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Director Leigh Whannell gave the Universal Monsters classic a shot of modern life in 2020 with his exciting new take on “The Invisible Man”. Following that success, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse set out to reinvent another monster in the form of the Wolfman. Originally an Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”) was supposed to star in “Wolf Man” which was directed by Cory Finley (“Bad Education”) flirts with the director’s chair before Derek Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine”) comes on board. Things changed a lot along the way, with Whannell eventually settling into the director’s chair. But why did Gosling quit?
Gosling is still credited on “Wolf Man” as a producer, for what it’s worth. Still, it doesn’t appear on the screen. Instead, Christopher Abbott (“Kraven the Hunter,” “Poor Things”) stars as Blake, the unfortunate man who becomes a werewolf. In a recent interview with CinemaBlend timed the film’s release, Whannell explained that the film had not changed much after Abbott took over. As to why there was a vacancy to be filled in the first place? It was about scheduling issues.
“It’s more or less the same. It was true, you know… when I was working with Ryan, it was the same story that you see now. The isolation, the same characters. It’s just that so much time goes by, these strikes and all these things had happened hopefully.
SAG and WGA 2023 shots hit Hollywood for months on end. It created many scheduling conflicts for various projects. Gosling also had commitments on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s sci-fi film “Project Hail Mary,” which is due to hit theaters later this year. Unfortunately, that made her unable to put her stamp on this classic beast.
The actor changed, but the core character remained in Wolf Man
Whannell’s “Wolf Man” updates the traditional mythology of the werewolf for a new generation. That has proven to be a little divisive early on, thanks in no small part to the, shall we say, unique creature design. Would things have been different with Gosling in the lead role? That’s hard to say. But in the same interview, Whannell explained that Blake’s characterization has largely remained the same, although the actor has changed:
“It’s interesting. The core of what I was working on with Ryan is what stayed through the whole thing. Of course we’d tweak it a little bit, and Chris had his own ideas, but its core was the same.”
I tried to discuss this topic with Gosling during an interview for “The Fall Guy” last year. Chatting with actor and co-star Emily Blunt, I brought up “Wolf Man” and Blunt, after starring in 2010’s big budget flop “The Wolfman,” playfully derailed the question by asking, “Why do you trying to sink my ‘Wolfman’ with your ‘Wolf Man?'” Gosling then politely said, “Next question, please.” Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get to the bottom.
In any case, Gosling’s interest in the project likely helped land it at Universal in the first place. It’s worth considering whether he would have done without it at first. In the end, it became a starring vehicle for Abbott, who now has the opportunity to showcase his talents in a major studio horror film.
The film also stars Julia Garner (“Ozark”) and Matlida Firth (“Hullraisers”), with a script by Whannell and Corbett Tuck. Besides Gosling, Blumhouse head Jason Blum produced the film, with Whannell, Beatriz Sequieira, Mel Turner, and Ken Kao serving as executive producers.
“Wolf Man” is in theaters now.
