It’s cruelly ironic that a blockbuster remake predicated around its protagonist’s inability to escape a curse would end up suffering an eerily similar fate away from the cameras, but Universal’s ambitious reinvention of The Wolfman ended up with life imitating art in the ways that nobody wanted.
Four weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin, director Mark Romanek abandoned ship in the face of creative differences, leading to safe pair of hands Joe Johnston being drafted in at short notice. Convinced to sign on by the prospect of spending 80 days playing with a big budget in an R-rated fantasy sandbox, the veteran filmmaker was happy to oblige.
However, 16 months on from signing on the dotted line, and The Wolfman was still in production. Even on the musical side of things, Danny Elfman recorded an entire score that was discarded in favor of a new orchestral accompaniment by Paul Haslinger, who himself was booted out when it was decided that the original music was the correct choice all along.
Delayed by well over a year, The Wolfman ended up cratering thunderously at the box office after coming nowhere near to recouping its $150 million budget – which was almost twice as much as the $80 million initially allocated by the studio. It lost a fortune, and was dismissed by critics in an instant, but still emerged as an Academy Award-winning film after Rick Baker snagged an Oscar for Best Makeup.
You couldn’t make it up, but any irredeemable misfire remains capable of scratching and clawing its way to cult status, something The Wolfman is embarking upon as we speak on the forums of Reddit. The production design and effects are suitably sumptuous, and the Director’s Cut is a vastly better experience, but labeling it as a misunderstood and underappreciated gem might be taking things a step too far, depending entirely on personal preference of course.