Ok, it's just some wolf-play at his first meeting with Rick Baker, but *still*!

Make-up? We don't need no stinking make-up!

Oh, great... another biopic: The Wolfman Jack.

You know, when I heard that DelToro was cast, I was a little bummed. It seemed like they were casting for the monster rather than for Larry Talbot…

…but I like that picture!

Strange news as director Mark Romanek quit this project just a few weeks before they were scheduled to start. Strange in the sense that he has been attached to this project for so long and done a lot of work on it.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/dire...wolfman-remake/

There's also talk that the shape of the script at the time of the writer's strike cease-work might have been the killing blow for Romanek.

How can anyone be expected to make a movie about a wolfman for a piddling $100 million??????? Those tight-fisted Universal fools!



:blink:

Well, Romanek made his first film, ONE HOUR PHOTO, for $12 million. Maybe he knows something you don't about all this.

I was making a joke, son. If Joe Dante can make THE HOWLING for less than a tenth (1/20th? 1/50th?) of THE WOLFMAN's budget (and, let's face it, THE WOLFMAN will not be nearly as good as THE HOWLING...we all know it), then why does any director need $100 million for a movie whose biggest visual effect is hair on an actor's face?

It does take place in the 1880's. If Romanek didn't want to rely heavily on CG, that will up the costs a tad. SWEENEY TODD managed it for half of what Universal's budgeted for this, but that was a digitally-augmented chamber piece for the most part. We don't know what's planned for THE WOLF MAN.

If that's really the reason, then all I can do at this moment is imagine Kuni from UHF yelling "Stupid! You're so STU-PIIIIIIIIIIID!"

I still can't believe that they budgeted it that high. Did no one learn anything from VAN HELSING?

This film hasn't been made yet. So, no I don't know this. The news doesn't sound good about script troubles and the director quitting. But the basic idea of how they were updating the original film sounded great. And, no disrespect to the cult heroes in The Howling, but Del Toro and Hopkins can act rings around that cast.

I'd really love a new gothic horror Wolf Man movie of real seriousness and quality to get made, so I'm crossing my fingers that this will somehow come out alright. Too bad the other del Toro seems to have his hands full.

So can Jack Nicholson, Christopher Plummer and Michelle Pfeiffer, but I haven't heard anyone praising WOLF recently. Just like Mike Nichols can direct circles around George Waggner.

Making a big-budget "classy" horror movie always sounds like a silly idea to me, like putting earrings on a pig. They attempt to replace "fun" with "respectability," and the results are almost always (BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, MARY REILLY, WOLF, etc.) a stone cold bore.

I'm still waiting to hear that THE WOLFMAN is not a horror movie, but a "psychological thriller."

You could try time-traveling back to a Fango promo piece from '92 or so.

You don't tell a man he has to cut out exploding carriages! :lol:

It's a shame Romanek's not doing the film. I'm an admirer of his video work (Johnny Cash's HURT, Janet Jackson's GOT TILL' IT'S GONE, etc.) and I'm sure there's more to his reasons for quitting than you'll ever get from that snark-site. Everything I've seen him shoot has been well thought out & personal... exactly what I'd hope for in a Wolfman movie. ;)

This is bad - AICN is reporting that Universal is close to signing Brett Ratner to take over this project.

Yeah. On the plus side, he'd be walking into a fully-prepped production, complete with pre-vis work done.

On the minus side, Ratner's a bit tone-deaf.

"Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth!?!"

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ratner's tone-deaf, not deaf-deaf. Ouch. ;)

Dunno how "deaf" he is, but Ratner is probably the single most uninteresting director working in film today. The word "hack" seems to have been invented to describe him.

Vincent

Hopefully, the 2nd unit director who actually directs the film will do a decent job.

"BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, MARY REILLY, WOLF..."

Geez, call me a stone cold bore, Marty, but I thought three of those four were actually good movies. Maybe not HOWLING-level spfx fanfests or straight Universal gothics, but interesting reworkings of classical material in their own right. I'm satisfied with that.

