SDCC Rumour: WOLVERINE 2 director down to two; Matt Reeves or Tony Scott?

And I thought Comic Con was supposed to be the time the rumours would end, and we would get some firm announcements? Anyway - The Playlist's 'very reliable' sources are at it again; this time with the scoop that Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) and legendary action helmer Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Taking of Pelham 123) are the top two choices at 20th Century Fox to helm the Japanese-set Wolverine sequel, which last we heard was gearing up for a January shoot with Hugh Jackman. Chris McQuarrie's (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) script has previously attracted the attention of Kathryn Bigelow and Timur Bekmambetov - but in the end it's come down to Scott or Reeves, apparently - two directors on different scales of the spectrum. Reeves is a young upstarter who is just feeling his way into the business on the back of his friendship with J.J. Abrams but his feature debut Cloverfield was impressive; proof enough that he knows direction and how best to use CGI to enhance and not detract from a story. I know the movie impressed many around Hollywood, and he was quickly drafted in for the Americanized remake of Let The Right One In which actually could have turned a lot worse, on evidence of the recent trailer. Scott is in his fourth decade in the business, and has helmed some of the biggest movies of their respective years (Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop 2). He's been around the block and won't come cheap for Fox but he's a proven box office director, whose movies burst with energy and assured action set-pieces. And yes, he can blow stuff up real good! We always thought comic book movies would be restrictive of his style, but then again - we can imagine a bad-ass Wolverine script being somewhat appealing to him. Personally, I was under the impression that once Singer suggested his frequent collaborator McQuarrie to write Wolverine 2 at the Fox - the idea was for Singer to eventually direct - especially as the X-Men 1 & 2 director kept mentioning his desire to re-team with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine again in the future. I became even more sure of this when rumours of a production delay started making the rounds a few weeks ago which would allow him to direct as he is busy for the next 8 months or so on Jack and the Giant Killer. However, if the January film date stays in tact; Singer would be ruled out, Scott too would be unavailable as he will be shooting a family crime drama in Puerto Rico with Mickey Rourke, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken and Johnny Hallyday. Reeves however would be available, and I certainly wouldn't be adverse to his appointment. Wolverine 2 is mostly based on Chris Claremont/Frank Miller's Japanese set tale and will feature a love story with a Japanese actress. Film will be released in 2012.