Leigh Whannell is in talks with Universal Pictures to direct another Universal monster reboot after achieving great success with The Invisible Man earlier this year. It has been announced that L Whannell is negotiating to direct Ryan Gosling in the lead role of The Wolfman, and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse has boarded the picture to be a producer along with Gosling.
Whannell will also be writing the treatment for the film, based on an original idea of his own and inspired by the 1941 classic. This feels very similar to what he did with The Invisible Man, a project he didn’t take on until he could out his own fresh spin on the reboot. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo (Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black) will write the script. Whannell and Gosling have wanted to work together for some time, but the director originally declined when first offered The Wolfman. Schuker Blum is Jason Blum’s wife, and the producer asked the director to reconsider, which has led to these new talks.
Whannell has a first-look deal across film and television with Blumhouse, for projects he writes, directs or produces, and over the last decade, Whannell and Blumhouse have collaborated on seven projects. Their last collaboration, The Invisible Man, grossed $124 million worldwide on a $7 million budget.
