Hugh Jackman-Led THE WOLVERINE Gets July 2013 Release

According to published reports, Twentieth Century Fox's 'The Wolverine,' which will be the prequel to 'X-Men Origns: Wolverine' will be released on July 26, 2013. James Mangold will direct the film, which will feature a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Broadway favorite Hugh Jackman in the title role.

Mangold wrote and directed Cop Land starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta; Girl, Interrupted, which won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1999 for Angelina Jolie; Kate and Leopold, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman for which Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a musical or comedy in 2001, and the 2003 thriller Identity which starred John Cusack.

Hugh Jackman made his Broadway debut portraying the 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, for which he received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards. He recently returned to the stage in Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway.

Hugh Jackman made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the "X-Men" franchise, a role he reprised in the enormously successful "X2" and 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." He reprised his role in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," one of the most successful "prequels" of all time.