Wolf Man (2025 film)

Wolf Man is an upcoming American supernatural horror film directed by Leigh Whannell from a screenplay by the writing teams of Whannell and Corbett Tuck, and Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo. It is a reboot of the 1941 film The Wolf Man. The film stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner. Jason Blum serves as a producer through his Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside Motel Movies.

The film is set to be released by Universal Pictures on January 17, 2025.

Premise
A man seeks to protect himself and his family from a dangerous werewolf at night during a full moon.

Cast

 * Christopher Abbott as Lawrence "Larry" Talbot / Wolf Man
 * Julia Garner
 * Sam Jaeger
 * Matilda Firth

Development
In July 2014, Universal Pictures announced its plan to reboot its "Classic Monsters" franchise, a series of horror films produced from the 1930s to the 1950s, and its properties as part of a shared universe dubbed the Dark Universe. In November 2014, Aaron Guzikowski was confirmed to be writing the reboot of Universal's The Wolf Man (1941), featuring the character of the same name. In June 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported on rumors that Universal wanted to cast Dwayne Johnson in the title role. By October, development on the film began moving forward, and David Callaham was hired to rewrite the screenplay. In 2017, The Mummy was released as the first film in the Dark Universe; its launch was both a critical and commercial failure, and resulted in Universal deciding to shift its focus on individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept with the cancelation of The Wolf Man and other films in development.

Reporter Justin Kroll said the critical and commercial success of Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man for Universal "scrap[ped] the universe concept" and loosened restrictions for the talent in front and behind the camera, allowing them to decide how they wanted to execute their films in terms of budget and MPAA rating and inviting "big name talent" to pitch their ideas. By early 2020, Universal had been hearing project ideas for a year and a half from filmmakers seeking to develop other characters in the franchise. These meetings included Ryan Gosling's pitch to remake The Wolf Man, with Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo writing a screenplay described as tonally similar to Nightcrawler (2014). Several filmmakers were considered to direct, including Cory Finley, whose film Thoroughbreds (2017) was reportedly well liked by Universal, and Whannell, who initially demurred and was advised by producer Jason Blum to reconsider. (In February 2020, Whanell had mentioned his interest in making a werewolf film during a press interview for The Invisible Man.) In July, Whannell entered negotiations to write a film treatment and direct. After Whannell left the project due to scheduling conflicts, Derek Cianfrance was confirmed to write and direct in October 2021; Cianfrance had previously collaborated with Gosling on Blue Valentine (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012).

In December 2023, both Gosling and Cianfrance were reported to have exited the project, with Whannell taking over the directing duties, along with the screenplay alongside Corbett Tuck, Schuker Blum, and Angelo. Christopher Abbott replaced Gosling in the lead role. In January 2024, Julia Garner joined the cast. Sam Jaeger was confirmed to star in March. In April, Matilda Firth joined the cast.

Filming
Principal photography began on March 17, 2024, in Mangaroa, Upper Hutt New Zealand, with Stefan Duscio serving as the cinematographer.

Release
Wolf Man is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 17, 2025. It was previously scheduled to be released on October 25, 2024.