The path to Universal and Blumhouse’s Wolfman reboot—known here as Wolf Man—has been slow going. But on Friday, the movie added a new star to its cast in Ozark’s Julia Garner.
Per Deadline, Garner will have the lead role as a mother whose family ends up terrorized by the titular werewolf, playing opposite Christopher Abbott. (The two actors previously worked together in 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Garner’s professional acting debut.) Her casting comes weeks after Abbott took leading man duties from Ryan Gosling, who’d been attached to the film for years before dropping out. While he won’t be starring in the movie, Gosling will still serve as an executive producer.
Universal has been trying for over three years to get a Wolfman reboot off the ground, and back when Gosling was attached, the big draw was that he’d presented his own pitch for the movie. That version was first penned by Dumb Money writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, and later had Leigh Whannell of The Invisible Man fame tapped to direct. Whannell’s involvement was locked down in full this past December, the same time as Abbott was announced to be replaced by Gosling.
Outside of this new Wolf Man, the studio is also be at work on a modern reboot for another member of the Universal Monsters catalog. That film, to be directed by Scream 6’s Radio Silence, is under deep wraps, but the known cast includes Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, Dan Stevens, and the late Angus Cloud. Whether there’s other Monsters who’ll be brought into the modern day, or if Whannell’s Invisible Man will reappear with a sequel, is currently unknown.
Wolf Man is expected to release in theaters on October 25, 2024.
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