Ryan Gosling to Star in Wolfman Reboot for Universal Pictures

After the success of their reboot of The Invisible Man earlier this year, Universal Pictures has official set their sights on the next of their classic monsters that will be reinvented for the big screen. Variety reports that Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling has been tapped to star in Wolfman, a reboot of the property that began with the 1941 film starring Lon Chaney Jr. Gosling himself apparently came up with the pitch for the film which the trade describes as being in a similar vein to the Jake Gyllenhaal starring thriller Nightcrawler. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo of Orange is the New Black wrote the screenplay.

The Wolfman was previously rebooted in 2010 by Universal Pictures with Benicio del Toro in the titular role. Plans were in the works for a different version of the character to become a part of the scrapped Dark Universe before its implosion which were rumored to have Dwayne Johnson attached as the monster.

The trade goes on to say that the hunt is now on for a director to step behind the camera for the movie, reporting that Gosling himself was considering pulling double duty by directing and acting in the film. After some conversations the decision was made to have him just act with the studio now targeting a director. Bad Education director Cory Finley is reportedly among the names in the mix for the job.

Universal’s next big question for the movie will be when they can actually make the film. There’s currently no time table in place for movies to resume production in most parts of the United States, though many countries abroad have already allowed sets to begin filming once again. In any event, Gosling remains an in-demand actor as well and is reportedly eager to make the upcoming Phil Lord and Chris Miller astronaut movie that he’s attached to his next project.

Gosling is the latest name to become attached to a Universal who have changed their stance on their classic monsters. The Dark Universe would have seen a series of interconnected monster movies created as a cohesive cinematic universe, but failed to launch with the 2017 film The Mummy. Since then the studio has changed their tune to allowing filmmakers to make their own, standalone movies that can breath new life into the properties and not worry about being tied into another film or three.

Others Universal monster projects in the work include Dark Army from Paul Feig, described as an unconnected “Monster movie;” Renfield, a film focusing on Dracula’s henchman from Rick and Morty writer Ryan Ridley and Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher; The Invisible Woman, starring and to be directed by Elizabeth Banks; an untitled film from James Wan focusing on “a group of teens who discover that a neighbor is building a monster in his basement;” plus projects from John Krasinski and Amy Pascal, potentially a reboot of The Bride of Frankenstein.