wolfman_gang

I reported back in May that a new action scene was being filmed for Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman. According to new information from Baz Bamigboye at The Daily Mail, there have been six weeks of reshoots in total, and part of the purpose in the fix-up was the present a new design of Wolfman. Bamigboye quotes an ‘actor’ working on the film as saying “the Wolf was on its heels and it looked daft” and describes the new-look lycanthrope as tougher and fiercer.

The report also confirms that stunt supervisor Vic Armstrong created a face-off between two hairy men for this new material, calling them “the Wolf Man and the Werewolf”. What’s the difference there? Can we divine any plot details from these two, varied handles?

It seems to be being suggested that second-unit director Armstrong was in control of these six weeks of reshooting, with Joe Johnston “back in LA for the past five weeks overseeing the special effects and computer-generated images”. Personally, I don’t think is cause for concern, but I know some will.

Bamigboye looked to the studio for a comment on the new material:

Last night Universal confirmed that additional sequences were shot. ‘The full articulation of the transformational lead character will be realised when the film is completed and we are excited to share his incredible look with the world in the upcoming trailer. ‘I think that means yes, they screwed up the first time.

He might be reading too much into their statement there. I’m sure we’ll judge whether or not they’ve screwed up second time when the trailer hits.

Benicio Del Toro returned to Pinewood for the reshoots with Emily Blunt working “three or four weekends” between full weeks on Gulliver’s Travels and Anthony Hopkins unable to return to the UK at all and therefore doing his “additional filming” in LA. Here’s hoping that all cuts together OK.

One thing I can’t find out is how involved Rick Baker has been with this redesign. Are we really to assume that a Rick Baker wolf looked silly and Universal have had to scrap it and fix it? Either Baker dropped the ball here or his design has been muscled out unnecessarily - a disappointment in any case. Here’s hoping he was at least responsible for the second version too.

  • krackajap
    I really had high hopes for this movie...wtf happened.
  • The strangest thing about this is that Baker's design strongly mimicked the design of the original film. Was the studio surprised? It seems they should have known what this was going to look like, I mean, watch Monster Squad.
  • Evan
    I have no opinion since we haven't really seen anything yet. We will have to judge based on the trailer. I hope he is a biped and not a quadruped, all Underworld-like. The Original wolfman was scary. Don't change it too much, just update it...
  • Michael_C
    Nice Animal Farm reference.
  • Nick
    Just release the trailer already.
  • Justin
    Hm. I thought the first design looked perfect the way it was. It stayed true to the Lon Chaney Jr. Wolf Man. I hope they don't mess it up too badly. =/
  • Captain Awesome
    Yeah it's why I loved it. It was a modern do-over of the classic design. I can only assume the new one is going to look like utter shit. I haven't seen a good werewolf or wolfman design from Hollywood in decades.

    And Rick Baker is one of the few people left who could do the creature justice
  • Captain Awesome
    Once again they're fucking up the good thing Rick Baker had going. I have no hope for the wolf design at this point. Let the man do what he does best.

    These guys will never fucking get it.
  • ziggi
    oh man i luv the original wolfman and when i saw the bootleg trailer with the wolfman running in the distance on the hill through the mist i was totally freakin amped.

    ugh.
    now im worried.
  • cineprog
    I dont no what the fuss is all about so the film crew have had to do re shoots so vic armstrong has had to do re shoot,probley because when Director joe johnston puting the SFX togeather some shots worked some did not big budget film crews are doing this all the time. wait and see what the trailer looks like before anyone make there minds up weather its a bad film or not.
  • I want a new werewolf movie so bad! I need it!
  • Sam
    I don't think they are talking about The Wolf Man aka Lawrence Talbot here.

    They might've tweaked his design a bit, but I think they changed the design of the second werewolf, like Armstrong calls it.
  • Ah, the classic tale of werewolf special effects gone array. Why is it so tough to get this beast correctly designed? In my head I see what the "standard werewolf" should be and so do- I'm sure- the specialFX team on countless films but it always falls just short of a realistic embodiment.

    It could be just as simple as werewolves are too tightly woven into human physiology. It's easy to make the Creature from the Black Lagoon look realistic because we have no basis of comparison.

    The closest I've come to realizing my werewolf apparition was Underworld but even that was a bit too slimey. Sadly, New Moon's (yes, I'm a TWI fan- don't hate me!) wolf pack may phase in over-cartooned. Fingers crossed Weitz's team will pull that one off come November.

    Either way the cast for The Wolf Man is enough to get me to the theaters. Emily Blunt can do no wrong!
  • wazuu
    If your a twilight fan gtfo of slashfilm. Am I right everyone?
  • celticbrand
    Universal is panicking.....they need a hit very badly so of course the collective brain trust is now going to be questioning everything.....second guessing is always a bad sign......especially at Universal.....at least they aren't FOX! The worst studio movies ever!
  • Joe
    The general movie-going public will laugh a 1940's-styled werewolf out of the theater. They expect a big hulking monster, not that guy with the disorder that grows hair all over his face.
  • Rod Whitenack
    Rick Baker doesn't "drop the ball." He created a perfect homage to the orignal "Wolfman" in an anthropomorphic, Lon Chaney Jr. inspired make-up. It wasn't supposed to be CGI. It wasn't supposed to be hip and modern. Rick Baker is the man who created some of best werewolf characters in the history of cinema and has the Oscars to back it up. Second guessing him is a bad idea, and this whole affair is looking like a train wreck. Six weeks of reshooting? Entire films are shoot in six weeks. There has been a bad moon shining over this production since pre-production with last minute director changes, an unhappy cast and crew and now this ultimate insult. I truely believe Rick Baker will see this as the last straw and finally just retire from the business; a well deserved retirement to be sure. This is a sad day for classic horror fans, and modern "Transformers 2" audiences won't be served either, so nobody will be happy and all the work put into this film will result in "meh" reviews and a quickly forgotten film. What a waste.
  • Sam
    You realize the make up has little to no bearing on the plot, right?
  • Anthony_Galindo
    Why are werewolf movies still being made? It can't get any better than An American Werewolf in London.
  • ltdumbear
    THAT version of a werewolf certainly holds up, but it's the SOUND it made that can never, or WILL never be improved upon. Years later, I can still hear that blood-chilling scream it made off in the fog-covered 'moors'.
  • horsegrapes
    Rev the press from Hal to Val then Howl!
  • horsegrapes
    Rev the press from Hal to Val then Howl!
  • wazuu
    whoa, I barely found out the reshoots were about him being on 2 legs? wtf? No! They're going to ruin the movie.
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