Hugh-Jackman.com

Times are good for Hugh with Australia doing well at the Box Office, a few tips that he might find himself nominated at the Oscars in one way or another and Wolverine building up hype. And now it’s been announced that in a change from the usual format, Hugh will host the 2009 Academy Awards!

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hugh Jackman will host the 81st annual Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Friday.

Jackman, a triple-threat actor, singer and dancer who was recently named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” has awards-show host experience, and to good effect: He won an Emmy in 2005 for hosting the 58th annual Tony Awards in 2004, when he also took a best-actor Tony for his performance in the musical “The Boy From Oz.”

Telecast producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon called the Australian actor “a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star.”

“He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion,” Mark and Condon said in a joint statement. “Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year’s movies — and to have fun doing it.” Read more on Associated Press

With the US release of Australia and the UK premiere tonight, Hugh is all over the news. There’s even quite a bit of Wolverine news popping up so here’s a few links to keep you busy whilst things are happening behind the scenes here at h-j.com:

LOS ANGELES – The next great American movie star may just be an Australian. Who besides Hugh Jackman could sing, dance, brave a stampede, and leave both women and men swooning? This year’s People magazine Sexiest Man Alive is a throwback to the multitalented stars of the old studio system. Read the interview at the Boston Globe.

Several sources including Variety and the Hollywood Reporter are listing Hugh as a contender for the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Australia. Wouldn’t that be nice!

On the Wolverine side of things, Marvel has released 8 new pictures (including one featuring Gambit!). The first preview trailers are in cinemas now with a few illegally filmed versions available on YouTube!

From SuperHeroHype:

The secrets behind the origins of Marvel Comics’ most popular mutant Wolverine remained murky and mysterious in the comic books for decades, and the filmmakers behind X-Men Origins: Wolverine have also been working furiously to keep the curtain drawn on Logan’s cinematic beginnings before the movie bows next May.

But ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! had a red carpet encounter with the film’s producer, Lauren Shuler Donner (who also oversaw the “X-Men” films as well as a diverse assortment of features, from Pretty in Pink to Free Willy to You’ve Got Mail to the upcoming The Secret Life of Bees), and with a minor pop of the claws in her direction she gave up a few details on Logan’s first solo outing on the big screen – and a possible spin-off for the “Merc with a Mouth,” Deadpool.

CS/SHH!: What’s the latest you can tell us about “Wolverine”?
Lauren Schuler Donner: May 1st, 2009! I guess it’s closer to the first “X-Men” in tone because it’s a little darker, but there’s a lot of action. It’s his origin story. It’s really good. I’ve been in the editing room the last couple of weeks and I think that it’s good and that audiences are going to like it. But it’s a little darker.

CS/SHH!: How is Hugh Jackman’s interpretation of the character different or new, compared to what we’ve seen in the “X-Men” films?
Schuler Donner: Well, you haven’t seen this side of him. It’s darker and sadder and it’s kick-ass. There’s a ton of action. It’s really kick-ass.

CS/SHH!: How was working with Gavin Hood as the director?
Schuler Donner: It was fun. It was good. I like taking someone out of the indie world and bringing someone into the action world because it grounds the movie. It gives it a reality. It gives it an emotional core, and then you can have as much fun and action in it as you want.

CS/SHH!: This was Gavin’s first time playing with really big cinematic toys. Was there a learning curve on that for him?
Schuler Donner: Yeah. He had a learning curve, but the thing basically for the director, honestly, it’s sort of like, “Here’s what I want…” and then the visual FX guys create that. Then it’s like, “No. I want it more like this or like that.” A director doesn’t have to know how to do it. They have to know about lighting and shooting someone against green screen and that sort of stuff, but in terms of actually creating it, we do that.

CS/SHH!: And Ryan Reynolds is playing Deadpool.
Schuler Donner: Yes. Ryan Reynolds is playing Deadpool… he plays Wade Wilson.

CS/SHH!: Is that in hopes of a “Deadpool” spin-off film?
Schuler Donner: I hope so. I really hope so. He’s so good at it.

CS/SHH!: Are there any comic book storylines in particular that the movie is drawing from?
Schuler Donner: There’s an “X-Men: Origins” that some of it is pulled from, and then it’s sort of an amalgamation of some of them. But “X-Men: Origins” sort of goes back into his young, young past, and we started there. [Note: Schuler Donner is referring to the 2001 Origin miniseries by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove].

