If you want a textbook example of how badly things can go wrong on a big budget production, then look no further than 2010’s The Wolfman. The remake of the iconic horror property was beset by issues at virtually every turn, and yet it somehow emerged in the aftermath as an Academy Award-winning film.
Mark Romanek was all set to helm the update of Universal’s furry favorite, but The Wolfman was left scrambling when he dropped out just four weeks before the start of production. In stepped Joe Johnston at very short notice, who was led to believe he would be in and out in 80 days, which most definitely didn’t turn out to be the case.
The first day of shooting occurred in March 2008, but reshoots were still ongoing almost 16 months later. In the meantime, Danny Elfman was hired to compose the score, wound up being booted out in favor of Paul Haslinger, before the studio decided to use the original music less than a month before release after being dissatisfied with Elfman’s replacement.
That’s without even mentioning delays that saw the Gothic period piece delayed significantly from November 2008 to February 2010, the fact it bombed spectacularly after failing to recoup the mammoth $150 million budget (almost twice the original $80 million estimate), and a critical response that could generously be described as tepid at best.
As mentioned, Rick Baker did win an Oscar for Best Makeup, so it wasn’t all bad news. Continuing in that vein, The Wolfman has suddenly become a sizeable hit on streaming this weekend, too, with FlixPatrol surprisingly outing it as one of the most-watched titles on the iTunes global chart.
