Director Mark Romanek Bails on ‘Wolfman’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 29, 2008

A while back we posted the first image of Benicio Del Toro as The Wolfman and the response seemed to be pretty good. People were hyped to see what Universal and successful music video Director Mark Romanek could do with a remake of the classic that starred Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi.

It seems that all that excitement could be for not, as The Hollywood Reporter is saying today that Romanek has left the production, citing creative differences as his reason for departure. In reality, this will probably only delay the production, as the studio is reportedly already hunting for a new director.

Romanek, who made a name for himself directing music videos, also directed One Hour Photo in 2002. He also has two other projects in development; a crime drama called A Cold Case with Playtone and In Deep, a thriller for Dreamworks that has Ben Stiller attached to star and co-produce. So needless to say, he isn’t hurting for work.

The question becomes whether or not Universal can hold the production together from here. They had trouble not too long ago with the production of State of Play, a film that saw stars Brad Pitt and Ed Norton leave mere weeks before shooting, only to have them replaced by Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

Time will tell the future of The Wolfman, which was due to start shooting today and due to release on February 13, 2009.

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