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Wolf Man (2025 film)

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Wolf Man
Teaser poster
Directed byLeigh Whannell
Written by
  • Leigh Whannell
  • Corbett Tuck
Based onThe Wolf Man
by Curt Siodmak
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStefan Duscio
Edited byAndy Canny
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Wolf Man is an upcoming American horror film directed and co-written by Leigh Whannell. A reboot of The Wolf Man (1941), it stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner. Jason Blum and Ryan Gosling serve as producers, the former through his Blumhouse Productions banner.

The film was announced in 2014 and was to be part of a shared cinematic universe centered on the Universal Monsters; Aaron Guzikowski and David Callaham were attached to pen the script. After the failure of The Mummy (2017), Universal shifted its focus to standalone films. The success of Whannell's The Invisible Man (2020) rekindled Universal's interest in the Monsters franchise. They accepted a pitch by Gosling, who was also set to star, for a new Wolf Man film with Derek Cianfrance to direct. However, Gosling dropped out of the role and Cianfrance left the project in 2023, while Whannell took over as director. Filming took place in New Zealand in early 2024.

Wolf Man is set to be released by Universal Pictures on January 17, 2025.

Premise

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Family man Blake relocates from San Francisco to Oregon with his workaholic wife Charlotte and daughter Ginger after inheriting his childhood home, left vacant following his estranged father's mysterious disappearance and presumed death. At the farmhouse at night during a full moon, the family is attacked by a werewolf that claws Blake's arm. They barricade themselves inside the home, but soon Blake begins to transform into something horrifying, jeopardizing the safety of his wife and daughter.

— Universal Pictures

Cast

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Production

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In July 2014, Universal Pictures announced its plan for a shared cinematic franchise, later dubbed Dark Universe, centered on their Universal Monsters library — which was to include The Wolf Man.[2][3] In November 2014, Aaron Guzikowski was confirmed to be writing the reboot of Universal's The Wolf Man.[4][5] In June 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported on rumors that Dwayne Johnson was considered for the titular role.[6] In October, David Callaham was hired to rewrite the script.[7] In 2017, The Mummy was released as the first film in the Dark Universe; its launch was both a critical and commercial failure and resulted in Universal deciding to shift its focus on individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept with the cancelation of The Wolf Man and other films in development.[8]

The success of Whannell's previous monster film inspired Universal to make Wolf Man.

Reporter Justin Kroll said the critical and commercial success of Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man for Universal "scrap[ped] the universe concept" and loosened restrictions for the talent in front and behind the camera, allowing them to decide how they wanted to execute their films in terms of budget and MPAA rating and invite "big name talent" to pitch their ideas.[9] By early 2020, Universal had been hearing project ideas for a year and a half from filmmakers seeking to develop other characters in the franchise. These meetings included Ryan Gosling's pitch to remake The Wolf Man and star in it, with Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo writing a screenplay described as tonally similar to Nightcrawler (2014).[9] Around this time, make-up artist Mike Marino molded an early version of the werewolf.[10] Several filmmakers were considered to direct, including Cory Finley, whose film Thoroughbreds (2017) was reportedly well liked by Universal, and Whannell, who was advised by Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions (producer of several of his projects, including The Invisible Man) to reconsider after initially declining.[9][11] (In February 2020, Whanell had mentioned his interest in making a werewolf film during a press interview for The Invisible Man.)[12] Whannell entered negotiations to write a film treatment and direct.[11]

After Whannell left the project due to scheduling conflicts, Derek Cianfrance entered negotiations to write and direct in October 2021, having directed Gosling in Blue Valentine (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012).[13] The film was officially green lit around the conclusion of the 2023 Hollywood strikes.[14] In December, Cianfrance and Gosling were reported to have exited the project due to scheduling conflicts, with Whannell returning to take over directing in addition to writing the screenplay with his wife, Corbett Tuck, while Cianfrance received off-screen additional literary material credit.[15][16][17] Gosling, who retained a producer credit, was replaced by Christopher Abbott in the lead role.[15] During pre-production, Whannell hosted weekly film screenings for his crew, with selections such as Amour (2012); he noted that the film's first draft was written in 2020, pulling from the feeling of confinement and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to touch on the inevitability of illness and death, and making the drama "intimate" by setting it primarily in one location.[10][18] In 2024, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, and Matilda Firth joined the cast.[19][20][21] Principal photography began in New Zealand on March 17, 2024, with cinematographer Stefan Duscio.[22] Arjen Tuiten was the film's prosthetics designer and makeup artist.[18] Whannell compiled a list of werewolf designs, such as those portrayed by Lon Chaney in the original The Wolf Man (1941) and David Naughton in An American Werewolf in London (1981), along with those included in The Howling (1981) and Dog Soldiers (2002), before settling on one; he was inspired by Heath Ledger's take on Joker in forming an original design for an established character. Whannell went with Tuiten's first design of the werewolf, which Tuiten first showed him by making a life-sized model.[23]

