A collective stink-eye from the geek community was aimed squarely in director Darren Aronofsky’s direction when it was reported days ago that Fox  had offered him the reigns of the sequel to the much maligned “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

That collective stink-eye may have just turned into a collective sigh of relief.

Guillermo Arriaga, screenwriter of “Babel” and “Amores Perros,” revealed in an interview with Quien that his previously announced adaptation of John Vaillant’s non-fiction book “The Tiger” will begin location scouting later this year.  Aronofsky and Brad Pitt are both apparently attached.

“These days I’m traveling to New York to lend clarity to the last detail, in November would be doing a tour of Siberia to check locations,” Arriaga said.

Aronofsky, hailed by some as one of the premier directors of his generation with critical darlings like “The Wrestler,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan” in his filmography, has been mentioned in association with a host of upcoming studio projects — Warner Bros’ “Tales Of The Gangster Squad,” and Fox’s “Wolverine 2” chief among them.

But with this project looking like a good bet to get off the ground, coupled with the fact that it seems decidedly more up Aronofsky’s alley, those studio projects may be left looking for a director.

“The Tiger” centers on an animal activist who protect’s his small Siberian town when a ferocious tiger begins attacking it’s inhabitants.