I am not usually one to get particularly excited for a remake, especially a horror movie remake, but Blumhouse’s upcoming Wolf Man movie is a major exception. The reboot comes from writer and director Leigh Whannell, who already proved he has a knack for reimagining classic horror movies into modern masterpieces with his take on The Invisible Man in 2020, which is now regarded as one of the best Blumhouse horror movies yet.
Is Whannell’s iteration of one of the best werewolf movies of all time destined for the same fate or could this be another grotesque transformation nobody wants to see? Before things get too hairy with speculation, let’s discuss what we know so far about this upcoming horror movie in our following guide to Wolf Man.
What Is The Wolf Man Release Date?
Wolf Man is set to come crawling into theaters on January 17, 2025. However, it seems like a missed opportunity to not put it out four days earlier when that month experiences its only full moon, according to AstroSeek. Regardless, it is the first horror movie on our upcoming 2025 movie schedule, unless you count the January 10th release of the upcoming sci-fi movie, Companion, which also looks pretty intense.
The Wolf Man Trailer Teases One Howling Horror Picture
While most stories inspired by lycanthropic lore are told from the perspective of the person undergoing the transformation, few really attempt to put the audience in the mind of the half-person, half-beast. Wolf Man appears to be changing that, based on one of the most unique and startling moments from the horror film’s first full-length trailer. See the whole clip for yourself below:
This version of the classic werewolf story seems to be a more contained family drama that will supposedly shift between the perspectives of a man becoming increasingly less human and his wife and daughter as they become increasingly more afraid of him.
Speaking of perspective, the trailer hints at the devastating effects of the protagonist’s animalistic transformation in one moment demonstrating how he begins to lose the ability to understand English as his wife struggles to speak with him. That clip alone is enough to have me fascinated and even more intrigued by this story.
Christopher Abbott Leads The Wolf Man Cast
The title role of Universal’s The Wolf Man was played by horror movie icon Lon Chaney Jr., meaning the star of this reboot has some big paws to fill. Luckily, the new cast has been blessed with a profoundly talented ensemble, including the actor in the lead.
Christopher Abbott (Blake)
Playing Blake (a.k.a., the wolf man) is horror veteran Christopher Abbott, who is known for 2017’s post-apocalyptic A24 horror movie favorite, It Comes at Night, and Brandon Cronenberg’s deeply disturbing Possessor from 2020. He will also come at odds with the animalistic title character of the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie, following his recurring role on HBO’s Girls and a brief but pivotal part in the Oscar-winning Poor Things.
Julia Garner (Charlotte)
Playing Blake’s wife, Charlotte, is Abbott’s Martha Marcy May Marlene co-star, Julia Garner, who is also a horror veteran, having starred in the cannibal drama We Are What We Are and The Last Exorcism Part II in 2013. Better known as Ruth Langmore in Netflix’s Ozark cast, the Emmy winner also has an upcoming superhero movie in her future, having been cast in the MCU’s Fantastic Four reboot as a new take on the Silver Surfer and another horror movie with Zach Cregger’s Weapons due in 2026.
Matilda Firth (Ginger)
Matilda Firth, who plays Blake and Charlotte’s daughter, Ginger, actually debuted in a horror-centric title — Peacock’s Vampire Academy series — before making her feature-length debut in Disney+’s Disenchanted in 2022. The young British actor’s first major role was on the UK sitcom, Hullraisers, which she followed with a miniseries crime drama called Time in 2023 and another English limited series called Coma in 2024. Firth also has a sci-fi thriller on the way called Subservience.
Sam Jaeger
In a currently undisclosed role is Sam Jaeger, whose previous horror experience includes 2009’s Within, the short film that later inspired 2020’s The Cleansing Hour, and Netflix’s 2022 miniseries, Devil in Ohio. He is better known for playing Joel Graham in NBC’s Parenthood cast and starring in movies like 2014’s American Sniper and The Eyes of Tammy Faye from 2021. Jaeger more recently joined Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale cast in 2018 as Mark Tuello.
