AceShowbiz -

The fate of our adamantium-clawed superhero now lies in Gavin Hood's hands as the South African filmmaker has been entrusted to handle directing matters on "Wolverine", the 20th Century Fox's spin-off of its "X-Men" franchise.

Project thereby will be Hood's second Hollywood feature after the upcoming "Rendition" as well as his first venture into superhero flicks. As for the story, it is said to use several resources that include the Marvel Comics lore and the more recent "Weapon X" graphic novels by Frank Miller to depict how the titular character emerged from a barbaric experiment as an indestructible mutant with retractable razor-sharp claws.

Production is slated to start this November for a 2008 release with Hood helming from script written by David Benioff, who recently penned Marc Forster-directed "The Kite Runner." Serving as producers are Lauren Shuler-Donner, John Palermo, and the movie's leading star Hugh Jackman, who was noted to comment that Hood will "make a masterful film with the character intensity and action beats the fans expect."