The Wolverine Starts Shooting in Sydney on July 31

X Men Origins: Wolverine; Hugh Jackman as "Wolverine"

Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank MillerIF Magazine reports that Hugh Jackman has arrived in Sydney for the start of production on The Wolverine, which begins in just two weeks on July 31. This is pretty close to the August start date reported back in May.

While the film will be largely set in Japan, with a reported number of Japanese cast members added to the sequel, director James Mangold are working out of Fox Studio Australia and will travel around Sydney and its surrounds, including Kurnell. The shoot will also travel to Japan for several weeks of location work.

IF adds that while reported rumours of Jessica Biel and Will Yun Lee have both been cast as villains Viper and The Silver Samurai respectively, they were told that no contracts had been finalised. They do add that Amir Mokri (Man of Steel) will provide the cinematography.

The local production is reportedly generating more than $80 million in production expenditure in NSW and create more than 720 jobs for NSW-based cast and crew, along with opportunities for 1200 extras.

The sequel to 2009′s X-Men: Origins – Wolverine is set in Japan,and is said to be loosely based on Frank Miller (Sin CityThe Spirit) and Chris Claremont’s 1982 comic book arc Wolverine, which sees the main man travel to Japan, where he falls for Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord.

Directed by James Mangold with a script by Christopher McQuarrie, it is set for a 26 July 2013 release from Fox.