CS/SHH!: And is the Stan Lee cameo obligatory at this point, even though he didn’t personally create Wolverine?
Schuler Donner: Well, we shot in Australia, and so we don’t have a Stan.

CS/SHH!: Oh no… Maybe he can get placed in the background digitally?
Schuler Donner: Yeah, I know. Oh, you know what, we’re doing some additional shooting in January and that’s a good idea. I love Stan!

CS/SHH!: And on a personal note… you’re about to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
Schuler Donner: Yes, I am. I’m so excited.

CS/SHH!: What’s it like getting THAT phone call?
Schuler Donner: I was literally jumping up and down. I’m from Ohio and who gets a star, really?

CS/SHH!: You expect people in your movies to get them, but…
Schuler Donner: Oh, of course. I went to Halle Berry’s and that was cool, but me? It’s great. And my husband ["Superman" director Richard Donner] is getting one and they’re going to be next to each other. It’s so great. I’m so excited.

The latest UK Empire Magazine (August) has a one page article about Wolverine and a 4-page feature on Australia. Hoping to get scans as soon as I can scrape together the cash to buy it but if anyone has a copy and would be willing to scan, please do!

From The Daily:

Fancy lunch with Hugh Jackman? Dream on, right?

Wrong. The star of Wolverine has offered a day of his time as an auction prize in a Noosa Anglican Church fundraiser, which will raise money towards building an orphanage in Nepal.

The winning bidder will be flown to Sydney where they will visit the set of Hugh’s new movie. They will receive a framed and signed photograph of Hugh, have their picture taken with him, and will also get to have lunch at Fox Studios with the Boy From Oz himself.

Parishioner Graeme Marlow was able to sign the star up for the event, since they have been mates since primary school.

“We’re best mates, yeah,” Graeme said.

“Jacko’s always very obliging in supporting us with any of the charity work that we do.”

Graeme said his old Knox Grammar School buddy, who he catches up with about once or twice a year, was a truly genuine person.

“He’s exactly as he comes across, he’s a champion bloke.

“He’s very humble and I don’t think I’ve heard a bad word about him.”

Graeme said the cause of the fundraiser was close to Hugh’s heart, since he and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness had adopted two children of their own.

Hugh will be unable to attend the fundraiser at Ricky’s in Noosa this Wednesday because of filming commitments, but he has pre-recorded a video message for the evening.

“We so wished to be there to help raise much-needed funding. However, I’m filming and I’ve gotta save the world from bad guys with my claws,” Hugh joked.

Five Noosa teenagers will travel to Nepal at their own expense to work with orphans in their school holidays, and Hugh had a piece of advice for them in his video message.

“Make sure whatever you learn you come back and teach all of us,” Hugh said.

Auctioneer David Garwood from Remax Noosa said he expected a lot of enthusiastic bidding for Hugh Jackman.

“This is something really special, you can’t just go and buy a day with Hugh,” he said.

The project to build an orphanage is sponsored by the Noosa Anglican Church, which has already raised $40,000 to purchase land. The fundraising night is already sold out.

IESB reports:

It’s a wrap for Wolvies’ principal photography that has currently been shooting in Australia and earlier in New Zealand.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige told IESB that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has just wrapped principal photography in Australia and that there are only a couple of weeks left for some pick up shots second unit will be taking care of.

Several sources close to the production have described X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a gritty 70′s type of action film.

Leading up to the events of “X-Men,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.

It’s also being mentioned in various places around the internet that Hugh might make an appearance at the San Diego Comic Con to promote X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Thanks to our friends over at the unofficial Australia movie site, we now know some release dates for Hugh’s upcoming film which also stars Nicole Kidman:

Further unconfirmed dates are filtering out from various sources in dribs and drabbs. However, via 20th Century Fox we can confirm a November 13th release for Australians and six weeks later the Brits get their moment with a December 26th release in the UK.

The Internet Movie Database has also listed a string of dates to follow:
Russia – 4 December 2008
France – 24 December 2008
Germany – 25 December 2008
Sweden – 25 December 2008
Finland – 26 December 2008

At this early stage it’s still fair to say that nothing’s set in stone, so these are of course subject to change. However we doubt the film will hit our screens much later as a November/December release puts it in prime positioning for Academy Award consideration.

You may also have seen posters for The Deception which is in cinemas now and was previously titled The Tourist (amongst other things). More on that soon.

Hugh and Wolverine will be featured in the next issue of Empire magazine in the UK which comes out tomorrow. There are also a couple of new Wolverine promo shots around but I’m trying to get hold of some better quality, untagged versions – watch this space!