'The Wolverine' gets summer 2013 release date

Despite several high profile delays, "The Wolverine" now has an official release date: July 16, 2013.

Hugh Jackman

Last June, Fox signed director James Mangold ("Knight and Day," "3:10 to Yuma," "Walk the Line") to the project to replace Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), who dropped out in March.

Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects," "Valkyrie") provided a script, set mostly in Japan, and Mark Bomback ("Live Free or Die Hard," "Unstoppable") was signed in September to provide a rewrite.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" hit theaters in 2009, spinning off of the successful "X-Men" trilogy. It told the backstory of Logan/Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman). That film was expected to be first of a number of films exploring the histories of various X-Men.

The next was supposed to be "Magneto," but it was eventually reworked into last summer's "X-Men: First Class."

Weather delaying 'The Wolverine' filming until spring?

Filming on the anticipated sequel to Fox's "X-Men Origin: Wolverine" may not begin until next spring.

The first film debuted in 2009.

Deadline is reporting that while the studio had been eying a fall start-date, weather concerns in Japan have delayed matters. Star Hugh Jackman said in a June interview with Toronto radio station CHFI that filming was set to begin in October.

That same month, Fox signed director James Mangold ("Knight and Day," "3:10 to Yuma," "Walk the Line") to the project to replace Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), who dropped out in March.

According to Deadline, the weather issues may lead to part of the filming being moved to Canada. Christopher McQuarrie's ("The Usual Suspects," "Valkyrie") script, as it stands now, is set mostly in Japan.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" hit theaters in 2009, spinning off of the successful "X-Men" trilogy, told the backstory of Logan/Wolverine (played by Jackman). That film was expected to be first of a number of films exploring the histories of various X-Men. The next was supposed to be "Magneto," but it was eventually reworked into June's "X-Men: First Class," a far superior film to "Wolverine."

'The Wolverine' to begin filming in October

The "Wolverine" sequel will begin filming this October and be released sometime next year, according to star Hugh Jackman.

Filming begins in October, Jackman says.

As Digital Spy reports, Jackman broke the news during an interview with Toronto radio station CHFI.

"We shoot in October, so it will probably come out a year after that. That's usually around the timeline," he said.

Earlier this month, Fox signed director James Mangold ("Knight and Day," "3:10 to Yuma" and "Walk the Line") for the project to replace Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan"), who dropped out of the project in March.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" hit theaters in 2009, spinning off of the successful "X-Men" trilogy, told the backstory of Logan/Wolverine (played by Jackman). That film was expected to be first of a number of films exploring the histories of various X-Men. The next was supposed to be "Magneto," but it was eventually reworked into this month's "X-Men: First Class," a far superior film to "Wolverine."

"The Wolverine," as the sequel has come to be called, has a script from Christopher McQuarrie, whose resume includes "The Usual Suspects" and "Valkyrie," as well as the recently announced Jack Reacher adaptation, "One Shot." The story will be set mostly in Japan.