THE WOLVERINE Shooting in Australia this August

It's recently been announced that Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Girl Interrupted) will be heading to Australia in August to start shooting The Wolverine. It will be shot in Jackman's hometown of Sydney. Yes, the story is still set in Japan, they'll just use movie magic to turn Australia into Japan. Jackman's obviously very excited about it saying,

I couldn't be more excited to return to Australia to film the next chapter in the Wolverine saga, thanks to the significant support from the federal and NSW governments. It will be great to work with the highly talented crew and to provide employment opportunities to so many people across all levels of the industry. Not to mention, [wife] Deb and I will get to spend some time with the family back in Australia.

The film has a budget of $80 million dollars and shooting the movie in Australia will create more than 720 jobs for NSW-based cast and crew, along with opportunities for as many as 1,200 extras. The majority of the film's post-production will be completed in the U.S., but they will be assisted by some Australia-based companies.

The feature is based the classic Chris Claremont and Frank Miller 1982 story arc in the Wolverine comics. The story will follow Logan, who starts "a forbidden romance with a Japanese woman whose hand in marriage is, unfortunately, promised to another man. Since Logan won't take "no" for an answer, it puts him into battle with her father and her samurai-sword-wielding brothers and Silver Samurai."

The Wolverine will be released in theaters on July 26th, 2013. As much as I disliked X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I'm excited for this sequel. It's a got a much better director, and a story everyone wants to see.