Early last month a report came out saying that the planned sequel to the disastrous The Wolf Man was being remolded and re-imagined as a separate entity possibly called Werewolf. The story also said that Universal was fast-tracking the project and actively looking for a director to helm the project. Now it seems that their search has ended.
MovieHole has learned that filmmaker Louis Morneau has been hired to helm the new lycanthrope movie for the studio. If the name doesn't ring a bell, it's likely because you don't spend a lot of your time watching B-grade horror movies. Morneau's previous credits include direct-to-DVD sequels Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead and The Hitcher II : I’ve Been Waiting, as well as the Lou Diamond Phillips-starring thriller Bats and the Jim Belushi-starring time-travel movie Retroactive. The studio is planning to put the film into production this fall and the search has begun to find a cast. Rather than being tied back to the 2010 remake directed by Joe Johnston, the new film will have closer ties to George Waggner's 1941 original.
The thing that really befuddles me about this project is that not only was 2010's The Wolfman bad and despised by critics, but also a total flop, opening at #2 and only making $139 million at the global box office on a $150 million budget. Since the first Twilight movie came out a few years back studios have believed that the popularity is somehow linked to the horrific creatures, but the truth is that young girls and creepy women in their 30s like looking at Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. If Red Riding Hood, a film attempting to be a Twlight copycat, couldn't make its budget back domestically, then I don't see how this one will.