Yep - he's uninteresting. Not worst by a long shot, but not very inspired or inspiring. 'Hack' is proving accurate in any sense of the term, including the non-pejorative - Ratner seems quite happy to walk in late and shepherd a show through production without putting much of a personal stamp on it.

I will say he has terrific taste in D.P.s - how many directors of his generation have already worked with the likes of Russell Carpenter, Adam Greenberg, Dante Spinotti (4 times), Matthew F. Leonetti, and Jimmy Muro? Ratner also tends to shoot his action more widely than most these days, which is appreciated (though the extensive use of CGI in X-MEN 3 seemed to throw off his sense of blocking). Actors seem to like him as well.

Anyway, the word is that, in addition to Ratner, Frank Darabont, James Mangold, Joe Johnston, and Bill Condon have all met or are to to meet this week with Universal to talk about taking over the project.

I like Condon best for this.

I second this. Of those mentioned, Condon seems to be the man for the job.

As far as who should be doing it:

Is Joe Dante too busy or something?

Wow, both Condon and Darabont would be great choices.

Ratner--I have to give him credit for this--appears to be the only Hollywood filmmaker willing to hire Lalo Schifrin, whose RUSH HOUR scores (while very reminiscent of ENTER THE DRAGON) are great fun.

That too - and it's a not-inconsiderable virtue, in and of itself.

Agreed. Not only are they both passionate artists, but also unabashed fans of classic horror films. These are guys who'd be lining up with cash in hand just to see a decent Wolf Man movie. Benicio Del Toro as well. They give a damn. I never got the impression that the makers of Wolf* (Nichols, Nicholson, etc) liked horror films or understood them, preferring to peer down at the genre from their lofty heights. Coppola confessed as much recently.

It's painful about this new Wolf Man, because reports on Andrew Kevin Walker's script really sounded like he got it. It was going to be dark and brooding... and verrrry gory. With fog, cobblestones, gas lamps, and no goofy BS. And I'm pretty sure Romanek had expressed in interviews that he took a very dim view towards CGI monsters. Plus, Del Toro wasn't going to pull a Jack Nicholson on Rick Baker, grousing about having too much make-up on. Pure supposition on my part, but it sounded like they were really headed in the right direction.

So... if that doity Rat does get the gig, I hope that Romanek already put all the Aurora model kit pieces in the box, even if Walker's instruction manual is a little dodgy.

*Maybe I'm wrong. Never bothered to see it. Same goes for Mary Reilly.

Darabont would be great, but I wonder if he couls give Universal a PG-13 film, which I'm pretty sure is what they want. Condon could do that, and would be a great choice as well.

Yeah..where IS Joe Dante? Used to be a time where he would likely get the first call.

Joe's done werewolves already...maybe he's not interested.

Everything I've heard about this project sounds like an R.

Also, I don't think there's any reason Darabont couldn't deliver a PG-13. His Rs already feel like PG-13s to me anyway. It's only thinking back over them that I remember how violent this or that actually was, but it's all in the name of faithfulness to Stephen King's originals.

Rumors abound of interest from Martin Campbell, Neil Marshall, and... John Landis.

I'd much rather Guillermo del Toro did this instead of The Hobbit.

But then, it's not up to me.

del Toro came very close before HELLBOY II came together. At this point, though, I doubt he'd have any interest in coming on to such a developed, script-locked project.

I get the impression that the time he gets to spend sketching out ideas in those little books of his is rather key to his process.

Too bad, though... he's got a great eye for period detail.

didn't the original take place in 1940?

"I never got the impression that the makers of Wolf* (Nichols, Nicholson, etc) liked horror films or understood them, preferring to peer down at the genre from their lofty heights."

Well Nicholson and Michelle Phiffer do like horror films or at least ones of a certain kind. Can't say that about Mike Nichols.

It may seem strange to some but I don't think we are missing out if this movie is canceled. I hope its good. I want it to be good but I'm non plus about a remake.

So, looks like it's Joe Johnston.

I know I'm supposed to find Johnston a solid, fan-safe choice - but honestly I find the guy's movies pretty dull. Better than Mangold I guess - I *really* don't get much out of his movies.

Wow! Joe Johnston was my personal pick. I loved THE ROCKETEER.