Benicio del Toro's "The Wolfman" *Interview w/ FX Artist Rick Baker*

[JamesG]

Check out the trailer for "The Wolfman" here - http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/the-...ml?showVideo=1

[JamesG]

New Poster for The Wolfman
Source: Kino Gallery
November 25, 2009

A new international poster for Universal Pictures' The Wolfman has made its way online and can be viewed below.

Directed by Joe Johnston, the February 12 release stars Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Art Malik.

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=12950

[JamesG]

Yet Another Two The Wolfman One Sheets Released
Thursday, November 26, 2009
By: MrDisgusting

To go along with the previous release, Universal Pictures International has released yet another two one sheets for Joe Johnston's The Wolfman remake arriving in theaters February 12.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18210

[JamesG]

The Wolfman Bleeds Red This Valentine's Day
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
By: MrDisgusting

For those of you worried that Universal Pictures' The Wolfman would take the path of the less righteous aiming at a PG-13, fear not as the Benicio del Toro starrer has been beefed up with R-rating for "bloody horror, violence and gore."


Be ready: February 12, 2010.

Like the 1941 original that starred Lon Chaney Jr., new pic will be set in Victorian England. Del Toro will play a man who returns from America to his ancestral homeland, gets bitten by a werewolf and begins a hairy moonlight existence.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18330

[Brian Damage]

That's great news! Horror movies should be rated R, not PG-13.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

That's great news! Horror movies should be rated R, not PG-13.

For the most part I'd agree though there has been some great PG-13 horror ex. Drag Me To Hell.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by JamesG

For the most part I'd agree though there has been some great PG-13 horror ex. Drag Me To Hell.

Well Sam Raimi is the exception.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Well Sam Raimi is the exception.

Yeah, it's rare that you would come across a decent PG-13 horror flick.

[Pitooey]

Ooooooooooo The movie looks good and scary.

[JamesG]

Emily Blunt's Take on The Wolfman Delays
Source: Perri Nemiroff, Ryan Rotten
December 10, 2009

Emily Blunt, who stars as Gwen Conliffe in Universal Pictures' redo The Wolfman, has a theory on why we had to wait so long to see the film.

"I think with a film like that, because there are special effects and it's a big movie, you can't accelerate its release date," she explained to Shock Till You Drop this afternoon, offering a culinary analogy.

"It's not fair and so I think it just needed some more time. They needed to cook a little bit more. But the film is so good, so I'm really happy that they waited and I think it's the best time for people to see it. This fall is all about the awards seasons and all of that, so I don't know if it's that kind of film. It's not. It's a werewolf movie."



The Wolfman, directed by Joe Johnston, is ultimately pouncing onto the theatrical circuit nationwide on February 12.

"It's a brilliant…more of a throwback to the old Lon Chaney films and it's classic and gothic and eerie but I don't think it competes with the slasher movies in that way because I think it's better. I did my job, they loved the movie so, I almost feel this is the best time because I feel like more people are going to see it in February anyway."


Blunt admits she's unsure why new editors were brought in to tinker with the film.

"I don't know what happens behind those scenes. I think it's important to get as many influences as possible of a film of that scale, with that much effects that need to take place."

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=13208

[JamesG]

Producer Now Talks Wolfman Delays
Source: Total Film Magazine
December 27, 2009

When Shock Till You Drop caught up to actress Emily Blunt, we asked her about the delays plaguing Universal's The Wolfman.

Now, Total Film Magazine has producer Scott Stuber on the extra work that was done by director Joe Johnston.



Here's an excerpt from their article:

Scott Stuber explained the movie's metamorphosis.

He said: "The visual effects work was so complex that some of the stuff wasn't ready. There were so many textures we had to create, like landscapes of London and all the elements within the London sequence; they just weren't where they needed to be."



Asked about talk that the design of the werewolf had proved a digital effects nightmare, he said: "It was never our attention for this to be a CGI-fest. Our whole thing was to honour Lon Chaney Jr and the spirit of the original.

"It's an authentic, make-up-driven film, but there are transitional pieces that we needed to do in CG, so you didn't have to cut away during the change in the monster.

Integrating the make-up and the effects to make them feel like one cohesive whole was always going to be a challenge and it's something we've had to work through."



