Leigh Whannell to Direct Universal’s New ‘Wolfman’ Movie

The rousing success of The Invisible Man has inspired Universal Pictures to unleash its iconic stable of classic monsters, with Karen Kusama already attached to direct Blumhouse’s Dracula, and today we have news that Blumhouse will also produce the upcoming Wolfman, starring Ryan Gosling, to be directed by The Invisible Man‘s Leigh Whannell.

Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, who produced The Invisible Man, has joined the project, and Whannell is in negotiations to direct, according to Deadline.

The outlet reports that Whannell will also be writing the treatment for the film, based on an original idea of his own inspired by Universal’s 1941 classic The Wolf Man, while Lauren Schuker Blum (Jason Blum’s wife) and Rebecca Angelo, who wrote for Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, will write the script.

Whannell apparently had initially turned down the job when it was first offered to him, but then Jason Blum asked him to reconsider, as the two have previously collaborated on seven projects, including all three of Whannell’s directorial features, Insidious: Chapter 3, Upgrade, and 2020’s The Invisible Man.

Universal’s original film featuring Lawrence “Larry” Talbot, who is bitten by creature of folklore and then turns into a werewolf, was 1941’s The Wolf Man starring the great Lon Chaney Jr. (pictured above), who reprised the role in (the first ever “shared universe” movie) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Most recently, director Joe Johnston gave us an excellent quasi-remake with 2010’s (Best Makeup Oscar Winner) The Wolfman starring Benicio Del Toro.

Universal’s first werewolf film was actually Werewolf of London, starring Henry Hull, released in 1935.

Read our review of The Invisible Man here.

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