The Hollywood Reporter broke the story that Darren Aronofsky is bowing out of directing duties for The Wolverine mere minutes ago.

It seems as though Aronofsky isn’t comfortable with the time away from his family and out of the country it would take to shoot this film. I wonder, though, if there are other more insidious reasons for it and this is just a really nice white-washed way of saying Fox was too hard to deal with creatively. It’s no secret Fox seems to force their own bizarre horridness onto what should be good movies (like the last Wolverine movies) and Aronofsky is certainly big enough now to call his own shots and that could cause plenty of friction.

I’m not saying this is the case, I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the case. Fox is allegedly aggresively moving forward to find another director because the “script is great.”

From the Hollywood Reporter piece:

Stated Fox: “While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do The Wolverine, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both The Wrestler and Black Swan with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making The Wolverine. We will regroup and move forward aggressively.”

What do you guys think? Is this picture doomed? Who should they get to replace him?