Last week, I reported that Leigh Whannell was back in the director’s chair for Universal’s upcoming “Wolfman.” It’s now been corroborated by THR.
The trade adds that Ryan Gosling has dropped out and been replaced by Christopher Abbott. Additionally, an Oct. 25, 2024 release date has been set for the creature feature, meaning the project is now moving. I can separately report that production on the film is set to begin in March.
Plot details are being kept on the dark side of the moon but the mysterious story is now focused on a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.
In 2020, Whannell‘s “The Invisible Man,” which felt like a horror indie, introduced a possible winning formula for the rest of Universal’s “Monsterverse.” I really enjoyed what Whannell did with the source material, he turned the story into a kind of Cronenbergian nightmare.
Whannell was originally announced as the director of “Wolfman.” However, he was soon replaced by director Derek Cianfrance, reportedly exiting over scheduling issues. Well, now he’s officially back and Abbott being part of the cast, replacing Gosling, is not a downgrade in my books.
The prime catalyst for Netflix's risk-free shift may have been new content chief Dan Lin, who said two years ago that the company would greenlight films "more about audience, and less about auteurs."