Looks like Universal was watching the box office results of two weekends ago, when Cloverfield cleaned house after a successful marketing blitz that took up most of 2007. According to Ain't It Cool News, Matt Reeves--who helmed the giant monster flick--is currently one of two directors the studio is eyeing to take the place of Mark Romanek, who split the Wolf Man project two days ago over creative differences.Reeves is also attached to the now-confirmed Cloverfield sequel already in the pre-production stages, so he may not be available to take over the remake, which will star Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt.
The other director being considered is one Breck Eisner, who had previously been attached to Universal's Creature from the Black Lagoon remake.
As for those "creative differences," Ain't It Cool is reporting that Romanek may have been hoping for a greater budget than the $85 million he had been given.
**1/31 UPDATE ** AICN is now reporting that Brett Ratner has been assigned the gig. Now I know he ain't too popular with most fanboys due to his Schumacher-ing of the X-Men franchise, but I'll not lose hope yet. Ratner did direct Red Dragon, which I feel is one of the most wrongfully overlooked thrillers of the decade.
Chopin.. Led Zeppelin.. Throw in a bit of Wagner and you are well on your way to writing heavy metal posts. But seriously, if you did that my blog would die a slow and painful death. At least I subliminally programmed people to like your blog too!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Cloverfield director can save Wolfman. Not that I am condoning remakes in any way.
No chance, I'd never wish harm to the Necro Files!
ReplyDeleteAs for the Wolf Man, I give it a pass as far as the remake hating goes, because it does genuinely have me interested as a potential high-quality project. But as you see from my update to the post, who knows if it's gonna wind up worth seeing in the end? We shall see...
Supposedly this situation has changed once again.
ReplyDeleteUniversal is now looking at the following directors to take this project: Brett Ratner, Bill Condon, Joe Johnston, Frank Darabont, or James Mangold.
My personal choice would be Darabont. I just hope to Gooood Ratner doesn't get it though....
Yes, I don't see the Wolfman as a remake as much as it is a next instalment in the saga.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is Universal already know what they want. They wanted to ride the name of a director, but the director bailed. Now they are just looking for someone to follow through. It will be tough from a directing viewpoint to come in at the last minute and give a film your own fingerprint.