Ben Prendergast
Also in an undisclosed Wolf Man role is Ben Prendergast, who has previously come closest to acting in horror with a guest spot on Preacher and a 2019 short called Where Blood Lies. Also known for the 2014 time travel movie Predestination, Prendergast’s most prolific work is voice acting for animated series like Star Wars: Resistance and video games like the Diablo series.
Beatriz Romilly
Another voice actor in the Wolf Man cast is Beatriz Romilly, who can be heard in video game series like Assassin’s Creed and Final Fantasy and TV shows like Lilybuds. You may have spotted her out of the recording studio in the recent series adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Benedict Hardie
Wolf Man will mark Benedict Hardie’s third collaboration with Leigh Whannell, having appeared in his last two directorial features, Upgrade and The Invisible Man. The Australian actor is also known for 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge and Carmen from 2022.
Milo Cawthorne
Another horror veteran in the Wolf Man cast is Milo Cawthorne, who starred as the lead of the 2015 horror comedy musical favorite, Deathgasm. The New Zealand native also played Ziggy on Power Rangers R.P.M. and appeared in Guns Akimbo opposite Daniel Radcliffe.
Zac Chandler
Zac Chandler is making his feature film debut with Wolf Man. His previous acting efforts have been shorts, namely 2022’s Lake-Emba and Willow Cove from the following year.
What Wolf Man Is About
Wolf Man is a new take on the Universal Monster Movie favorite, The Wolf Man. The 1941 classic stars Lon Chaney as Larry Talbot, who is bitten by what appears to be a wolf, and transforms into a dangerous creature under a full moon. The remake, however, borrows from that basic idea but goes in a new direction.
The lead character here is Blake, who is en route to his mysteriously absent father’s farmhouse one night when his wife, Charlotte, and daughter, Ginger, are attacked by a vicious animal. Despite managing to get to the property safely, Blake suffers a nasty scratch on his arm that seems to be having a debilitating effect on him. As his health wanes and his behavior changes, Charlotte begins to fear that she and Ginger are in danger the longer they remain in contact with him.
Leigh Whannell Directs Wolf Man
The reboot appears to be in the best of hands with Leigh Whannell at the helm and also writing with Corbett Tuck, Lauren Shuker Blum, and Rebecca Angelo. The film is his aforementioned directorial follow-up to his take on fellow Universal Monsters classic, The Invisible Man, which is now regarded as one of the best horror movie remakes as of late.
The Australian filmmaker first broke out as the writer of the first installment of the Saw movies and returned to pen the next two before reuniting with director James Wan to make 2007’s Dead Silence and launch another beloved horror movie franchise with the Insidious movies. The third installment of the haunted house thrillers served as Whannell’s directorial debut before he shifted gears with an inventive sci-fi flick from 2018 called Upgrade.
Ryan Gosling Is An Executive Producer
Before Christopher Abbott stepped in, Wolf Man was set to star Ryan Gosling in what would have been his horror debut — not counting early roles in family-friendly horror anthology TV shows Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and in 1996’s Frankenstein and Me. While the three-time Academy Award nominee exited the lead along with original writer and director Derek Cianfrance, he does maintain an executive producer credit, per Deadline.
Fellow EPs include Whannell, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, and Mel Turner. Jason Blum is also producing Wolf Man under Blumhouse, which also backed Whannell’s The Invisible Man and plenty of other notable horror hits as of late.
How To Watch Previous Iterations Of The Wolf Man
The Wolf Man from 1941 is likely the first film most people picture when they think of werewolves, but it was actually Universal’s second attempt at a horror movie based on the subject following the less successful Werewolf of London in 1935.
Lon Chaney Jr. would reprise the role four more times (but never as a solo effort) in 1943’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein from the following year, 1945’s House of Dracula, and the more comical Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. Director Joe Johnston’s 2010 remake of the film (which shortens the title by making “wolfman” one word) was set in the late 19th century and starred Academy Award winner Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot.
- Rent or buy Werewolf of London on Amazon
- Rent or buy The Wolf Man on Amazon
- Rent or buy Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man on Amazon
- Rent or buy House of Frankenstein on Amazon
- Rent or buy House of Dracula on Amazon
- Rent or buy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on Amazon
- Rent or buy The Wolfman on Amazon
Things are going to get hairy once Wolf Man finally emerges.
