Dear readers, we’re officially at that point in the calendar where not only are the horrors of cinema coming out to play, but the upcoming 2025 movies are teasing even more scares ahead. Co-writer/director Leigh Whannell is a master at both sides of that coin, as franchises like Saw and Insidious have made any month on the calendar feel like it’s the middle of that spookiest of seasons.
Now that we’ve seen our first look at his Universal/Blumhouse Wolf Man reboot in the clip above, next January already looks like it’ll have a night from hell on its hands. And while I’m still psyched, I am kind of bummed the original concept didn’t work out.
Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man Is Going To Be A Heartbreaker, Isn’t It?
Universal’s first trailer for Wolf Man paints a pretty harrowing picture. Starting off with some unsettling Praying Mantis imagery, we eventually get to see snippets of danger beset upon a single family. With Blake (Christopher Abbott) and “his high-powered wife” Charlotte (Julia Garner) trying to save their marriage with a family vacation, they decide to take daughter Ginger (Matlida Firth) to a cabin he’s recently inherited.
Of course, this location is smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and Blake looks like he’s about to find out how his father mysteriously disappeared/died. Cue the animal attack you’d expect to kick off Wolf Man’s story, and one inherent truth starts to creep into your mind: Blake’s probably not going to make it out alive, with Charlotte and Ginger more than likely needing to be the ones to take him out.
This all sounds like a stone cold bummer, and I have a feeling that intense horror is only going to be met with equally powerful heartbreak. Which is something I love about modern horror films such as Wolf Man, and how they seem to embrace emotionally intelligent narratives through grim spectacle.
But if I’m being totally honest, the original pitch that kicked all of this off still has its grimy claws around my heart. And if you'll allow me a moment, I'd like to mourn another Ryan Gosling project that I wish could have seen the light of day.
RIP - Ryan Gosling’s Network Inspired Wolf Man
Friends, I gather you here today at the Dark Universe Cemetary to bury yet another promising concept that was staked before it could yell “Action!” Back in 2020, the original Ryan Gosling attached Wolf Man pitch kicked off the process that gave us the potential tear jerker above.
Now casting Sir Baby Goose was the first move that won me over with this project, however with a description that suggested “a Network/Nightcrawler vibe” involving a transforming network anchor had me absolutely howling for this to happen. You try not getting excited about a Network/Nightcrawler sandwich, with a side of The Howling for good nature.
So what happened to this promising play of peril? Well, I’m willing to guess two factors came into play. First, Leigh Whannell’s hiring for Wolf Man saw his writing team, consisting of himself and co-scribes Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo ditched the nightly news angle for this more family centered angle. Which, based on the footage we have above, crashed right into Gosling’s reasons for turning down darker roles.
f you’re as bummed out as I am that Ryan Gosling’s Wolf Man didn’t happen, you can visit it’s plot between the failed Angelina Jolie/Javier Bardem Bride of Frankenstein picture and Paul Feig’s MIA Dark Army project. But fear not, because the Christopher Abbott/Julia Garner version that’s heading to theaters still looks like it could be a brutally good time.
Come to think of it, I don’t know which I’m more looking forward to: Abbott’s intensity as he feels his humanity slip away, or Garner’s prime scream queen abilities returning to the silver screen? There’s plenty of time to choose, as Wolf Man is set to slash at its potential theatrical audience on January 17th.
To keep up with the rest of the upcoming horror movies heading our way, feel free to use our guide as a sort of shriek preview for what’s to come. Oh, and that other Ryan Gosling project I'm still mourning? It's totally Guillermo del Toro's abandoned take on Disney's Haunted Mansion. But that's a conversation for another day, at another graveyard in development hell.
