Blumhouse boards Ryan Gosling’s Wolfman with Whannell negotiating to direct

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Universal Pictures is throwing their old dog a new bone by placing its Wolfman project on the fast track.

As per Deadline's latest report, Leigh Whannell (THE INVISIBLE MAN, UPGRADE) is negotiating to direct the creature feature that already has Ryan Gosling set as the lead. Additionally, Jason Blum's Blumhouse has recently joined the effort as a producer alongside Gosling. Each of these moves should be considered a no-brainer, as it was Blumhouse and Whannell that delivered the Elisabeth Moss thriller THE INVISIBLE MAN, a $7 million budget film that performed like gangbusters for the studio with $124 million in worldwide receipts.

In addition to occupying the director's chair, Whannell is also writing a treatment for the film, based on an original idea of his own and inspired by the 1941 classic. Once those ideas come together, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) will pen the script.

As the story goes, Whannell and Gosling have been looking to collaborate on a project for quite some time. Be that as it may, Whannell was reportedly a tad reluctant when first offered the Wolfman gig. Thankfully, clearer heads prevailed and Whannell is now down to bring another classic movie monster to Universal's ongoing monster mash. While details surrounding the plot are scarce at this time, word has it that Gosling will play an anchorman who gets infected with the lycanthropy disease.

Other monster-related projects on the way include Karyn Kusama's DRACULA, Dexter Fletcher's Dracula-centric RENFIELD, and Paul Feig's DARK ARMY. Each film is a part of Universal's updated plan to reboot their roster of classic movie monsters. At one time, the studio tried and failed to launch their Dark Universe initiative with THE MUMMY, starring Tom Cruise. Unfortunately, the Cruise-led creature-feature went up in flames at the box office, ultimately leaving the Dark Universe roadmap in ruin. That said, Universal's monsters are iconic for a reason, and I've no doubt that they'll ride to fame once more as the studio continues to assign top talent to each project. I'm all for it, and can't wait to see Gosling wolf-out as Universal's new Wolfman. Aroooooooo!