Bad News: 'The Wolf Man' Gets Re-Shoots

Well, my high hopes for The Wolf Man continue to be dashed little by little. The film was supposed to open this April, but was moved to November. That's not horrible because, after all, what good is a monster movie around Easter? But now there's more troubling news for the film, which changed directors from Marc Romanek to Joe Johnston last year. That was only part of the problem. Now The Daily Mail writes that several scenes in the film were re-shot because the costumed stuntman used when Benicio Del Toro transforms into a the creature featured him on two legs. "The Wolf was on its heels and it looked daft," an actor from the film told Baz Bamigboye. Universal confirmed the changes, saying, "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." Boy, they go a long way to spin that stuff, don't they? What a convoluted way of saying, "Yeah, we changed it." The re-shoots took about six weeks, in part because Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins had limited availability. By the sound of it, a lot of the action sequences were done over, so maybe they'll pop a little more now. It would be kind of a letdown if they didn't. And that's one thing this movie really can't afford more of.

Comments

[Lengthy Johnson]

Well, I liked the visual style of the first clips.

If you look at it from the bright side, they can use the extra time to polish the film and make it just right. Apparently, they just wanted a fiercer Wolf Man than in the original shoot.

We'll see if it ties in with the original film.

[Get The Big Picture]

Yeah, that's true, although if they're shooting fight scenes again, one presumes they have to tweak every last visual effect featuring the Wolf Man, too. Like I said, I've been looking forward to this for a while. If nothing else, I think it's a solid idea to go back to the beginnings of the genre for Universal. You can absolutely make a superior Wolf Man film now. No issues with the cast, but I would have preferred Romanek directing.