Marketing

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In August 2024, during Universal's Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, a booth revealed the film's logo and teaser image, and on September 4, an actor took the stage for a photo-op performing as the film's werewolf. The werewolf design—a creature with a "balding head", "long white hair on the back of his head and as facial hair", "long, bony fingers", and "sharp teeth"—drew divisive reactions from online users and journalists.[a] On September 6, Universal released a teaser trailer, poster, and synopsis.[29] Hannah Shaw-Williams of /Film suggested that the timing of the teaser's release was "damage control" over the poorly-received werewolf design, noting the absence of the titular creature in the teaser.[30] Whannell described the design reveal as a "debacle", as Universal did it without discussing it with him or contacting the film's make-up artist, Arjen Tuiten; he unsuccessfully tried stopping it by calling Jason Blum and later retorted that it was "like judging the Freddy Krueger makeup by a costume at Spirit Halloween."[14]

Release

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Wolf Man is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 17, 2025.[31] It was previously scheduled to be released on October 25, 2024.[15]

Notes

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  1. ^ Attributed to multiple sources.[24][25][26][27][28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Wolf Man (2025)". Moviefone. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 16, 2014). "Universal Taps Alex Kurtzman, Chris Morgan To Relaunch Classic Movie Monster Franchises". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  3. ^ Walkuski, Eric (May 22, 2017). "Universal reveals Dark Universe logo with Danny Elfman theme music". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  4. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 12, 2014). "Will Justin Lin Rev Fast & Furious Finale?". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  5. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 12, 2014). "Sony Confirms Dark Matter; Universal Confirms Aaron Guzikowski To Write Wolfman". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  6. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 22, 2016). "Dwayne Johnson Sets Jay Longino Graphic Novel Son Of Shaolin At Sony". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  7. ^ Ford, Rebecca (October 13, 2016). "Universal Taps The Expendables Writer to Pen The Wolf Man (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  8. ^ Kit, Borys; Couch, Aaron (November 8, 2017). "Universal's Monsterverse in Peril as Top Producers Exit (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Kroll, Justin (May 29, 2020). "Ryan Gosling's Wolfman Gears Up at Universal as Director Decision Nears (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Romano, Nick (October 17, 2024). "Wolf Man is gnarlier than you might think: 'This one is pretty hardcore' (exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 8, 2020). "Ryan Gosling's Wolfman Howling At Universal As Director Leigh Whannell & Blumhouse Join The Pack". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  12. ^ O'Connor, Anthony (February 22, 2020). "Leigh Whannell: The Invisible Man interview". FilmInk. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024. Event occurs at 8:05.
  13. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 26, 2021). "Ryan Gosling And Universal's Wolfman Sets Derek Cianfrance As Director". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Smith, Tessa (October 24, 2024). "NYCC 2024: Wolf Man Director Leigh Whannell Reveals Key Details About Blumhouse's New Horror Remake". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (December 13, 2023). "Christopher Abbott Replacing Ryan Gosling to Star in Wolf Man for Blumhouse, Universal (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  16. ^ "Wolf Man - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Reyes, Mike (October 21, 2024). "Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man Deviated From The Original Ryan Gosling Pitch, And The Writer/Director Told Me Why". CinemaBlend. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Lussier, Germain (October 18, 2024). "Wolf Man Is Not Set in the Same Universe as Invisible Man, but Leigh Whannell Does See a Connection". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  19. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 5, 2024). "Julia Garner To Star In Blumhouse & Universal's Wolf Man". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 27, 2024). "Blumhouse's Wolf Man Adds The Handmaid's Tale's Sam Jaeger". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 18, 2024). "Blumhouse & Universal's Wolf Man Adds Matilda Firth". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  22. ^ Jason Blum [@jason_blum] (March 17, 2024). "Day one on the set of Wolf Man. Director Leigh Whannell pictured here. LFG!!! 📸: Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures and @blumhouse" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 18, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2024 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ Shayo, Lukas (October 20, 2024). "How The Wolf Man's Design Will Be Different From Other Werewolves Teased By Reboot Director: 'Just Looked Perfect'". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  24. ^ Hood, Cooper (September 7, 2024). "What Christopher Abbott's Wolf Man Looks Like". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Dick, Jeremy (August 27, 2024). "Wolf Man Promo Poster Reveals Official Logo and First Look at Blumhouse Reboot". CBR. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  26. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (September 5, 2024). "Here's Our First Look At The New Wolf Man And Uh...Oh..." Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  27. ^ Fink, Richard (September 5, 2024). "First Look at Universal's Wolf Man Reboot Teases Divisive New Look". MSN. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  28. ^ Mathai, Jeremy (September 5, 2024). "Halloween Horror Nights Has Revealed Universal's New Wolf Man, And Fans Are Not Over The Moon". /Film. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  29. ^ Ramos Bechara, Diego (September 6, 2024). "Wolf Man Trailer: Christopher Abbott Transforms in Bloody Horror Remake". Variety. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  30. ^ Shaw-Williams, Hannah (September 6, 2024). "Universal Hides Its Controversial Monster In Leigh Whannell's Creepy Wolf Man Trailer". /Film. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  31. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 29, 2024). "Blumhouse's Wolf Man Runs From Fall To MLK Weekend 2025; The Woman In The Yard Unset For Now". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
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