Universal’s new Wolf Man film has drafted Christopher Abbott in to replace Ryan Gosling: more here.
Universal hasn’t had a lot of luck with Wolf Man films over the past 15 years or so. 2010’s The Wolfman was loved by pretty much nobody by the time it emerged, and any hope of a follow-up was quickly extinguished.
More recently, the studio has been trying to get the whole shebang up and running again, and seemed to be enjoying some luck.
Blumhouse had been working on the project, and continues to do so, partnering with the studio and at one point luring Derek Cianfrance to direct. He dropped out, and The Invisible Man and Upgrade director Leigh Whannell is a more than able substitute.
The problem was that Ryan Gosling had been the high profile capture to take on the leading role in the film. Yet it now turns out that he departed the movie before the actor’s strike that ground so many Hollywood productions to a standstill for a good chunk of the year.
Which leads us to now. Because out one door goes Ryan Gosling, and through the other comes Christopher Abbott, who has signed on the dotted line to take on the lead role in the film. It’s Abbott’s highest profile leading movie role to date, although he’s no strange to the big screen – nor to Broadway.
Universal has been sticking by a release date of October 25th 2024 for the movie, which means everybody has to get their skates on if they’re going to meet that. Don’t be too surprised if was see a further delay, given that Whannell and Abbott have only joined the project over the last couple of months.
Still, this feels like a step towards the movie actually happening this time. We’ll keep you posted .
