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.

Could Duncan Jones be taking over for Darren Aronofsky and directing Wolverine?

Perhaps, according to The Wrap:

Fox may have found the director to tame “The Wolverine.”

Duncan Jones, who directed this year’s “Source Code” -- and is David Bowie’s son -- is looking at the job.

It’s all very early, but the “Moon” director’s name has been popping up as a potential “Wolverine” director quite a bit lately. And he told IGN that he might do it.

“Who knows what’ll be coming up next,” he said. “I have a lot of meetings and catching-up to do when I get back to L.A.”

He confirmed that one of those meetings is with Fox, where he’ll talk about “The Wolverine.”

Darren Aronofsky was originally attached to direct, but he pulled out in March because of scheduling issues.Then, the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, where the movie was set to shoot, and the film was put on hold.

In Christopher McQuarrie's screenplay, Wolverine goes to Japan to learn from a Samurai master.