7 Incidents That Prove The X-Men Franchise Is Cursed

3. A Tsunami Holds Up Filming/Darren Aronofsky Bails As Director - The Wolverine

On Friday March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, trigging powerful tsunami waves that devastated large portions of the country. Given that the script for The Wolverine had been written extensively to feature Japan, and was largey set in Tokyo, the production was forced to slow down and reconsider its options. Days later, and after getting fans super excited about the possibility that he might direct a solo Wolverine flick, Darren Aronofsky - best known for Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan - released an unexpected statement: "As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production would keep me out of the country for almost a year.... I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again." He was eventually replaced by James Mangold. Whether it was the tsunami that convinced Aronofsky to stay home, or he was legitimately concerned about leaving his family for such a long space of time (or both), all we know is that we were robbed of a potential masterpiece somewhere along the line. Mangold's final film was admirable, but it's fair to imagine his version would have paled in comparison to the movie that a director of Aronofsky's calibre might've brought to the table.