Romanek and Benicio Del Toro make "The Wolfman"

By: Karl Schneider
Date: Thursday, February 08, 2007
Source: Hollywood Reporter

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) has signed on to direct the upcoming remake of The Wolfman for Universal Studios.

In the original film, a man who returns from the U.S. to his ancestral home in Victorian-era Great Britain, gets bitten by a werewolf and begins a hairy moonlight existence.

Benicio Del Toro is attached to star in the film which he will produce alongside Rick Yorn, Scott Stuber and Mary Parent.

The script for the remake was written by Andrew Kevin Walker and shooting is expected to begin this Fall.

KJ's Take: Initial reaction is: Aargh, yet another remake. The more I write these articles, the more I grow to hate that word: remake.

Yet, thinking about it some more led me to change my mind. Reason being, can you think of an actor better suited to play a man who changes into a werewolf? I can't. Benicio is a fantastic actor and has the looks to play the part to perfection.

Benicio's name lends respectability to a film with a generally disrespected concept, we will have to watch and see what the rest of the cast ends up looking like. With a good script and a solid ensemble cast ... who knows ... this could be a pretty fun flick.

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Comments/Responses

nimerod • Feb 08, 2007, 07:20am •

Enough of werewolf. No werewolf script deserved the silver screen since a long while

snallygaster • Feb 08, 2007, 07:54am •

I'd like to see this. I just hope that they make it a serious horror movie, not an over-the-top action/FX movie like The Mummy and Van Helsing.

Yes, it's been awhile since there's been a decent werewolf script, but that doesn't mean we should put a silver bullet in the whole genre.

wessmith1966 • Feb 08, 2007, 08:04am •

I like Walker's writing, and with Romanek directing and Del Toro starring, this could be a pretty intense movie. I don't think we have to worry about a Van Helsing-type movie.

nrollins • Feb 08, 2007, 08:47am •

They're going to save a TON of money on makeup!

monkeyfoot • Feb 08, 2007, 10:05am •

KJ's take is 100% mine, also. If it's going to be a remake, give it good peeps like this. Nrollins - funny!

gregcox • Feb 08, 2007, 10:18am •

Er, I feel obliged to point out that the original WOLF MAN was NOT set in Victorian England, as this article asserts. It took place in (then) contemporary Wales. Somebody seems to have confused it with an earlier movie, WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935).

jmaxx30 • Feb 08, 2007, 11:15am •

gregcox - Are you talking about An American Werewolf In London? That movie starts out in Wales, and moves towards London after the main character gets attacked. Never seen "the original" Wolf Man.

That being said if BDT is connected I would agree with wessmith, this will not be in the vein of Van Helsing, The Mummy, or any number of over the top draction films (drama + action = draction, I'm trying to get that word into Websters). Benicio is in large part responsible for the making of The Way of the Gun (w/ Ryan Phillipe), he convinced Chris McQuarrie (Unusual Suspects) to do that movie. If you have seen that then you know that what ever he does will definitely have an edge.

In the end, as wessmith is a vampire junkie, I'm a bit of a junkie for Werewolf films. So I will probably be seeing this one ... remake or not.

trazalca • Feb 08, 2007, 11:48am •

Funny. What got my attention to this was not Benicio's name, but Romanek's. His work continues to be visually arresting and fascinating, which all of his music videos can testify. I don't care who plays the werewolf, but with Romanek's vision behind it, I can only expect it to something above the norm, so my expectations are quite high. This one should be good.

bjjdenver • Feb 08, 2007, 11:52am •

I actually don't mind this remake, probably because it's more than 20 years old. Judging by the picture of BDT, they are going to have to do some great FX work to change him into a man!

snallygaster • Feb 08, 2007, 12:06pm •

Just to clarify for the record...

Werewolf of London (1935) - Universal werewolf movie that predates the better known Wolf Man. The hero is bitten while in Tibet, then goes home to London.

The Wolf Man (1941) - Takes place entirely within contemporary Wales.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) - the John Landis movie where the hero is bitten in the moors of Yorkshire (not Wales) before being transported to the hospital in London.

And despite all the werewolf movies which have been made over the years, there never has been a remake of Universal's Wolf Man, though a lot of movies have borrowed from it.

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Romanek and Benicio Del Toro make "The Wolfman"

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