Dear readers, we are officially at that point in the calendar where not only is the horror of movies coming out to play, but Upcoming 2025 movies teasing even more horrors ahead. Co-writer/director Leigh Whannell is a master of both sides of that coin, which the franchises like SAW and Insidious has made any month on the calendar feel like it’s in the middle of the spookiest of seasons.
Now that we’ve seen our first look at his Universal/blumhouse Werewolf reboot In the clip above, next January already looks like it’s going to have a night from hell on its hands. And while I’m still psyched, I’m a little bummed that the original concept didn’t work.
Leigh Whannell’s werewolf is going to be a heartthrob, isn’t it?
Universal’s first trailer for Werewolf paints a rather harrowing picture. Starting with some unsettling prayer forms, we eventually see glimpses of the danger that is upon a single family. With Blake (Christopher Abbott) and “his high-powered wife” Charlotte (Julia Garner) trying to save their marriage with a family vacation, they decide to take daughter Ginger (Matlida Firth) to a cottage he recently inherited.
Of course, this place is smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and Blake looks like he’s about to find out how his father mysteriously disappeared/died. Enter the animal attack you can expect to launch Werewolf Story, and an inherent truth begins to creep into your mind: Blake probably won’t make it out alive, with Charlotte and Ginger more than likely having to be the ones to take him out.
Everything sounds like a stone-cold bummer, and I have a feeling that intense horror will only meet heartbreak just as forcefully. Which is something I Love about modern horror movies like Werewolfand how they seem to embrace emotionally intelligent stories through bleak spectacle.
But if I’m being completely honest, the original pitch that kicked all this off still has its dirty claws around my heart. And if you’ll allow me a moment, I’d like to mourn another Ryan gosling Projects that I wish could have seen the light of day.
RIP – Ryan Gosling’s network-inspired werewolf
Friends, I gather you here today at The Dark Universe Cemetary to bury another promising concept that was set before it could scream “Action!” Back in 2020, original Ryan Gosling attached Werewolf pitch started the process that gave us the potential tear sheet above.
Now Sir Baby Goose threw the first move that won me over with this project, but with a description that suggested “a Network/Nightcrawler Vibe ” involving a transformative network anchor absolutely had me clamoring for this to happen. You Try not to get excited about one Network/Nightcrawler sandwich with a side of Howling for good nature.
So what happened to this promising play? Well, I’m willing to guess that two factors came into play. First, Leigh Whannell’s employment for Werewolf Saw his writing team, consisting of himself and co-writers Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo ditch the nightly news angle for this more family-centric angle. Which, based on the photos we have above, crashed right into Gosling’s reasons for turning down darker roles.
f You’re as bummed as I am that Ryan Goslings Werewolf Did not, you can visit his plot between Failed Angelina Jolie/Javier Bardem Bride of Frankenstein image and Paul Feig’s Mia Dark army project. But fear not, because the Christopher Abbott/Julia Garner version headed to theaters still looks like it could be a brutally good time.
Come to think of it, I don’t know which I’m looking forward to more: Abbott’s intensity as he feels his humanity slipping away, or Garner’s primal scream queen abilities returning to the silver screen? There is plenty of time to choose, which Werewolf is set to cut to its potential theater audience on January 17.
To keep up with the rest of the Upcoming horror movies Feel free to go, feel free to use our guide as a sort of Shriek preview of what’s to come. Oh, and the other Ryan Gosling project I’m still mourning? It is completely Guillermo del ToroS abandoned takes Disney’s Haunted mansion. But that’s a conversation for another day, in another graveyard in development hell.
