Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures’ long-delayed Wolf Man movie has received a major production update from producer Jason Blum.
On his X account, Blum confirmed that production on Blumhouse Productions’ upcoming reboot of 1941’s classic supernatural movie The Wolf Man had just begun. His social media post also included a behind-the-scenes photo featuring Saw and Insidious scribe Leigh Whannell on the set of his Wolf Man movie. This marks the horror filmmaker’s feature directorial comeback after over four years since directing 2020’s The Invisible Man, which was both a critical and commercial success for Blumhouse. This led Universal Pictures to begin developing more small-budget reboots of its Universal Classic Monsters, after failing to launch its Dark Universe franchise with 2017’s The Mummy.
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Whannell is directing Wolf Man from a screenplay he co-wrote with Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo. The film will be led by Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Girls, Poor Things) as Larry Talbot/ Wolf Man and Emmy winner Julia Garner (Ozark). The latter is expected to portray a mother, “whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.” Prior to Abbott landing the titular role, Barbie star Ryan Gosling was originally attached for the lead role, with Blue Valentine filmmaker Derek Cianfrance as the project’s initial writer and director. However, in December 2023, it was confirmed that both Gosling and Cianfrance had decided to ultimately exit the project after two years of trying to develop the movie.
Further details about the upcoming reboot’s plot are still under wraps. Despite no longer leading the movie, Gosling remained involved in the project as an executive producer alongside Whannell, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira and Mel Turner. The original 1941 movie starred Lon Chaney Jr. as a man who accidentally gets bitten by a wolf after trying to rescue a woman from its attack. The film also featured famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi as a fortune-teller who turned out to be the wolf who bit Larry Talbot.
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Universal’s Upcoming Universal Classic Monster Movies
Besides Wolf Man, Universal Pictures is also currently working on a number of projects based on its library of classic monsters, including the upcoming vampire movie Abigail by Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Set to premiere in theaters on April 19, the film is inspired by 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter. Meanwhile, Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao is also developing her own adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was initially described as “original, futuristic, sci-fi Western.” Toy Story 4’s Josh Cooley is also expected to helm an animated Little Monsters movie, which aims to bring “Universal’s classic monster movie characters to a new generation.”
Wolf Man is currently slated to arrive in theaters on Oct. 25, 2024.
Source: X
The Wolf Man
Larry Talbot returns to his father’s castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious fortune teller.
- Director
- George Waggner
- Release Date
- December 9, 1941
- Cast
- Lon Chaney Jr.
- Runtime
- 70 minutes
- Production Company
- Universal Pictures
