Talk about a film that just can’t get an honest shake in this world.
It appears that the long-troubled Wolfman remake that Universal is set to release, is broken in more ways than one. The film, a big-budget remake of Universal’s classic monster staple has gone through director changes (Mark Romanek leaving weeks before the start of principal photography), composer changes (Danny Elfman leaving due to delays) and release date shifts (I can’t even come up with a legit number to describe how many release dates this film has had), and now it looks like it hasn’t been edited to the level of quality that the studio would like.
According to an article from Variety, editors Mark Goldblatt and Walter Murch have been picked up by Universal to replace original editor Dennis Virkler, in hopes that they will “recut” the film.
This does not bode well for the already floundering project, one that no matter how interesting the trailers look, and they do, I just can’t get fully behind. Through all of the reshoots and delays, I have somewhat stayed open minded about this film, but honestly, I’m losing more and more hope as the days pass. Not only that, but while the trailers are interesting, it doesn’t look like they are doing anything particularly new with the project.
The Playlist also posits the idea that this may, if the film bombs as I think it will, be the death blow, at least for the time being, for all of Universal’s upcoming monster slate:
"The Wolfman" is supposed to kick-start another cycle of Universal Horror movies, with remakes of "The Bride of Frankenstein" (to be directed by "The Illusionist's" Neil Burger), "The Invisible Man" (courtesy of "Dark Knight" co-screenwriter David S. Goyer) and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (for "Sahara's" Breck Eisner).
If "The Wolfman" bombs as bad as it looks like it will, then all of these movies will be stalled indefinitely, for sure, and the studio will find itself in the same place it was in 2004, when the lackluster commercial performance of Stephen Sommers' "Van Helsing" cancelled similar plans for its all-star monster line-up.
I could not agree more. That said, the two editors that they brought in, do hold their own.
Murch has edited such great pieces as Apocalypse Now and The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Goldblatt has done films like The Howling and T2, so you know that these two men can hold their own in an editing room. That said, this whole film just doesn’t seem like it was truly meant to be. Not all of my hope is gone, but honestly, I just don’t see this film making much of a splash critically or monetarily. Where am I proved wrong? Nothing has gone right for this film so far, and while I hope it does come out of that and gives us something worth while, but it looks less and less likely.
That said, who knows.
Go see something good!
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