Cinefantastique Online

The Hollywood Reporter gives the rundown on Universal Pictures’ effort to find a new director in the wake of Mark Romanek’s departure from the remake of THE WOLF MAN, which is scheduled to start shooting in March:

Brett Ratner, Frank Darabont, James Mangold and Joe Johnston have either met with the studio and producers or are expected to do so in the coming days. Bill Condon also is a helmer the studio is keen on.

The biggest challenge the studio faces is its inability to work on the script because of the writers strike. Any filmmaker coming on board takes on a locked script, overseen by Romanek over several years, and many directors want to put their stamp on it. Martin Campbell is one helmer who was interested, but he is no longer in contention.

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Many on the list are writer-directors, but Ratner is not. The director, who met with the studio Wednesday, is emerging as the strongest contender because of the fact that he has experience in taking over a project that has lost a director late in the game. Ratner famously took over “X-Men: The Last Stand” after Bryan Singer flew the coop to direct “Superman Returns.”

I can’t say I’m particularly thrilled about any of these directorial options. Over at ESplatter, Lucius gore suggests that John Landis and Neil Marshall are also interested in the project, but he does not cite a source (neither name is mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter article). Perhaps Lucius is just making a little joke, based on the directors’ past experiences making werewolf movies (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LOND and DOG SOLDIERS, respectively).