Universal

After opening weekend box office earnings of approximately $35 million and a hefty production budget of $150 million, Joe Johnston's The Wolfman has its tail tucked somewhat between its legs. Reviews for Universal's remake of the 1941 classic have been mixed, which comes as almost no surprise, after such a troubled production history--including delays, reshoots and editorial changes. The film's score was originally being done by movie maestro Danny Elfman, but Universal swapped him for former Tangerine Dream member, Paul Haslinger (Near Dark) and then ran back to Elfman. As a Moog mogul I was curious about Haslinger's crack at the score and Shock recently posted a sample of his work on their site, which you can listen to after the jump.

Granted, it is hard to imagine Haslinger's harsher sounds completely befitting of the classic, Gothic backdrop of Wolfman, but was Elfman's score really that much more amazing? I recognize Elfman's ability as a composer and like all composers he sounds, well, like himself--but he hasn't delivered something that blew me away in quite some time. Yep, I said it. I think Danny Elfman is regurgitating the same score over and over again and I'm expecting the same old stuff in the upcoming Burton flick, Alice in Wonderland. And while we're at it, Burton has managed to become a total ADD, snooze fest all at once. Bring on the hate.

Listen to Haslinger's clip after the jump. [update: it looks as though the folks at AICN have debunked this story. read on for more info!]

Sam Worthington is enjoying the huge success of his latest role in James Cameron's Avatar, but he's going to be trading blue for blood soon in Alex Proyas' Dracula: Year Zero. Yes, you read that right. The film is being budgeted at over $100 million which is not far behind the $165 million Universal has put out for their Wolfman redux.

Latino Review broke the news that the Terminator and Titans star will be cast as the lead in a story which chronicles the the origin of Dracula, combining vampire mythology with the history of Prince Vlad the Impaler. According to Dread Central, the film depicts Dracula as a tragic hero (and don't forget the tragic love story to go along with everything) amidst a dark age of magic and war. Sounding similar to Titans yet? Supposedly, he will be cast as a vengeful hero rather than the monster we're all familiar with from Bram Stoker's classic novel.

First the news about Jason Momoa as the new Conan and now this? Worthington seems totally miscast but I'm actually excited about Universal exploring the origins of Dracula's character. I adore the Victorian, Gothic leanings of the Dracula tale from Stoker's point of view but I've always been fascinated by the history of Vlad the Impaler. I respect Univeral's decision to take things in a new direction--giving the dark Prince more screen time, but I wish they would reconsider their leading man. Every depiction and account of Vlad the Impaler I've come across paints the Prince as noble and regal, yet ultimately terrifying. Based on looks alone, Worthington is completely off and I'm gritting my teeth thinking about that Aussie accent rearing its head like it did in Avatar. Also, what's up with the film's title? It sounds like a Dracula 2000 prequel. Let me know what your thoughts are regarding the direction Universal is taking with the fanged fiend.

I was actually getting excited about former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger's score for Universal's remake of The Wolfman. I've liked the band since the days of yore when a boyfriend gave me a tape of some of their early hypno-Moog tunes. Like many people, I revisited their work through the soundtracks they did for films like Legend and Near Dark. Well it seems that Universal has asked Danny Elfman back, after announcing last November that Haslinger would be replacing Elfman for unknown reasons. Since the film has been plagued by a number of issues including delays, reshoots and editorial changes this announcement really comes as no surprise.

Shock Till You Drop delivered the news that Elfman's (incomplete) score is making a return. Since Elfman is currently working on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Universal has tapped composer Conrad Pope to help finish the job. Pope worked with Elfman on Sleepy Hollow so he's familiar with the maestro's methods.

Will this movie ever make it out on time? Does anyone else love Danny Elfman's score for Mars Attacks! as much as I do? Does The Wolfman really just need more theremin to make it all better?

I have held on to hope regarding Universal's remake of The Wolfman despite the black cloud of troubling rumors, delays and reshoots that has been hanging over the film since we sensed something was amiss late last year. The first sign was a release date push from November to February 10--huge disappointment. Then there were changes in the crew. Composer Danny Elfman left the project and editor, Dennis Virkler, was booted from the film after an early cut screened in L.A. Finally, there were stories about reshoots because the special FX were not so special even though FX master Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) was on board. What's a poor Wolfman to do in a case like this? Get legendary monster artist Basil Gogos to create the poster for your new film!

Gogos is an illustrator who has painted some of the most striking portraits of movie monsters in horror and is best known for the work he did with Warren Publishing's Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. The man has painted everyone from Dracula to the original Wolfman (1941) as well as famous horror icons Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Lon Chaney and many others. Gogos has also painted CD covers for musicians Rob Zombie and The Misfits. His 2005 book, Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos, is a delicious hardcover detailing his career and includes commentary from the artist.

Someone at Universal got it right with this one, big time. But my fingers are still crossed. Head over to CHUD to see the full poster.

