Let this be a lesson to you: Never trust the word of a man in a scarf.
According to Deadline's story, the film would require nearly a year of time spent in Japan for filming and production, and Aronofsky's current divorce from actress Rachel Weisz, and included custody battle, complicated matters to the point where it simply wasn't feasible to be out of the country for that long.
While a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie does still lend some interest to the project, Aronofsky's exit does make for a major blow to the project and the franchise. With Fox on the hunt for a new director, one can't help but ponder who could step in and drum up an equal level of curiosity, if not quite the same level of fabulous scarf adornment. I'm saying Lars Von Trier, if only for the promise of multiple scenes of genital mutilation via adamantium claws.
