hugh Jackman, according to Forbes.com.

Downey, 48, starred in Disney's Marvel superhero films "The Avengers" in 2012 and "Iron Man 3" in 2013, each of which earned more than $1 billion at the box office, assuring him the top spot in the annual ranking of Hollywood's top acting earners.

New father Tatum, 33, who self-financed the male-stripper movie "Magic Mike" that made $167 million with director Steven Soderbergh, captured the No. 2 spot with estimated earnings of $60 million. Australian actor Jackman, 44, whose new movie "The Wolverine" opens in U.S. theaters next week, was not far behind with $55 million.

Mark Wahlberg, 42, had a comedy hit with "Ted," a film that earned $550 million and pumped up his earning to $52 million to secure fourth place, and wrestler-turned actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, 41, rounded out the top five with $46 million.

Johnson starred in "Fast and Furious 6," which made $500 million at the box office in less than two weeks, and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."

Adam Sandler, 46, at No. 7, was the only comedian to make the top 10 thanks mainly to the animated hit "Hotel Transylvania, which grossed $347 million and helped bump his earnings up to $37 million.

Last year, Tom Cruise, 51, topped the list with earnings of $75 million. This year, he dropped to eighth place with $35 million, gained largely from his international audience, Forbes said.

Denzel Washington, 58, took a cut in pay in exchange for a share of the profits for "Flight," which turned out to be a shrewd deal. The film made $162 million putting the Oscar winner in ninth place with earnings of $33 million.

Forbes.com compiled the ranking and estimated earnings by talking to managers, producers and agents.

Take a look at the income of all of this past year's top leading men:

1. Robert Downey Jr -- $75 million

2. Channing Tatum -- $60 million

3. Hugh Jackman -- $55 million

4. Mark Wahlberg -- $52 million

5. Dwayne Johnson -- $46 million

6. Leonardo DiCaprio -- $39 million

7. Adam Sandler -- $37 million

8. Tom Cruise -- $35 million

9. Denzel Washington -- $33 million

10. Liam Nieson -- $32 million

Source: www.forbes.com

About Christopher Nolan

Gained major funding during the 1999 Hong Kong Film Festival by showing his film "Following" and then asking the audience to donate money to his next film "Memento".

Older brother of Jonathan Nolan.

Nephew of John Nolan and Kim Hartman.

Is red and green colorblind.

Studied English Literature in college.

He is a big James Bond fan, and said to David S. Goyer, that his favorite James Bond movie is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

His top ten favorite movies are: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Black Hole", "Blade Runner", "Chinatown", "The Hitcher", "Lawrence of Arabia", "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), "Star Wars", "The Man Who Would Be King" and "Topkapi", as well as anything by Stanley Kubrick.

Doesn't like CGI in movies and purposely avoided it when he made "Batman Begins".

Following "Insomnia", his next project was going to be a Howard Hughes biopic starring Jim Carrey. Nolan had the screenplay written (calling it "one of the best things I've ever written"), but once it became apparent Martin Scorsese was making his own Hughes biopic, "The Aviator", Nolan reluctantly tabled his script and took up directing "Batman Begins".

Spent his childhood moving back and forth between United Kingdom and the United States. His accent is mostly English, but occasionally varies into an American accent. Nolan is comfortable with and knowledgeable of both cultures.

Has both US and UK citizenship.

He is a big fan of the band, Radiohead.

Resides in Los Angeles with his wife Emma Thomas and their three children.

Always has both his US and UK passports with him at all times, just in case of emergency.

Is of Irish descent.

As of 2012, 6 out of eight films Nolan directed are on the IMDB's top 250: "The Dark Knight", "Batman Begins", "Memento", "The Prestige", "Inception", and "The Dark Knight Rises".

Was doing camera and sound work on training videos before making his film debut.

His film, "The Dark Knight Rises", is the fifth consecutive movie of his to have a role played by Michael Caine.

Considers Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott as his primary influences.

Adapted Ruth Rendell's novel, "The Keys to the Street", into a screenplay that he was set to direct for Fox Searchlight after "Insomnia". However, he instead went on to direct "Batman Begins". "Keys to the Street" remains unproduced.

First cousin of Miranda Nolan, whom he gave minor roles in "Inception" and "The Dark Knight Rises". Miranda's brother Tom had a minor role in "Batman Begins".

The first Director to do three live action Film adaptations of the DC Comics character Batman.

He and "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi are the only directors to do three live-action Comic Book adaptations of the same character.

Prefers shooting on film stock over digital, and has been outspoken against the threat by studios to phase out the use of film as a choice over digital.

Refuses to use Digital Intermediates for his films, instead opting to use the photochemical timing process.

He is one of the few people (also including his brother Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer) to work on films about DC Comics' two most famous characters and two of the most iconic heroes in Comics, "Batman" and "Superman".

Honored with a hand-print and foot-print ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater on July 7, 2012 in Los Angeles.

Father of Flora Nolan, Rory Nolan, Oliver Nolan and Magnus Nolan.

He initially directed his Batman films so he could get funding and support for his bigger films. The one he had planned for years was ''Inception''.

After James Cameron, Christopher Nolan is the second director make 2 films that have grossed more than $1 billion in the worldwide box office (The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises). However, Nolan is the first director to have released both of the billion dollar grossing films in 2D only (James Cameron's Avatar and Titanic have both been released in 3D at some point during their releases).

Always refuses to use a second unit in his movies, preferring instead to oversee every shot himself with DP Wally Pfister.

Was inspired to create the "Dark Knight" trilogy after viewing Richard Donner's Superman Films.

Has directed one Oscar winning performance: Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight".

Source: www.IMDb.com