It’s been a busy couple of days for Hollywood’s assembly of screenwriting talent, what with Disney appointing Jeff Nathanson to pen The Lion King reboot for director Jon Favreau and Jason Fuchs – the scribe behind Wonder Woman, Pan and possibly Lobo – being drafted in to help fine-tune the script for Warner’s Minecraft movie.
The latest tidbit now involves Universal’s much-touted monsters universe, with The Hollywood Reporter confirming that The Expendables writer Dave Callaham has been brought in to rewrite The Wolf Man. He’ll be working on a treatment pitched by Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners), though Universal is yet to elect a director to steer the iconic rage monster back onto the silver screen.
As part of the studio’s interconnected universe – a universe that will, through time, comprise live-action features of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon – we know that Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan will executive produce The Wolf Man, offering a new spin on the classic tale of a man who succumbs to lycanthropy upon returning to his homeland.
Last time Universal’s fuzzy beast lit up the big screen, the year was 1941, when George Waggner directed Lon Chaney Jr. in the title part. As of yet, there’s no mention of who the studio is eyeing for this redo. Could we potentially see a gender-swapped role a la The Mummy? Time will tell.
Speaking of which, The Mummy is the first to jump-start this most ambitious universe, and it’s fair to say that the potential success of Universal’s interconnected masterplan hinges on how well Alex Kurtzman fares with audiences. It’s by no means make or break, but first impressions are crucial, and we’ll find out if Kurtzman’s overhaul is up to snuff on June 9, 2017.
