Producers Hope 'X-Men Apocalypse' And 'Wolverine 3' Can Shoot Back-To-Back

Wolverine is at the center of X-Men: Days of Future Past, and we know there will be a third solo Wolverine film. But with Hugh Jackman aging just like everyone else, doing that hardcore Wolverine workout isn't getting any easier. Getting in shape to play the character is serious work, and isn't something Jackman can do forever.

So one solution seems obvious, especially if the character will factor in to both X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, and Wolverine 3 in 2017. Shoot the movies back to back, so Jackman can get in shape once, hold it for the duration of the two films, and then relax a bit. That's what Jackman and the producers want to do; now we'll see if it can happen.

Let's look at the conversation Collider had with Hugh Jackman. When asked about the idea of going from one Wolverine role right into the next in order to make the physical strain easier to deal with, the actor said, 

In a weird way that has crossed my mind if that's the way things play out, because physically, even though I was complaining about it because I found out about [X-Men: Days of Future Past] a month before I finished The Wolverine, so I was already planning on my cheat meals.  It's much easier because it's tough to get there, physically, but once you're there, it's easier to maintain it.

And then follow that up with Collider's talk with producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker, where the same question was thrown out:  "X-Men: Apocalypse and another Wolverine solo movie would be, in an ideal world, filmed very close together to keep his physique. So are you guys planning to film them that way?"

Donner: We're tryingParker: We are.Donner: We're absolutely trying, yes.... we announced Apocalypse to come out in 2016, so that means we have to shoot next summer.  And then we'd have to shoot our new Wolverine movie either before or after that.  I think after because it will come out after.

Note that this seems to confirm Wolverine as a part of the next X-Men film. Which was never in serious doubt, but has yet to be officially stated by Fox.

But of course it all comes down to getting scripts set up. If the scripts are done and locked (ha, right, locked) in time, then that back to back schedule could theoretically happen. And what story will that next Wolverine film tell? We don't know, and Jackman isn't saying. All he would offer up is a vague description, as given to Latino Review.