The search for a new 'Wolverine' director has narrowed down...

...to 8 contenders, specifically. Here are the names, via Variety:

More than two months after Darren Aronofsky dropped out of directing "The Wolverine," 20th Century Fox is considering eight candidates, a diverse group that includes helmers both with indie pedigree and tentpole experience.

Studio is considering Jose Padilha, Doug Liman, Antoine Fuqua, Mark Romanek, Justin Lin, Gavin O'Connor, James Mangold and Gary Shore (largely a commercials director) to helm the Hugh Jackman-toplined actioner, multiple sources tell Variety.

Doug Liman sets his sights on a new project...

...and The Hollywood Reporter has the details:

Bourne Identity director Doug Liman and producers Rob Reiner and Alan Greisman are joining forces with Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Production for a 1920s drama about Two-Gun Cohen, the British bodyguard to Sun Yat-sen, leader of the overthrow of China’s last imperial dynasty.

Liman, who’ll work from a script by newcomer Matt Brown, told The Hollywood Reporter his recent trips to East Asia had opened his eyes to making movies in the region.

“I’m jumping in in a big way,” said Liman, a New Yorker who, before last year, had never been to the world’s fastest-growing movie market.

Drawn to anti-heroes, Liman said he wants to embrace that aspect of the story of Morris Abraham "Two Gun" Cohen (1887–1970), a London-born WWI veteran who moved to China in 1922 and took a job training Sun Yat-sen’s army in boxing and shooting, despite his inability to speak Chinese.