If you thought you were hearing an odd amount of noise coming from New York City this weekend, you’re absolutely right. With New York Comic-Con now wrapped, there’s plenty of anticipation for what remains on the docket of entertainment for 2024, as well as the continued hype for the upcoming 2025 movies.
And it just so happens that writer/director Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man is one of the earliest entries that’s getting ready to roll in the near future. But if you’re like me, you remember that Universal initially announced a Ryan Gosling pitch that sounds way different from what we’re seeing in the marketing for the picture. So since I had a chance to speak with Mr. Whannell himself, I got him to explain how this switch had occurred, which led to a pretty interesting story.
How Ryan Gosling’s Wolf Man Turned Into Leigh Whannell’s Blumhouse Spin
One of the hot tickets for New York Comic-Con 2024 was Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s BlumFest panel; which took to the Empire Stage this past Saturday. After unveiling a new trailer that added to what we know about Wolf Man, as well as other delights like a special M3GAN 2.0 tease, CinemaBlend was on hand during the press line to further promote the materials we’d just seen.
There’s a good reason Leigh Whannell was saved as the last participant, as the man is an easy conversationalist. So when I asked him about how the Gosling variant turned into this dark and tragic family drama, the Invisible Man director shared the following:
That was initially a concept that was in the running. You know, Ryan was developing this film with his production company. … Having talked to him, he's such a fan of Halloween and Monsters, like he's the biggest monster fan out there. So he was developing it possibly for him to act in. And I came on board and, you know, my advice was just, ‘Look, I don't think we should try a comedic take on this. I think we should really go hardcore here. And that's the Wolfman film people want to see. And that's what they deserve, you know?’ And he agreed and he said, ‘Let's go [with] this.’
Leigh Whannell, CinemaBlend
Leigh Whannell is certainly a fan of creatures himself, as the Australian genre talent stood in front of me with an awesome Predator t-shirt underneath a smart blazer. Then again, you can pretty much take away that much when seeing how much the man is into the filmmaking of the strange and unusual, through other hits like Upgrade, and of course his writing on the original entry of the Saw franchise.
Credentials such as those made Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man hiring, announced just months after Ryan Gosling boarded the project in 2020, a pretty hot item to follow. And one would think that this sort of meeting of the minds between the monster lovers would have made for a perfect pair.
While I still think that’d be absolutely true, the rest of this part of the story explains why the Barbie star wasn’t able to come along for the Wolf Man ride. Whannell continued with the following explanation, in his chat with CinemaBlend:
It dragged on, and for scheduling reasons, you know, Ryan had to step away, and then I stepped away, and then I came back. It's that sort of weird life that movies have, this weird gestation period. … That's what happened with this movie. It just went through this gestation period, and then I feel like it ended up with the right people.
Leigh Whannell, CinemaBlend
Leigh Whannell has clearly taken this “gestation period” in stride, and he even mentioned that he loves reading Wikipedia entries on films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, and remembering that Tom Selleck almost played the lead role. While this comment led to a small James Bond rabbit hole, thanks to the mention of how James Brolin almost played 007 in Octopussy, it also led us into a chat about why Wolf Man’s current leads were so perfect.
Why Leigh Whannell Thanks God For Christopher Abbott And Julia Garner
So clearly the “bad news” in this picture’s earlier development was that Ryan Gosling could no longer star in the movie. However, late 2023 saw Christopher Abbott’s Wolf Man casting helped energize the project before its early 2024 shoot.
Before anyone could howl into the darkness, we started to see and hear reactions to footage that was in the wild, thanks to Abbott and co-star Julia Garner absolutely crushing their roles. Continuing to love on the long and hairy road that led to the Wolf Man we see today, Leigh Whannell revealed the following:
Ryan stayed on as a producer and Chris Abbott stepped into the role. Now that I'm finishing the movie, I'm looking at the finished product [and] I'm like, ‘Thank God we found Chris and Julia to do this.’ … Certain actors become known for their intensity. Like you know, Sean Penn, Phillips Seymour Hoffman. There's certain actors where you're like, you know, every time Joaquin Phoenix does a movie, you know he is not going halfway with it. ... I really do feel like Chris is in that club of actors like Joaquin Phoenix, and other actors of his ilk where you're like, ‘this guy's an actor's actor.’ I needed something that was the equivalent of like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly. Which is to me is like a high watermark for horror performances in that movie, and Geena Davis' [performance] too.
Leigh Whannell, CinemaBlend
That intensity has been slowly but surely revealed to the public over the course of 2024, as both trailers and Wolf Man’s CinemaCon presentation already promise a tale of chills and tears. Leigh Whannell alluded to as much during New York Comic-Con’s Blumfest panel, as he also dropped the fact that he’d periodically show some select horror movies to prep his cast and crew, while also giving them a break with a showing of the heartbreaking drama Amour.
It’s apparent that while Whannell wants to take the Universal Monsters back from Adam Sandler, he wants to do so in a way that’s as emotional as it is frightening. Which may also be a part of why Wolf Man’s original lead exited this project, thanks to Ryan Gosling’s rejection of dark projects for family reasons. Especially when the lycanthropic lark that resulted looks as terrifying as the latest footage shared below:
The story of Wolf Man’s transformation is probably far from over, as more details will probably start to make their way into the world as we get closer to its January 17th release date. Whatever other juicy stories lie in wait, as well as any potential further context given from Ryan Gosling's end of things, you can be sure they’ll make headlines, and Wikipedia, once they’re revealed.
With that in mind, be sure to keep yourself up to date on this and all other upcoming Blumhouse movies. There’s 10 films this production shingle will be unleashing on the world next year, along with its partner Atomic Monster, and much like our New York Comic-Con 2024 coverage, there's plenty of madness to come. And while you're at it, don't forget to head over to Blumhouse's new merch shop, which has some fun items you can purchase to support your local scare factory!
