There is a thermometer in my mouth as I type this surrounded by cherry cough drop wrappers, but this news was too terrible to not germinate my keyboard. Director Mark Romanek has left The Wolf Man, the $100 million remake of the horror classic starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role alongside Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt that was scheduled to start filming on February 18th. What happened? Well, of course ye ole’ “creative differences” are to blame, but more specifically Romanek wanted a larger budget. Full moons and fake wolf hair are nothing to laugh at, I mean what with the price of gas these days and London brothels and cucumbers in bulk.
Universal Pictures is quickly seeking a replacement. Who would you like to see? A source tells AICN that names already being tossed around include Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves and newcomer Breck Eisner. While the cast is rather cool, Romanek was the main factor in my increasing anticipation of the project. His prior film, 2002’s One Hour Photo, is now a cult classic and if you’ve seen it, you find yourself thinking about it occasionally like a little florescent-lit bell of eeriness and dread going off in the back of your mind. And of course, there’s his feted video work, including the perennial favorite “Closer’ for Nine Inch Nails, “Novocaine For the Soul” for Eels, and “Devil’s Haircut” for Beck. Some might find the Wolf Man to be a tired character, but this was to be something completely different. He had spent two years prepping the project with Del Toro.
So, now what? Romanek is still attached to A Cold Case, a film that was to go into production years ago with Tom Hanks in the lead, but no word on its current status. One hopes that he can channel his energies into something quick, but a sudden exit of this magnitude is not forgotten in Hollywood.
January 30th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Cult classic? What a riot.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Is anyone else excited that the music video director is off this project? I hardly think one “cult classic” is enough street cred. to handle the likes of THE WOLF MAN. As much as I love Cloverfield, I don’t think Matt Reeves would be a good choice either. And I don’t trust anyone who is named “Breck” or “Eisner” for any reason.
I vote Gore Verbinski on this one. The Ring proves he can handle atmosphere and he’s no stranger to big budget movies. Either him or Frank Darabont. That would be killer.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Dude, Did you get sick in Park City? I was down there for four days and I ended up on my ass for the next eight following! There is some sort of film fest super bug going around.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
@Andy
Sundance did not play a part in my barfing, but it did with Peter. I think the sheer surprise at one scene in Rambo (go see it) weakened me to the point where I had to hide under blankets for all of yesterday reading some [cough, sneeze] Hemingway.
@Cinemaniac
I agree that one indie film is not enough “street cred” to give a director a superstar pass on a $100 million classic horror project. However, Romanek is not your regular avid-douche flyover from MTV.
Personally, I want to see the guy who directed NIN’s “Closer” and “The Perfect Drug” - the latter vid almost had a Victorian-gone-mad sensibility that would ideally serve Wolf Man (with less voguish surreality) - direct Del Toro gone rabid with a lavish budget. Your choices are fine, but Romanek’s film would be utterly unpredictable and that’s what had my attention.
A lot of industry people outside of Nikki Finke feel Romanek has talent to spare and One Hour Photo is a strong debut comparable to Dominik’s Chopper and look how great his TAOJJBTCRF turned out. It’s unfortunate we’ve waited this long for a follow-up, but like I said, Romanek has spent a great deal of time prepping this horror film for the screen. It’s a great loss and a director, no matter who, being hired with less than a month before shooting begins won’t bring the same vision.
Here’s a link to “The Perfect Drug” on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=l0s5UOVsMDg
Compare this ’90s vid to the latest neo-Hype Williams Usher video. I find there is a difference, enough for Romanek to be free of the generic “video director” stigma.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
This sucks greatly.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Is the point in remaking this just to update the transformation. I mean really, the dude turns into a wolf. Not a whole lotta places story-wise to go.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:54 am
How could anyone consider the Wolf Man a tired character. This is the one Universal classic that has never been remade, and there hasn’t been a new movie in the series in 60 years.