Just the other day Mike Bracken relayed to us that The Thing Prequel was set to film in March, but the details beyond who was directing (Matthijs Van Heijningen) and who was writing (Eric Heisserer based on ideas from Ronald D. Moore) were still a little fuzzy. Well now Bloody-Disgusting has gotten their hands on the official character descriptions for the major players and from it we can surmise perhaps the most telling bit of info about this project so far: Universal is going to try their darnedest to ignore the fact that the Norwegian base camp should be full of, well, Norwegians.

The descriptions BD got a hold of are full of serious spoilers, so I've culled the disappointing, but spoiler-free basics below.

Universal announced that their remake of the 1941 classic, The Wolfman, will have an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America when released February 10, 2010. Even though the studio has struggled with reshoots, delays and changes--fans can get excited about this movie again knowing that they haven't neutered old Wolfie with a PG-13 rating.

The trailers for Wolfman have promised R-rated worthy 'bloody horror, violence and gore' in telling the story of Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) who reunites with his estranged family after his brother vanishes. He discovers that a bloodthirsty beast has been terrorizing the town and while he and his father (Anthony Hopkins) try to hunt it down, Talbot discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Art Malik. Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) will be handling the gory special effects, so you know it will be good.

A PG-13 rating opens the film up to a broader audience and sometimes proves successful. Take Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell; the film was highly entertaining, had plenty of gross-out and delivered far more than some R-Rated films even. Still, the debate continues as to whether PG-13 movies have a place in the horror genre, considering they often get their rating to ensure maximum profit for the studio. Or do we blame the filmmakers? Have too many people sold their soul to the uber profitable scary movie/hot teen drama combination?

Don't get me wrong, I thought that the first trailer for the Joe Johnston directed remake of The Wolfman was an excellent debut that helped dispel some of the fears that built up during the troubled production and subsequent release date shuffling, but this new trailer...this one has me scrambling to somehow invent a time machine so I can travel to 02/10/2010 just to lay eyes on the full film. This new trailer, nestled lower down in this post, has a decidedly more modern feel to it, despite it's Victorian setting, thanks entirely to the same instrumental rock variant to Marilyn Manson's "If I was Your Vampire" that was used in the Max Payne trailer.

Yet those Max Payne rock cues do little to betray the fact that The Wolfman looks like an absolutely amazing creature feature. Sure, purists can complain, perhaps rightly so, that there is an over use of CGI and that Rick Baker should have been more involved in creating practical, on-set transformation effects. But I think there is little denying that this looks like a total, maniacal blast. We now have more of a glimpse at Benecio del Toro's ravaged soul, as well as a few key glimpses into the lives of those around him.

Perhaps my favorite shot of the trailer isn't even of the Wolfman, rather of Hugo Weaving with a fistful of non-silver bullets; a sure sign of the skin-ripping mayhem Universal is going to be offering up in February.

Earlier this summer, the brakes were put on Universal's adaptation of Bioshock due to its enormous budget, and a need for tax incentives were said to be pushing the film overseas. The budgetary crisis put Gore Verbinski into a bit of a pickle, and he was unsure he would continue with the film if it moved to London. Now it looks like Verbinski is officially off the project, and Universal has hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) to go under the sea instead.

Variety reports that Fresnadillo is still in talks, and that it all becomes official if Bioshock's maker, Take-Two Interactive, agrees to the decision as they must approve the choice of director. But the decision indicates they are shaving that budget, and they are determined to make the film overseas. Universal is also determined that this won't turn into another Halo incident. (Although I think we all agree that any disappointment that caused District 9 was very much worth it, right?)

It has to be a huge disappointment for Verbinski, who dropped Pirates 4 to tackle Bioshock, and really seemed to love the project. (Perhaps Verbinski will find himself in a similar Cinderalla situation as Neill Blomkamp!) Of course, the big question remains as to whether all of this talk is even worth it, since we know what game adaptations are generally like. A lot of hopes are being pinned on Bioshock, and let's hope a few of them are fulfilled.

I'll throw down the gauntlet right now. The Thing is the best horror movie ever made.

Now that that indisputable fact absolutely no one will have a problem with is out of the way (right?), let's talk about how Universal is hoping to bleed more money out of the best horror movie ever made by returning to it nearly 30 years later. It has been long known that Ronald D. Moore was writing the planned prequel/reboot and that his intention was to not remake John Carpenter's film, but instead to backtrack from its opening sequence and explore an avenue the source material intentionally left vague: What happened at the Norwegian camp?

But that was when Moore, who so brilliantly rebooted "Battlestar Galactica" on television, was the only screenwriter. He's off the project, replaced by Nightmare on Elm Street remake screenwriter Eric Heisserer. Bringing in a second screenwriter is nothing out of the ordinary in the studio system, but one can start to worry when they're brought in specifically to rewrite somebody else's script.

Fortunately Heisserer cleared some of the air with Bloody Disgusting about the rewrites and what he had to say is quite the relief: