Dear readers, we’re officially at that point in the calendar where not only do the horrors of film come out to play, but upcoming 2025 movies teased even more scares ahead. Co-writer/director Leigh Whannell is a master of both sides of the coin, as franchises like SAW and Insidious has made any month on the calendar feel like it’s in the middle of the spookiest season.
Now that we’ve seen our first look at his Universal/Blumhouse Wolf Man restart in the clip above, it already looks like next January will have a night from hell on its hands. And while I’m still psyched, I’m a little bummed that the original concept didn’t work.
Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man is going to be a heartbreaker, isn’t it?
Universal’s first trailer for Wolf Man paints a pretty scary picture. To start with some disturbing images from Bönsyrsan, we eventually get to see snippets of danger that befalls a single family. When Blake (Christopher Abbott) and “his powerful wife” Charlotte (Julia Garner) try to save their marriage with a family vacation, they decide to take daughter Ginger (Matlida Firth) to a cottage he recently inherited.
Of course, this place is smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and Blake looks like he’s about to find out how his father mysteriously disappeared/died. Enter the animal attack you expect to launch Wolf Man’s story, and an inherent truth begins to creep into your mind: Blake probably won’t make it out alive, with Charlotte and Ginger more than likely having to be the ones to take him out.
All of this sounds like a stone-cold bummer, and I have a feeling that intense horror will only be met with equally powerful heartbreak. Which is something I Love about modern horror films such as Wolf Manand how they seem to embrace emotionally intelligent stories through grim acting.
But to be completely honest, the original pitch that started all of this still has its dirty claws around my heart. And if you’ll allow me a moment, I’d like to mourn another Ryan Gosling projects 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 scream “Action!” Back in 2020, the original Ryan Gosling attached Wolf Man pitch set in motion the process that gave us the potential tearjerker above.
Now casting Sir Baby Goose was the first move that won me over with this project, though with a description that suggested “a Network/Nightcrawler vibe” involving a transforming network anchor had me absolutely squealing for this to happen. You try not to get excited about one Network/Nightcrawler sandwich, with a side of The surface for good nature.
So what happened to this promising gamble? Well, I’m willing to guess that two factors came into play. First, Leigh Whannell is hiring for Wolf Man saw his writing team, consisting of himself and co-writers Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, ditch the nightly news angle for this more family-centric angle. Which, based on the photos we have above, crashed right into Gosling’s reasons for turning down darker roles.
If you’re as upset as I am Ryan Gosling’s Wolf Man did not happen, you can visit it is the plot between 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 headed to theaters still looks like it could be a wildly good time.
Come to think of it, I don’t know what I’m looking forward to more: Abbott’s intensity as he feels his humanity slipping away, or Garner’s prime scream queen abilities returning to the silver screen? There is plenty of time to choose, which Wolf Man will draw down on its potential theatrical audience on January 17th.
To keep up with the rest of the upcoming horror movies headed our way, feel free to use our guide as a sort of scream preview of what’s to come. And that other Ryan Gosling project I’m still mourning? It is completely Guillermo del Toros abandoned take on Disney’s Haunted Mansion. But that’s a conversation for another day, in another graveyard in development hell.