He said director Joe Johnston had done "an excellent job" but the first test screening led to a need for reshoots:

"We needed one more piece between Benicio (Del Toro) and Emily (Blunt). We added a new scene during the post-bite, pre-transformation sequence when he's starting to realise something's wrong."



They also beefed up the action in the London set-piece, which piled more work on the special effects team.

A second test screening had 'terrific results' and Stuber is optimistic:

"It's a big quality piece of entertainment. It's beautiful, rich, gothic, tragic - it's everything you hope it would be."

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=13439

[JamesG]

Basil Gogos Paints Wolfman Poster!
Source: CHUD
January 13, 2010

My jaw is on the floor for various reasons, but mostly because I never expected to see this.

Universal commissioned artist Basil Gogos, a legend in his craft, to paint a rendition of The Wolfman as represented by actor Benicio del Toro and make-up artist Rick Baker.



From Oliver Reed from Curse of the Werewolf to Karloff as Frankenstein, Gogos' long career shaped a generation of monster lovers through his paintings, often seen on the cover of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine.

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=13651

[JamesG]

Gene Simmons, David Lee Roth Provide Wolfman's Howl?!
Monday, January 18, 2010
By: MrDisgusting

BD reader 'Avery' just pointed us in the direction of a really interesting article over at Box Office where they report that Rock stars Gene Simmons - lead singer of KISS - and David Lee Roth - frontman of Van Halen - were among the many people who came in to the studio to provide animalistic sound effects for John Johnston's The Wolfman.

What sound effects? How about Benicio del Toro's howl!
Check out some excerpts below:


"Well, when we were designing his howl, we were going off in a lot of different directions," Johnston tells Box Officie.

"We tried a lot of things to see what would work and be interesting. We listened to every wolf howl ever done on every film. We listened to all of them. And you'd be surprised how unconvincing most of them are. Some were just wolves, but some were men going, 'Aoooooooo!'"



He continues, "We didn't get a lot from our research in what's been done before. We were looking for this great pure tone—we knew we were going to process it and overlay elements to it, but we wanted that great foundation.

We tried Gene Simmons and one of Gene Simmons' howls is in the movie. I don't think Gene Simmons would recognize it, but it's in there. We had David Lee Roth come in and do a few howls...


"...That was a blast. We had opera singers come in and howl, we had animal impersonators. Gene Simmons and David Lee Roth were pretty near the end of the process. By then we knew what we were looking for, we were homing in on it. And their stuff became the most useful stuff that we did.

Like I said, I don't think they would recognize it after what we've done to it because we've digitally processed it and added cool overtones and all that stuff. We were basically just looking for a wolf howl you'd never heard before. What we realized is that everybody in the audience knows what a wolfman sounds like. Even if it's from their imagination, it's all pretty much the same thing. We just wanted our howl to be the best version of that howl.

And I think we've come up with something that's definitely spine-tingling, and at the same time it's familiar enough that the audience is going to recognize it—it's what they expect, with enhancements.."



You can hear it on the big screen February 12th when THE WOLFMAN transforms into theaters.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18747

[JamesG]

Hey, Elfman's Back on The Wolfman!
Source: MovieScore Magazine
January 20, 2010


Paul Haslinger (former member of Tangerine Dream) is out.
Danny Elfman is back in on The Wolfman.


That's the word from MovieScore Magazine who reports Universal's remake, directed by Joe Johnston, is indeed going back to the classical score Elfman created for the film.

If you recall, Universal announced last November that Haslinger was replacing Elfman for unknown reasons.


Although Elfman's score is being put back into the picture, it doesn't mean he's available to complete what he started. He's currently working on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

To help finish the music in time, Universal has called on composer Conrad Pope (who served as an orchestrator on Elfman's score for Sleepy Hollow), so the piece is still in good hands!

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=13742

[JamesG]

Final U.S. One-Sheet for The Wolfman
Source: Universal Pictures
January 22, 2010

The first horror film of the 2010 to generate the most posters we've ever seen goes to Universal's redo of The Wolfman.

The variety of key art is welcome, no doubt. And everyone is going to have their favorite poster.

Now add this one to the mix.
Below is the studio's "final one-sheet," which bears a slight resemblance to the French poster in that it sells the film in one broad stroke.

You've got your stars. And there is the beast.

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news...s.php?id=13787