'The Wolfman' Now With Two Competing Edits

I was reminded maybe a week ago that when I mention the Wolfman woes currently being experienced by Universal, I kept forgetting to mention that Danny Elfman had been replaced as the composer for the film. In my defense, it's been hard to keep track of everything. From directors to editors to the musical score to the effects to multiple release dates, The Wolfman has been circled by vultures for months and months already, and just when you thought all this stuff would have to stop just to release the movie on February 12th, here comes more trouble. The Playlist writes that the editing team of Walter Murch and Mark Goldblatt, hired not too terribly long ago, are already out. Here's what's happening instead: Director Joe Johnston, hired to replace Mark Romanek before the film began shooting, is working on his own edit of the film while studio brass is working on another version with new cutters. It's not unheard of to work this way, but you don't usually get a committed studio effort when the film finally pays for playing audiences because in the vast majority of the cases, editing - even great editing - can only help so much. If you've got three million feet of sewage on celluloid, sprucing up how much of that you keep doesn't really address the biggest problem. I'm reminded of the Exorcist prequel, or prequels. Remember when Paul Schrader had his version, the studio hated it, and they re-shot the movie? I never saw Schrader's, which was later released on video, but the one that did make it to theaters was atrocious. How that will work out in this case, with less than a month before the print has to be produced is anyone's guess, especially if their guess is something along the lines of massive suckitude. The studio will look at both edits and pick, in all probability, the lesser of two evils. All of this also makes it sound as though the studio has no tangible idea of what it wants. Romanek is a vastly different director stylistically from Joe Johnston, Elfman is fairly unique and his replacement is not, and three (or four) editing shifts in a 60-day period points out how indirect the targeting is here.

Comments

[Josh]

I get the impression this movie will be lost in the theaters.... while we need a good monster movie that isn't about sparkly vampires, and even if this turns out good, it just seems like it won't be noticed by most people.

[MRPigg]

With everything that has happened, if this movie makes any kind of splash or is decent at all, it will be the biggest surprise in Motion Picture history.

[Lance St. Laurent]

This news is outdated. http://chud.com/articles/articles/22061/1/UPDATED-WITH-EXCLUSIVE-QUOTES-THERE-ARE-NOT-TWO-COMPETING-CUTS-OF-THE-WOLF-MAN/Page1.html

[Lillian James]

They replaced Danny Elfman?! Fail. I love Danny Elfman. =(