The Wolf Man (2009)

The Wolfman is a 2009 horror film that is a remake of the 1941 classic of the same name. The remake is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Benicio del Toro. It will be released on November 6, 2009.

Premise

Set in the late 1880s, the film keeps the plotline of the original, with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) meeting his father (Anthony Hopkins) following the death (and in the remake, disappearance) of his brother. The film details events during Lawrence’s past that led to his estrangement from his father (which includes Gwen), and the setting is expanded from Blackmore (which was the mythical village of Llanwelly in the original) to London. The official synopsis states Talbot was traumatized by his mother’s death as a child, while Gwen Conliffe is his brother’s fiancée. Following his brother’s disappearance, Talbot hunts a murderer, which turns out to be a werewolf, and the curse is passed on.

Production

In March 2006, Universal Studios announced the remake of The Wolf Man with actor Benicio del Toro (a fan of the original film and collector of Wolf Man memorabilia) in the lead role. Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker was attached to the screenplay, developing the original film’s story to include additional characters as well as plot points that would take advantage of modern visual effects. Del Toro also looked towards Werewolf of London and The Curse of the Werewolf for inspiration.

In February 2007, director Mark Romanek was attached to helm The Wolf Man. The film was scheduled for a November 12, 2008 release, before being pushed back to early 2009 in September 2007. In January 2008, Romanek left the project because of “creative differences”. Brett Ratner emerged as a frontrunner to replace Romanek, but the studio also met with Frank Darabont, James Mangold and Joe Johnston. They were also interested in Bill Condon, and Martin Campbell was interested. Johnston was hired to direct on February 3, 2008, and the film’s shooting schedule and budget remained as intended. Johnston hired David Self to rewrite the script.

Shooting took place from March 3 to June 23, 2008 in the United Kingdom. The film was budgeted at US$85 million. They shot at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, and Castle Combe in Wiltshire. They transformed Chatsworth House by adding weeds, dead grass and ivy. They also shot in Lacock in Wiltshire, a village conserved by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, for a day. Universal donated £5000 to the village, in return for filming in the tithe barn for a scene involving frozen corpses.

Rick Baker created the make-up for The Wolf Man. When he heard Universal was remaking the film, he eagerly pursued it, as both The Wolf Man and Frankenstein inspired him to become a make-up artist as a child. He acknowledged transforming del Toro was difficult because he is a hairy man: “Going from Benicio to Benicio as the Wolf Man isn’t a really extreme difference. Like when I did An American Werewolf in London, we went from this naked man to a four-legged hound from hell, and we had a lot of room to go from the transformation and do a lot of really extreme things. Here we have Benicio del Toro, who’s practically the Wolf Man already, to Benicio del Toro with more hair and bigger teeth.”
Rick Baker, Emily Blunt, and Benicio del Toro at the 2008 Comic-Con convention promoting the film

Baker and del Toro were adamant about the design resembling the make-up created by Jack Pierce, but Romanek went through thousands of concept art. When Johnston signed on, Baker returned to his second design, which is the finished result. The make-up took three hours to apply, and one hour to remove. New pieces of latex prosthetic makeup and loose hair was applied to del Toro’s face each day, while several dentures and wigs were created in case some were damaged. Baker said the transformation will likely be computer-generated, which disappoints him as he is not being involved and therefore feels it will look unrealistic (as the animators do not have his knowledge of the design).

Release

The Wolfman was originally scheduled for February 13, 2009 (a Friday the 13th), and was then moved to April 3, 2009. In December 2008, Universal moved the release to November 6, 2009 to give them more time to market the film.

Other Information

• Also Known As : The Wolfman (alternative spelling)
• Genre : Horror, Thriller
• Release date :  November 6, 2009
• Country : United States, United Kingdom
• Filming Locations : Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England, UK
• Company : Stuber Productions
• Language :  English
• Budget : US$85 million

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Joe Johnston
• Produced by : Scott Stuber, Rick Yorn, Mary Parent, Benicio del Toro
• Written by : David Self, Andrew Kevin Walker
• Starring : Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Geraldine Chaplin
• Music by : Danny Elfman
• Cinematography : Shelly Johnson
• Editing by : Dennis Virkler
• Distributed by : Universal Studios

Trivia

• Mark Romanek was going to direct but left the project over budget disagreements.

Links

• Official website
• The Wolf Man at the Internet Movie Database
• October 8, 2007 script review by IESB.net
• August 4, 2006 script review from LatinoReview.com

Tags: Anthony Hopkins, Geraldine Chaplin